Opportunities teem for Dargaville teen

Vision impaired teenager Emma Foy with trophies she has won in sport and martial arts. She is eagerly anticipating canoeing down the Whanganui River next month.Robyn Downey
Where some people may find having impaired vision and being born albino a hinderance Dargaville teenager Emma Foy - who has both conditions - explores what life has to offer.
In fact Emma finds ways of enjoying life that would make many ordinary people feel like couch potatoes.
Emma, 15, sets off on January 25 on a four-day trip down the Whanganui River (between Taupo and Wanganui) by canoe, roughing it in the outdoors and enjoying the unique marae experience with other vision impaired teens between the ages of 14 and 17.
The trip was organised by the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind.
Emma has been vision impaired since birth, a condition which sometimes goes hand-in-hand with albinoism.
She is able to only see up to six metres, when people with good vision would normally be able to see up to 60m.
And because she is so active and has achieved highly in various sporting fields she is often misunderstood.
"Because I can do a lot of stuff and I'm quite active some people think that I don't want to do things when I am unable to see if something is too far away," she said.
Her father Sandy said if her friends pass her in the street and she is unable to see them properly she has to ask someone she is with who it was, which can also be misunderstood.
However, you cannot keep a strong woman down and Sandy said Emma could be "very stubborn when she wanted to be".
"But in saying that there is also this determination in her," he said.
Emma applied for the Whanganui River trip through the Foundation and cannot wait to embark on the adventure.
"I'm really looking forward to it because I like kayaking which I often do with my sister Helen (13) and my mum," she said.
Emma said she is eagerly anticipating going to a part of the country she had never been to before.
Just before the Kaipara Advocate talked to her, Emma had arrived home from a three-day hunting trip with sister Helen, two uncles and five cousins.
Sandy said Emma had always been keen on sport right from when she was small.
A few years ago her mum Jo saw that karate lessons were coming to Dargaville. Emma wanted to try the martial art which she now excels at and has the trophies to prove it.
She is currently a brown belt and only two tabs away from achieving black belt status in the martial art. This year she came first in a Northland karate tournament for girls 15 to 17 years at Whangarei.
She also won the Senior Female Development award for her commitment to karate throughout the year at another Northland competition.
Last year she was placed third in an open championship competition for 12 to 15 year-old-girls, also at Whangarei.
At the New Zealand Games for Vision Impaired School Children at Christchurch in 2002 she was named the Most Outstanding Sports Woman after gaining five first placings in athletics and swimming.
Emma said she found non-combat karate movement where she was doing solo moves better than one-on-one combat because her disability could be dangerous for herself or an opponent.
"I can't block attacks fast enough to defend myself and it could be dangerous for another person if I hit them in the head or something like that," she said.
However, she has proven scientific skills which her teachers remarked on at Dargaville High School where she learned with the help of a teacher aid.
"I hope to do something with science when I leave school but I have this dream of being an astronaut or investigating volcanoes or being a tornado chaser," she said.
Emma has completed Year 11, which was NCEA Level 1 and said her other best subjects aside from science were art and geography. She plans to return to do Year 12, NCEA Level 2 next year.
Officials from the Foundation said the Whanganui River trip would be an experience of exploring the river, learning about its history, its wairua (spirit) and for the youngsters to get to know themselves and each other.
They said the trip would include being introduced to the Maori culture while challenging the young peoples' vision problems.
The youngsters would also learn canoe paddling and develop skills to enhance independence as well as helping them to gain confidence.
The activity would also help prepare them for the competitive workforce, further education, communication, as well as give them rehabilitation skills and social awareness.