Rotorua woman walks 10km simulating blindness to raise awareness

Rosette Marie Carbonilla Vocal (left) and Faustinah Ndlovu at the Walk Awhile in My Shoes walk. Photo/Supplied

Rotorua's Faustinah Ndlovu walked 10km blindfolded at the Redwoods to raise awareness of disabilities.

The aim was to simulate blindness.

She took this up as part of Dick Traum's Walk Awhile in My Shoes Challenge on Wednesday afternoon.

Walk Awhile in My Shoes is a social media campaign and challenge intended to build awareness of and compassion for people with disabilities.

Faustinah completed the walk with the support of the Achilles International New Zealand Rotorua Chapter, and was guided by Rosette Marie Carbonilla Vocal.

Rosette is a Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology and new Achilles Rotorua guide.

"For me it was quite daunting and having to rely on someone else was not easy."

Faustinah says she was blindfolded for the whole 10km and she had to rely on what Rosette was saying.

She says she decided to do the challenge after watching a YouTube of Dick Traum, a founder of Achillies International, and she felt like she needed to do something to help raise awareness for people with disabilities.

Faustinah says she chose blindness as her disability because she had been a walk guide at the Huntly Marathon and one of their Rotorua Achilles whanau members is blind.

"For me I would like to walk a while in the shoes of the people I support."

She says anyone can take up the challenge and she would encourage people to take it up to raise awareness of any different diabilities.

For more information on the challenge visit www.achillesinternational.org.