A Dream Come True By Robert Langford, Ph.D. Senora Maruja Cornado, from Vina del Mar, Chile, had a dream. Her grandson Pablo was visually impaired, and at age eight was not doing well either at school, or with the sighted children when at play. She learned that blind children in the United States used computers and could do things with sighted children with their computers. This became a burning desire for her to provide Pablo and other blind children with technology so they could have a better life. She went to her Rotary Club and they agreed with her that they would assist the blind in their community. The School for the Blind became interested in Maruja's dream, and a blind attorney was found in Santiago who had a computer with a synthesized voice. He encouraged them to pursue the dream and described how it could make a major difference in the lives of the blind in Vina del Mar. The big problem next was money. Computers and special equipment are expensive. This was her dilemma when Maruja joined her friends on a visit to Dallas, Texas. This was a visit sponsored by the International Friendship Force, an organization started by Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, when Jimmy was President of the United States. Its purpose is to promote peace by the exchange of home visits during which friendships develop that may last a lifetime, despite language differences. Maruja became very excited when she learned that one of the hosts in Dallas was Robert Langford, blind and successfully heading up an organization for the handicapped. His daily use of a talking computer became a must for Maruja to see and to learn more about. The meeting between Maruja and Bob went so well that recommendations were immediately made to the Dallas chapter of the Friendship Force to sponsor a program that would assist Maruja and Vina del Mar to achieve a computer center for the blind. Bob's organization, the Texas Center for the Physically Impaired, and the Dallas Friendship Force promoted more donated computers, and volunteers were secured to put them into working order. One of the retired volunteers, Russ Casey, himself legally blind, devoted a very busy year of his life, checking, fixing, and preparing the computers for blind persons who did not have any. A Friendship member, attorney Ray Enstam, took a computer with a synthesized voice to Chile, as his check-through baggage, to get the Center started. Then, American Airlines agreed to ship two more computers free of charge. At the end of the first year, Ray, Bob, and Bob's wife Doris were invited to come down for the dedication ceremony, a happy event celebrating a highly successful team effort.