Becoming an Eagle Scout? Difficult.

Qualifying to become an Eagle Scout while losing one’s eyesight? Even more difficult.

Using the Eagle Scout project to raise awareness of what it’s like to lose your sight while at the same time benefiting a program for other visually impaired youngsters? Priceless.

Seth Welch of Quitman had his sights set on becoming an Eagle Scout ever since he started as a Cub. When he was diagnosed with cone rod dystrophy and told that he would slowly go blind, Welch saw it as one more obstacle to overcome.

When it came time to start the project that would qualify him for Eagle Scout, he knew he wanted to do something that would help other people learn what it is like to lose your sight. 

“Before I was diagnosed, I took my sight for granted,” Welch said, “and I don’t want other people to make that same mistake.”

Then his dad found information about a way for people to find out for themselves how difficult even everyday tasks become when they can’t see.

The idea led to Welch’s project, “A Dinner in the Dark,” recently held at the Quitman Country Club. Welch not only planned and organized the entire event (with a lot of help from his parents) but also acted as emcee for the evening. 

“The sighted person’s world is dominated by visual stimulus,” he told the group. “Research says that 80 percent of eating a meal is what you see. Tonight, with your vision being blindfolded, you will have an opportunity to use your other senses to experience the world around you.”

About 100 participants were blindfolded, led to tables and served dinner. The food was a mystery. Diners could smell, feel and taste, but they could not see the food that was going into their mouths … that is, whenever the food made it into their mouths. 

“It took them by surprise,” Welch said with a laugh, “half the time when the fork got to their mouth there wasn’t anything on it.”

It was an eye-opening experience. Some diners thought it all great fun, discovering new ways to explore the world around them. Some became withdrawn and timid without their sight. 

A man who uses hearing aids discovered just how much he relies on lip-reading to understand what is said to him. One couple struggled to find each other so they could sneak a kiss. All agreed they came away from the experience with a greater awareness of what it’s like to live with impaired sight.

“A Dinner in the Dark” didn’t just raise awareness. The event also raised $6,300 that Welch donated to the Lions Camp for the Blind near Waycross to provide scholarships for youngsters who otherwise could not afford camp fees. 

“I hope that everyone that can’t afford to go to camp this year gets the opportunity,” Welch said. “I look forward to going to the camp and meeting these wonderful people and making friends.”

The Quitman Lions Club chapter was so impressed with Seth’s success it reports it has convinced other Lions Club chapters around Georgia to plan Dinner in the Dark events to raise both awareness and funds for the camp.

Fourteen-year-old Seth Welch may be losing his sight but he has a vision. 

“My mom asked me what I have learned about myself since I found out that I am losing my sight. I told her that I don’t get to choose whether I have my eyesight or not, so I have to accept what God has given me and make the best of what I have,” he said. “That is what I intend to do. My challenge to everybody is take what God has given you and make the best of what you have.”