FLYING IS A FEELING
by Dante Marello. (Argentina)

(We wanted to put this translations in top of any other)

  This is an experience that happened to me in the town El Trebol, at the county of Santa Fe (Argentina), when we went to carry out a kite festival, invited by the Cooperative of Water of that place. There was a concurrence of almost 3,000 people and I believe that in some moment there were near 500 cane and paper kites in flight. Since it was a very small town, the convocation was very successful.
  In the distribution of tasks, I must carry out flight school and flights of baptism on stunt kites.
I was very interested in that all those that fly a kite with me will take a good impression of this activity, until, timidly, a family group approached to me.
  The mother asked me if her boy, around 10 years old, could fly even if he is blind.
"Good, I thought, since many have flown, I won't have problems with this boy, paying more attention and not loosing command twice as much, due to his condition of blind... (sustaining from behind his hands)".
  The surprise was that minutes later of being in this flying situation and of course explaining him the details in all moments and while I noticied that he didn't make it bad, I allowed him to fly by himself, staying alert to solve the bad maneuvers that in a couple of opportunities I had to correct, but the boy felt through the lines the direction of the kite and he flew it to where I indicated him, until I didn't have more necessity to indicate him, except when he flew outside of the window of wind.
  As conclusion, he carried out the " flight baptism " much better than anyone that can see the kite.
  This experience confirms what we all know: when having some of our senses in lack, naturally we develop the other ones to replace the lacks this causes us.
  Of course this experience had me exalted the whole day, and also the group that we were; it was the long conversation from the return to house, ...and I also tried to change my way of flying.
  The boy's mother told us that her boy is very able, that he also stands out in the games with some other children of the neighborhood and that he doesn't have any problem of being integrated to the group. For all those reasons she cheered up to request me that I teach him to fly a stunt kite.
  It is a pity that there is people that does not cheer up to anything, while they say "it is very difficult this task". I think that if you begin to make anything with a negative mind, you better stop that task so that one another makes it, because you surely will fail.
  Go ahead with conviction!!!!