Blind people in Thailand chose American walking canes over all others globally, when the Prakanong Rotary Club of Bangkok proposed supplying them canes. The Hesperia Rotary Club in California, where the supplier -- California Canes -- is located, and the Bangkok Ploenchit Rotary Club joined the project that has imported 127 canes so far. In the photograph (left to right) are the principal of a school for the blind in Songkhla Province, southern Thailand; one of the blind people helping with the selection; the principal of a school for the blind in Surathani Province, southern Thailand; Jon Harger, an American and the only foreign member of the Thai- language Prakanong Rotary Club, who initiated the project; and a teacher at the National School for the Blind in Bangkok who was the initial contact person and has handled coordination for the distribution of the canes. Mr. Harger, with the input from these two blind people, designed a custom carrier for the canes that bears the names of the three participating Rotary Clubs.
We much appreciate the efforts and participation of California Canes and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) in making sure we received the canes for this project.