Abby’s Dream Journey is an online mixed media story, in-person interactive immersive audio story, and virtual story exhibit in Second Life.
Abby’s story is mixed with her recorded dreams, interviews, and immersive sound recordings of Ethiopia. This exhibit, audio story, and online story were built with accessibility in mind.
Transcriptions and sign language videos have been added with the story online for anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing.
Visual Memories
Meet Abby Griffith, born Abebech Yohanis. Abby was born in Areka, Ethiopia in the Wylota Soda region.
Abby’s last visual memories are important to her, she told me. Each night, she hopes she will see what she remembers in her dreams.
“When I dream, when my visual happens, I see things I saw when I was sighted. I still see people in my dream and where I was. I can see people’s faces and when I’m walking around I don’t use a cane.” Abby Griffith
In her dreams, she is an adult, yet what she sees are the memories that are engraved in the mind of an eight-year-old child. She sees her mother, her childhood home, and the areas of Ethiopia where she played as a child. Abby’s reflecting dreams are her last tether to the visual memories she has of her life before she lost her sight. It is not uncommon for people who become blind after the age of 5 or 6 years old to dream visually. Their visual references remain a part of their cognitive memory. However, a sleep study conducted by a Danish research company in 2014 found that in most people, visual dreams began to fade into darkness over time.
“I’m glad I didn’t lose those. It would be sad. I will just forget what I saw when I was little, young, eight years old kid like getting into everything, trying to figure out things, seeing sparkling things, chasing birds and bugs and everything like that.” Abby Griffith
Her favorite thing as a child was watching and listening to birds. She loved birds so much that she would try to catch them and bring them home for pets, she said laughingly in our interview.Abby shares a special memory of chasing birds when she was little
The limited educational resources for people who are blind in Ethiopia and severe financial difficulties for her mother led Abby to seeking adoption at an agency in Ethiopia. When she was 12 years old, Abby sought to be adopted by someone in America. Abby wanted educational opportunities and future economic opportunities to be able to help her mother. Abby overheard at school about adoptions in the United States. She went home and told her mother, Abu, that she wanted to be adopted so she could have a good education Abu didn’t want her daughter to leave, she was afraid she would never see her again. However, she said she knew that it was best for her daughter. Family is important to Abby and maintaining her cultural past remains a part of her life. She made sure she always stayed in touch with her mother in Ethiopia and she sends money to help Abu and Abby’s family in Ethiopia.
Abby talks about this moment with her mother Abu, whose in Ethiopia about the day it happened. Cellphone photo by Mary Anne Funk
The limited educational resources for people who are blind in Ethiopia and severe financial difficulties for her mother led Abby to seeking adoption at an agency in Ethiopia. When she was 12 years old, Abby sought to be adopted by someone in America. Abby wanted educational opportunities and future economic opportunities to be able to help her mother. Abby overheard at school about adoptions in the United States. She went home and told her mother, Abu, that she wanted to be adopted so she could have a good education Abu didn’t want her daughter to leave, she was afraid she would never see her again. However, she said she knew that it was best for her daughter. Family is important to Abby and maintaining her cultural past remains a part of her life. She made sure she always stayed in touch with her mother in Ethiopia and she sends money to help Abu and Abby’s family in Ethiopia.
A Mother’s Love
After Abby lost her sight, she spent a year in her room. I would learn later that Abby’s birth mother, Abu, sat with her that whole year, until she could no longer afford it financially.
Abby and I called her mother, Abu, via Facebook to talk about what she remembers about the day Abby had her accident. Abby’s mother and father did everything they could for her, including going through all of their money in hopes of helping her get her eyesight back. Within a few years of her accident, Abby’s father passed away.
The limited educational resources for people who are blind in Ethiopia and severe financial difficulties for her mother led Abby to seeking adoption at an agency in Ethiopia. When she was 12 years old, Abby sought to be adopted by someone in America. Abby wanted educational opportunities and future economic opportunities to be able to help her mother. Abby overheard at school about adoptions in the United States. She went home and told her mother, Abu, that she wanted to be adopted so she could have a good education Abu didn’t want her daughter to leave, she was afraid she would never see her again. However, she said she knew that it was best for her daughter. Family is important to Abby and maintaining her cultural past remains a part of her life. She made sure she always stayed in touch with her mother in Ethiopia and she sends money to help Abu and Abby’s family in Ethiopia.
