Looking at the bright and artsy beaded jewellery neatly laid out on the coffee table of their home in Bluewater Bay, one would think that the beadwork was done by a professional who could see exactly what they were doing to get the pattern work just right.
In this case, however, the creator of these necklaces and bracelets is both blind and deaf, relying only on her sense of touch and ability to read labels in Braille.
Mandy Poley has a cochlear implant, which means that she can now hear to some extent, but has not been able to see since the age of eight.
A while ago, Poley discovered that she has a talent for beadwork and has been creating bags full of jewellery, all unique in their patterns and colours.
Poley’s mother, Charmaine Obermeyer, said that her daughter’s health issues started when she was about two.
“She started pulling on her ears because she struggled to hear. It broke my heart and I would just go and cry in the other room. When she was three years old, her hearing was completely gone and at the age of five she become the youngest guinea pig for a multi-canal cochlear implant, giving her back some of her hearing,” Obermeyer explained.
She added that Poley was diagnosed with a rare kidney syndrome, De Toni-Fanconi, which was the cause of her hearing and sight loss.
Due to this syndrome, Poley also has only 14 percent kidney function, and is the oldest person they know of in South Africa with this syndrome that has managed to survive without dialysis, or a kidney transplant.
“She has decided that she does not want those things and it is her personal choice. She is healthy otherwise and takes her medication.”
Obermeyer added that it would sometimes be difficult for Poley to communicate with others, because she is mostly used to her mother’s voice.
“When she got her hearing back, the only words she was able to remember using were “mamma,” “papa” and “eina” so she had to learn to speak again from scratch, when she was five. She also had to start getting accustomed to voices, but after some time she would start to recognise a person based on their voice,” she explained.
When asked how she manages to do such creative artwork without being able to see what she’s doing, and also having no idea what the beads look like, Poley said that she relies on her sensitive sense of touch.
“I can feel what to do, and my mother labelled the containers for me in Braille. Now I can read in Braille which container has which colour beads, and that’s how I do it.
“I go to bed at night and new ideas for designs come to me and when I wake up in the morning, I do those designs,” she said with a smile.
Poley explained that her interest in beadwork started during one of her weekly outings with a group of friends.
“One of the ladies in the group did beadwork and the one day on our outing, she said that I should try and see how I find beadwork, and that’s how she discovered my talent,” Poley said with a laugh.
Her mother added that Poley is extremely organised, and has a system that she works with that only she understands.
“She knows exactly what she is doing and where everything is. I don’t get involved there. Many people think that I help her, but this is all her. Not everyone realises that since she lost two senses, her sense of touch is extremely sensitive. She is also very independent.
“I am extremely grateful that through all of this, Mandy has always had such a positive attitude. Not once did she ever complain or ask why this had happened to her. She has a very positive outlook on life.”
Obermeyer even disappeared in a room for a while and came back with a huge pink blanket that Poley also knitted all by herself. She can crochet too.
When asked how she feels when she does beadwork and knitting, Poley answered, “I am at my happiest when I can do this.”
Her mother agrees.
“It does make her very happy and it helps her keep busy. She used to sell them at a market, but with her health it’s not advisable for us to stand at a market all day. She has several bags full of these, and it would be great to sell them. It is not about the money, but just celebrating the fact that someone who is deaf and blind, made something so beautiful,” her mother said.
