Extra-Ordinary Persons of Taiwan

Your mind is a map. It records everything you do and everywhere you go. You just have to learn how to read the map.

This is Ruby's story.

Arriving at English Conversation Group

I was six months old when I had my first heart surgery. I couldn’t breathe. My parents took me to the hospital where the doctors diagnosed me with a type of valvular heart disease. One of my valves didn’t close completely at birth.

I had another heart surgery when I was 14, and then another just this year. I’ll need more in the future. For now I'm doing well.

My parents divorced when I was seven. After that I didn’t see them much or live with them – I lived at school in the dorm. It was a regular school, not one for the blind or the disabled. In our high school you have to choose a major and a minor. I chose music. My mom had been my piano teacher, so music was already familiar to me. I majored in viola and minored in piano. I practiced 8 hours a day.

When I graduated from high school I entered Tamkang University or TKU. It’s a private university here in Taipei. This time my major was Japanese and my minor was German. Government scholarships kept me in school. When I graduated, I became a teacher for a junior high school.

I am also blind.

It can take over 100,000 times to learn a new skill when you are blind.

Simple things for everyone else can be very difficult. It’s a challenge when I can’t find the water dispenser. Getting the water into my water bottle is difficult. Every day tasks are complicated. 

I worked for 7-½ years as a teacher. Then my dad got liver cancer. In Taiwan, when someone gets sick, it is the responsibility of a family member, usually the oldest child, to take care of them. I am an only child. So I quit my job and went to live with my father in the hospital.

Someone stole my dad’s ID, and used the ID to fraudulently buy a car. I sued him. It took 8 years of my life. I had to go back and forth from the lawsuit activities to the hospital. After four years in the hospital, my dad passed away. That was three years ago.

This year I lost the lawsuit. 

Sometimes I still miss my dad. I don’t see my mom much.

Now I am a masseuse. I went to school for 2 years to learn the trade, and have been doing it for over 7 years. 

Sister Coffey's first professional massage.

I live in my dad’s apartment. I memorize the way to get from my home to work. I also take the subway and then walk to the Church where I attend the weekly English conversation group. I am learning about the teaching of Jesus Christ from the missionaries. 

President Peterson and I in a recent visit.

When I finish at the Church I walk to the subway to get back home. The street signals don't have beeps to alert me when it is my turn to cross the street. I have to listen to the cars to know when it is safe to do so.

Taiwan does not have a lot of mobility services for the blind. I do the best I can. But I do have a cell phone that reads my messages to me.  That’s an easy way for me to communicate with others. It also tells me what it sees in photos that I take.

The camera tells me what the image is in the screen.

A photo of Elder Coffey

I want to help change the laws or policies in Taiwan to provide more resources for the disabled. My philosophy in life is nengliang ( 能量) – or energy. A blind person can do almost anything. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me or think I can’t do things. I’m just an ordinary person, almost like everyone else. Blind people have many capabilities. You just need to give them a chance.

Ruby continues to advocate for the disabled. Her life is exemplary in showing that disabilities need not stop a person from pursuing their goals and dreams. In spite of all the challenges she has faced, she retains her self-reliant lifestyle with a cheerful attitude, optimism and grace.