The only way to teach science to blind children is hands-on or in Dorah's case,
stumps-on. In April 2004 she visited two science museums, one in Manchester,
UK, where she got to hear the wheels, belts and pulleys turning; got to smell
the oil and feel the steam. She touched massive wheels and was lifted up to
try to get a sense of the size of the machinery. Dorah does not know what a
steam engine is, but she has to start somewhere. Dorah also visited the Science
Museum in London and celebrated her tenth birthday there. Even the interactive
equipment was hard for a blind child with no fingers to use, but the device
that demonstrated the effectiveness of ball bearings was within her grasp. Slowly
and carefully, she took all the balls out and turned the wheel. Then she put
all the balls back in and could feel how much easier it was to turn. It would
be so useful to have Dorah-size devices like this made by a craftsman for our
school in Johannesburg.