A dairy farmer in western Australia is far from a small town in Germany.
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Dr. Max Bergman’s wife and young family live in Morangup, near Tudi, where they lighten wild camels for camel milk.
Only 2-3% of vision uses innovation and technology to drive the work of a legal blind farmer, paralympian and researcher.
After studying for a PhD in plant physiology, Dr. Bergman moved on to life on earth.
“I always do what I like, including the camels now,” he said.
I really like farming and I love driving a tractor.
“Just because I’m visually impaired doesn’t mean you can’t do it. There are ways around it and the technology is absolutely unbelievable.”
Dr. Bergman underwent retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 8 and has been suffering from eye problems ever since.
“I have a blind spot between my eyes, and I have only a vision left,” he said.
Dr Bergman breeds wild camels from central Australia and trains them to suckle in the dairy.
Most milk is used in various skin care products as well as dry powder and some for drinking.
Dr. Bergman says he is often asked how he works with camels.
It requires planning, structure and trust, he said.
“I think the camels are definitely in contact with the person who is watching,” he said.
I just believe them. I think I have gained that inner trust and I am not afraid. And I think they feel like I can’t really see, but my position, all the movement around me is very reassuring. Guess what, I never really knew. ”
Dr. Bergman said he uses technology to remember activities around the mobile milk system.
“Just three steps to the left, one step forward and then touch this rope, they do this, he is getting used to it,” he said.
When things are not going my way, I suddenly become blind.
He developed systems to move around the property.
We placed white corpse blue markers on all our large fences and placed them in a systematic way.
A GPS automated control system is installed in the tractor to navigate the field.
“When you are on a big machine and we are doing the crop, you have GPS technology that you know, these days you can literally put a monkey in there, you just need to press a key and the tractor is perfectly straight,” he said.
I say it’s always a good time to be blind because of technology.
I did my PhD on a computer with a screen reader you know, the technology is amazing.
Sometimes, though, simple ideas are best.
Dr Bergman says designing Australia’s first mobile camel milk product requires some creative thinking.
“I am blind, I am blind by law, it is very difficult for me to draw plans and drawings, so I really had to think about it when we did that system,” he said.
I have always had this vision by saying, ‘I am blind, but I have a vision,’ so I had to come up with the whole system, how it works and how I did it. I was actually playing with my kids.
We used some Lagos, and we set up yards and milk systems and ran over and over again under different conditions.
Driving for sustainability
Dr. Bergman said the mobile milk platform was created with a desire to be more sustainable.
“We have created a decentralized system, so instead of taking the cows to the milk, we are now trying to take the milk to the cows,” he said.
This is an invention that allows camels to stay in the pasture for a hundred percent.
Dr. Bergman said that they have a special relationship with their camels and that they have a good reputation for being bad spit.
“I always call them because they have a warm heart,” he says.
“They are not flying animals, so they are very different from horses or cows.
“The whole psychology is more like a dog, so if you like dogs and you have hundreds of them.
They will come to you and some of them, you know, they will come if you find a true mate and
Embrace… and it is great to be around them. ”
When the day-to-day work of a camel farm becomes tiring, Max finds himself in the company of his desire and determination to continue every day.
“If your favorite camel comes and puts his head on your shoulders, close your eyes for a moment, it’s just a magic wand. That only transmits to you. That gives me the feeling you have for me. Doing the right thing. Keep doing what you do.
Chris Career winner of ABC Regional Historical Scholarship, Partnership with International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
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