They are the very best of friends, and there's nothing they don't know about each other, but when school re-opens this month, Matthew Johnson and Tmara Fubler will, for the first time, be separated by thousands of miles, and facing major challenges in their young lives -- without the support of their marathon, daily phone calls.

Not only are the duo entering new schools with more demanding curricula, but also they must adapt to unfamiliar surroundings, and make friends with teachers and students whom they have never met.

While that is not unusual -- thousands of other youngsters do the same thing at the beginning of each school year -- 14-year-old Tmara and 10 1 -year old Matthew will be expected to fit in like everyone else, even though they were born blind.

Such are their personalities, however, that both students are eager to move on with their academic lives, and also to make new friends.

"I am looking forward to getting used to a new school environment. I like a challenge,'' says Matthew, who will be entering Warwick Academy, while Tmara is looking forward to meeting Laura, another 14-year-old, at Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia.

"It has always been Tmara's dream to go away to school to meet other children who have visual problems,'' her mother, Donna Fubler, explains. "She has always wanted to have a female best friend who is blind.'' As a specialist school, Overbrook will, in addition to regular studies, also prepare Tmara for an independent lifestyle as she heads towards adulthood.

"She will learn all the mobility and life skills that she needs for herself so that she will be a productive citizen like everyone else,'' Mrs. Fubler explained. "After all, they are people before they are blind.'' Tmara is also excited about all the new technology she will have access to at Overbrook.

Meanwhile, Matthew, who has been a student at St. George's Preparatory School, is eager to use his new, special laptop computer at Warwick Academy since computers are just about his "favourite thing in the whole world'', according to his mother, Lynda Johnson.

"It's going to be real cool using that in school,'' Matthew says. "It doesn't speak yet but it will.'' With this new computer he will also be able to access the Internet by himself, and in addition he looks forward to using the school's speaking computers. A personal reading machine linked to a computer is another aid to savour.

Indeed, Matthew is such an accomplished computer buff that he has even made friends with a gentleman in the United States who regularly gives him Braille technological guidance, and whom he only discovered by chance was blind like himself.

While Matthew will participate fully in Warwick Academy's activities, he will be accompanied by Marty Davis, a qualified teacher for the visually impaired.

"I am going to oversee his programme in all respects,'' Mrs. Davis explains.

"I will make sure he is oriented in school, and that he is safe. I will also be a liaison with his teachers to make sure Matthew understands the material he is presented with, and to see that his needs are adapted so that he has a better understanding of what he learns.'' In addition, Mrs. Davis will ensure that the teachers understand Matthew's blindness and his mobility needs. She will order his Braille text books, and assist with the conversion and photocopying of class notes and homework material between Braille and written text.

Like Tmara, Matthew has adapted well to regular schooling, thanks in part to the special equipment they both use -- a Braille Lite machine, a talking dictionary and calculator among them.

The Braille Lite machine is a modern marvel which is the blind person's equivalent of a note pad and pen, and both Matthew and Tmara use it extensively. Whatever they type into it is recorded in Braille. The machine is then plugged into a printer with a special dual port, which converts the Braille into written text. Through this system, the students and their teachers are able to communicate effectively on written matters.

With his Jaws for Windows programme, Matthew will be able to read anything on his computer screen.

"Technology for the blind is very expensive, but it has also turned things around for them,'' Mrs. Davis observes.

Indeed, so well adjusted are the duo that it is easy to forget they are blind, and that is just the way they and their families want it.

"We determined from the beginning that Matthew would be raised as a normal child,'' Mrs. Johnson explains. "We try to expose him to any and everything, and he has always been willing to try things. We never discourage him.'' "As children they just need to be properly trained,'' Mrs. Fubler added.

"That is why Tmara is going away to school so that she will be better equipped to take care of herself.'' One of the things she will have to accept at Overbrook is learning to use a cane. To date, neither child has ever used one because, as Mrs. Fubler says, "they are free spirits and canes are not their thing''.

Given that they are sightless and don't use canes, questions such as how they manage to get around so well, and know where they are, frequently arise, and it seems that the answers are: "Keen hearing and good memories.'' They both "read'' and memorise terrain, and use sound to pinpoint locations and people.

Thanks to remembering his mother's running commentaries, Matthew even knows where he is on the roads when they're driving.

While blindness is the common denominator which brought these youngsters together a decade or so ago, it is certainly not the bond which binds them.

Rather, it is a host of shared interests and aspirations that has led to their deep friendship.

Such is their rapport, in fact, that there is real excitement when they meet, and listening to them interact is akin to eavesdropping on a happily married couple. They finish each other's sentences, praise and gently chide each other, and even sing duets together. Several hobbies and tastes are shared.

Matthew, who has a karaoke machine among other gadgetry in his bedroom, is "into rap big time'', and wants to be a rapper when he grows up -- as well as run a technology-based company, and teach Braille. His favourite artists are DMX and the Flip Mode Squad. He composes his own rap, and also learns instruments by listening to music.

Schools opening up new worlds Tmara is an avid reader who also loves to sing -- especially gospel and R & B.

She is an admirer of Maria Carey, and wants to sing and act when she grows up, as well as teach Braille.

At Somerset Primary School she won the Valerie Protheroe cup for excellence in music, and recently had a role in a children's summer theatre workshop.

The duo are fans of Star Trek movies, and Matthew is also a ham radio enthusiast. He has learned to sail the family boat through a combination of verbal instructions and special marks on the steering wheel, while Tmara enjoyed playing football, kick ball and even cricket at Sandys Secondary Middle School.

Since both children have been encouraged to lead full and regular lives, neither welcomes unsolicited assistance, particularly from strangers. They also find it tiresome to be asked how they became blind and how they get around. So well adjusted are they, in fact, that neither has any desire to see.

"There is nothing I don't see with my fingers,'' is how Matthew sums it up for the pair of them.

Schools opening up new worlds Tmara is an avid reader who also loves to sing -- especially gospel and R & B.

She is an admirer of Maria Carey, and wants to sing and act when she grows up, as well as teach Braille.

At Somerset Primary School she won the Valerie Protheroe cup for excellence in music, and recently had a role in a children's summer theatre workshop.

The duo are fans of Star Trek movies, and Matthew is also a ham radio enthusiast. He has learned to sail the family boat through a combination of verbal instructions and special marks on the steering wheel, while Tmara enjoyed playing football, kick ball and even cricket at Sandys Secondary Middle School.

Since both children have been encouraged to lead full and regular lives, neither welcomes unsolicited assistance, particularly from strangers. They also find it tiresome to be asked how they became blind and how they get around. So well adjusted are they, in fact, that neither has any desire to see.

"There is nothing I don't see with my fingers,'' is how Matthew sums it up for the pair of them.

Photos by Arthur Bean Dynamic Duo: Best friends Matthew Johnson and Tmara Fubler love singing along with his karaoke machine. Matthew is a keen rapper, Tmara prefers gospel and R & B.

Making Notes: Matthew Johnson (right) finds his Braille Lite machine an invaluable tool. The equivalent of a pen and notebook, it provides an important bridge between Braille and written text.

Dress Rehearsal: Tmara Fubler (centre, checked suit) rehearses for her role in a recent children's summer workshop production. She hopes to be an actress and singer some day.