Three of their four children will go blind. So this Canadian couple has taken them on a yearlong trip to give them sights to last a lifetime

A campsite nestled amongst the granite desert peaks of Western Namibia. Sunlight splashing against the fiery rocks. The glassy surface of nearby pool.

Edith Lemay wants her children to remember these sights. She knows there will come a point where they can no longer see them.

Of Lemay and her husband Sebastien Pelletier's four children, three have a rare genetic disorder that causes the breakdown and loss of cells in the retina, the tissue that lines the back of the eye. It means they will gradually lose their eyesight and one day be completely blind.

When Mia, now 11, was first diagnosed five years ago, a specialist they saw suggested that they fill their daughter's mind with visual memories" that she could refer back to when she could no longer see.

She was talking more about seeing elephants and giraffes in books. And then talking to my husband, we were like, might as well go see them for real," Lemay said in a video conversation with the Star from a courtyard in Antize Bay, Namibia, while the kids played and laughed in the background.

Later, the Boucherville, Que., parents would find out that two of their three boys, Colin and Laurent, also shared their daughter's fate.

A week and a half ago, Lemay, Pelletier, Mia, and brothers Leo, 9, Colin, 6, and Laurent, 4, embarked on what they hope will be a yearlong trip full of adventure, challenges, and most of all, beautiful sights.

Retinitis pigmentosa refers to a group of genetic disorders that damage light-sensitive cells in the retina, causing gradual vision loss over time as cells die off. The condition affects between 1 in 3,500 and 1 in 4,000 Canadians. By the age of 40, most people with retinitis pigmentosa are legally blind.

Initially, Lemay grappled with how much to tell little Mia. But she says she knew her confident, capable daughter could handle it. By the time Lemay sat Mia down, when she was just eight years old, her daughter was already having trouble with her eyesight.

We were having lunch and I just told her ... you're going to lose your vision one day."

Her daughter's reaction, Lemay said, was something along the lines of: Oh, too bad."

Mia's grit is no doubt learned from her parents, who are committed to making the most of the time they have left with their kids while they can still see.

I like to be in the moment," Lemay said. I like to see the glass half-full."

Still, the reality of her children's future looms: as Lemay admired the expansive starry sky at their campsite in the desert, she realized they will never be able to see something so beautiful."

One of the most common symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa is difficulty seeing at night.

It's the beginning of what Lemay calls the griefs" that she will experience with her children's disease throughout the years. Because their eyesight will deteriorate slowly over time, Mia, Colin and Laurent will constantly have to adapt to what they can and can't see - a never-ending process of mourning. Lemay worries it will affect their happiness.

With Colin and Laurent, who are still too young to really understand, Lemay says the family speaks about their condition openly. But she knows she'll need to keep repeating it.

During one such conversation recently, Lemay said she realized her six-year-old, Colin, didn't quite get that he was going to be completely blind.

He realized it while we were talking about it, and I saw a little sadness come over his face."

Still, when sandboarding down the dunes of Walvis Bay or encountering a large pelican on a boat trip to a seal colony, Lemay doesn't try to drill into her kids that this might be the last time they see such things. Instead, she wants them to be in the moment and build the memories."

Lemay knows it will be hard - but she knows her kids will be able to face whatever comes next.

Another reason for their trip is giving the kids the tools they need to be resilient - and travelling, after all, comes with challenges. It's not easy," Lemay said, you're hungry, you're tired, you're frustrated. I want them to learn from the trip."

No matter what, she never wants her kids to feel like victims. She wants them to know that they're different and it's OK to be different - no matter what they may hear.

My teaching needs to be somehow louder than what society is saying," she said.

Lemay also knows Leo, her big-hearted second-born and only child without retinitis pigmentosa, will step up and be there for his siblings.

The family shared some of their favourite memories from the adventure so far.

Mia loved swimming in a rock pool they stumbled upon in the Namibian desert. She also loved seeing the pelican. Leo's highlight has been the sandboarding.

He was smiling so much that at the end he had sand all over his teeth," Lemay said.

Lemay and Pelletier will homeschool their kids while they travel around the world. The family will be documenting their travels on their Facebook plage, Le monde plein leurs yeux (The world in their eyes).

They had planned to leave in 2020 and ride the Trans-Siberian Railway, but the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine forced them to postpone and change up their route.

The family now has their sights set on the Tazara Railway, which connects Zambia and Tanzania, and hopes to make it to Mongolia by summer.

But it doesn't really matter where they go, Lemay said.

I think there are beautiful things everywhere. So we follow where the adventure takes us."