Opening eyes

One of the objectives of the work of the Community Programme is to reduce the gap between people with disabilities and those who have not had contact with people with a similar limitation.

It has been several years since the Peruvian State began promoting school inclusion. We are also seeing in all public institutions notices to give preference to people with disabilities in queues. There are also laws that state that these people can have a pension. But has anything really changed in our vision, in our minds, in our hearts?

"... And if you were us?" is the question that the Community Programme asks in awareness workshops and training sessions in rural areas, with teachers, health personnel and local authorities. And the surprises that we encounter are sometimes big.

In the month of May, the coordinators of the Community Programme in San Luis de Lucma and Sócota, in the province of Cutervo, organized two of these workshops.

We were able hear the difficulties with inclusion that teachers faced in their classrooms, we heard about the low budgets of the offices responsible for the problems of disability, and of the tedious administrative and bureaucratic maneuvers in public institutions ...

To listen to and to debate these difficulties is the first step. But we also manage to raise awareness amongst participants through dynamic tasks, practice and role play and like this, in an enjoyable manner, we all open our eyes and our hearts a little more. And we end up learning something that will help us make an effort with or to shake the hand of a child with a disability.

Thanks to the sponsors, organizers and participants of these events.