(The photo gallery is available here.)
On the 20th of June, before the end of this school year, the Support Service was also part of the Sensitisation Day organised at the Jurisics Utca Primary School in Pécs. We were joined by two other organisations: the Round World Foundation and the Baranya County Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired. Thanks to them, the children could try out the visually impaired people's goalball, and they could experience how to help a visually impaired person through situational exercises.
We were seated on the school's more or less shaded basketball court, where students from grades 5, 6 and 7 arrived in three rotations.
The wide range of opportunities we offered sought to educate through the presentation of different disabilities and learning difficulties. They could try out drawing exercises for students with attention deficit, learn about the origins of different smells and odours in blindfolds, try out what it is like to be visually impaired and need an escort, play goalball, go through an obstacle course in a wheelchair and last but not least meet a visually impaired student who brought her guide dog along.
I have to admit, I took the "blindfolded" station with a lot of questions. I didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be difficult to capture the children's interest, as we were arriving at the end of the school year and on an incredibly hot day. In stark contrast, I found that they came to every task with an open mind, eager not only to experience but also to ask questions. They were curious to know how and why, and they summarised their experiences in a pithy way. They understood the importance of accessibility, which is still a major challenge in institutions, schools and almost every aspect of everyday life.
As a teacher myself, who has been involved in many of these events, I was delighted to spend time with them (and I can speak for my colleagues).
After all this, a handful of girls from the lower school surprised us with cheerful songs.
Thank you for the opportunity and we wish the children and their teachers a relaxing summer holiday!
- András Olessák -