Students from Escola Adventista Afonso Pena, in São José dos Pinhais, metropolitan region of Curitiba, in Brazil, developed a project with the objective of helping the visually impaired. The initiative included a series of actions that were carried out on the morning of Thursday, July 1st, for members of Associação Além da Visão, in Curitiba.
The project carried out by the students of the 9th grade of Elementary School 2 was inspired by Art teacher, Rosana Pina, whose husband is blind. By attending the Association, the educator and her husband realized the difficulties that people who attend the space have been experiencing. “There are 28 needy families there, who have someone in the family who is blind. The parent or the child is going through a lot of financial difficulties and because of the pandemic some are also unemployed.”
Faced with the discovery, she decided to challenge the students of the school where she teaches with the idea to create an art exhibition and collect donations. The students readily embraced the idea. Embossed engravings and modeling of classical works soon began to appear.
According to the Pedagogical Coordinator, Raquel Santos, the initiative not only benefited the organization but also brought significant learning to the students involved in the project. “This was a project that… [increased their] sensitivity as it opened their eyes...to a universe hitherto unknown to most of them: the need to “see” using other senses.”
In addition to the project, the students also collected food, toys, and clothing for the 28 families that are served by Associação Além da Visão.
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site