These days an extraordinary project has been developed in Tangier, Morocco. Powered by IYC Spain and the association Enfants du Paradis, this initiative has addressed several children with disability either physical or mental. The aim has been to assist them and make them participants in different entertaining actions and educational support activities.
This project started some years ago, with the original idea of a group of young volunteers from Zaragoza, where every year, a different crew comes from to join the program’s main activities during summertime.
Participants have been impacted by the kindness and love shown every day. They have claimed they will never forget what they have experienced and witnessed. The time shared with them has driven them to find out the difficulties and struggles that someone with a disability has to face. That gets even worse when most of the guys without the care and aid provided by the orphanage would be in a situation of poverty and at risk of death.
Among the activities done with the beneficiaries, the volunteers played games and taught them how to use scholarly materials such as scissors, glue sticks, sharpeners, rubbers, and other stuff.
Furthermore, besides the youngest and littlest beneficiaries, there was another group of teenagers who also had mental disability illnesses that took part in a special activity dedicated to cooking.
For the activity, we had the immense luck of counting on a super chef as Mohammed Zai, who was awarded Cook of the Year. Mohammed accompanied and advised participants during the celebration of the challenge. Participants had to prepare a dish within a limited time and pay attention to the details and aestheticism of the plate presentations.
it was an amusing time that led participants to realize how useful they were and rely on their capacities and skills, despite all the barriers their condition could present. The way they overcome their lack is the biggest lesson we took from that day.
