By Cuda Zmuda, Middle School Student
The Mediterranean Traditions People to People Program is an amazing experience. This 19 day program is a European tour that brings you through Spain, Italy, and France. This program teaches you amazing things about each city that you probably didn’t know before as well as helping people through service-learning projects.
When we were in Barcelona I got the honor of learning a little bit about how blind people played sports. We started off the experience with a video explaining how blind people move along with their daily life. Then we learned about a game that blind people play called goal ball.
To play goal ball you have two teams of three. Each team is spread out in front of a goal. You have to try to roll the ball across the court to the other teams goal. If you get it in the goal you get a point. The way not to get a goal is if you miss it or the other team spreads out their body to block a goal or you miss it.
The way this game is hard is because you can’t see the ball. Since everyone on the program can see they gave us goggles that block out sight. This game requires the use of hearing because they put a bell inside the ball so you can hear it coming. This game gave us a small sample of how a blind person lives. I found it very inspiring to see how the blind people live like there isn’t any difference between them and people with better eyesight.
I figured out after the trip that there are many ways to help the blind in America. If you know a blind person you can read instructions for them, grocery shopping, gift shopping, and for helping clean.
I also found that there are many programs helping the blind such as AFB (American Foundation For The Blind) and schools such as Perkins for the Blind. Most of all, I found that kids that are visually impaired want to be treated equally rather than be treated with pity.