To create awareness and to foster greater inclusion, we introduced the ‘Blind Date with Blind Rocks’ school campaign in collaboration with the Sydney city college of management for students who were isolated at home during the Covid lockdowns.
The program was designed to grant the students an experience of what it means to be blind and so as to foster greater empathy for people with blindness and to encourage them to be active allies for inclusion and integration. The 2-hour virtual sessions were facilitated by an expert with blindness and offered experiential opportunities for the students to enhance their exposure to problem solving, empathy, resilience and creative learning through practical games, riddles and discussions.
The program was then extended to 10 other organizations, covering over 300 students while employing 10 people with blindness as expert facilitators. blind members as a blind expert. The feedback received indicated that the students who participated in our program felt their horizons were broadened and were motivated to be optimistic and confident.
An outcome of the program was to encourage independence among people with blindness by using them as expert facilitators for the program.
We are grateful to the Sydney City College of Management for the opportunity, trust and support offered for this campaign. This would not have been possible without the college’s encouragement and financial support. We thank the management, staff and students for the opportunity and experience.