Video inglesi

As EducAid we have been operating in El Salvador for over 10 years in the field of inclusive education, collaborating with the Ministry of Education, universities and technicians of the national school system. The “Escuelas Y Comunidades Inclusivas Para Otra Ciudadanía” project – funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and promoted in partnership with Soleterre Onlus, Punto Sud and the University of Bologna – was promoted with the aim of reducing the marginalization of the more vulnerable groups through the improvement of the educational offer in an inclusive key, to guarantee all students, respecting differences, full participation in the learning processes and making them, in future, responsible citizens. An ambitious and demanding project that involved schools and local communities in a particularly complex socio-political framework, in which we have focused our intervention on the training of teachers, school principals and public officials in collaboration with the teachers of the Educational Science Department “Giovanni Maria Bertin” of the University of Bologna and the experts of the Swiss Italian Center-Ceis. The small state of El Salvador, with fewer than seven million inhabitants, in fact holds the sad distinction of being one of the most violent countries in the world, dominated by the ferocity of the “maras”, gangs of young local criminals. In the video made by filmmaker Neil Brandvold, which we are particularly happy to share, Enma Menjivar De Marquez, a teacher who participated in the activities, bears her testimony and tells the context in which she finds herself working every day.

Opened on April 24 2019, the Center for Independent Life for people with disabilities was created in Gaza City within the I-Can project: Independence, Capabilities, Autonomy, Inclusion promoted by EducAid and funded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation Development, with the partnership of the Center for Autonomy in Rome. The structure – which has as its objective the independence and self-determination of people with disabilities – constitutes a unique and innovative reality within a complex context such as the Palestinian one, and in Gaza in particular. The proposed approach is global and focuses on supporting people with disabilities in a socio-economic empowerment process to reduce the discomfort that is often aggravated by the absence of job and relationship opportunities. The Center distributes aids and provides services aimed at people with disabilities and their families, thanks to a multidisciplinary team of professionals that also includes the figures of au pair consultants, i.e. persons with disabilities who act as role models in a path of inner growth aimed at emancipation.

March 2020: the aids sent from Italy to our Center for the Independent Life of People with Disabilities I-CAN, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, make their entry into the Gaza Strip. A huge range of products adapted according to user needs, thanks to the advice of the Center for Autonomy in Rome: 66 wheelchairs for children and adults, 21 postural systems between cushions and backs for all ages, 13 walkers, 10 aids for adapting the bathroom, 7 stabilizers and transfer systems, 21 pieces of materials for adapting the functions of the hands, 53 aids for everyday activities, 32 technological aids for facilitating communication, 60 spare parts of manual and electric wheelchairs, scooters and much more. Special recognition for the support provided by UNDP Palestinian for facilitating entry operations.

Eman and Mona are two deaf girls from Gaza. In this video they describe their micro-enterprise project, if they can find the necessary funds to carry it out, they can finally achieve economic independence and social recognition within the community. The project “A beauty salon for all” is part of the “I start again from me” fundraising campaign organized by EducAid to finance 34 micro-enterprise projects for disabled women in Gaza.

Dina, Eman, Sawsan are featured in the short movie. Three women with disabilities living in the Gaza Strip that thanks to the INCLUDE project, made by EducAid in collaboration with RIDS – Italian Network Disability and Development, had the chance to attend workshops, meetings, activities that led them, step by step, to realize their professional ideas and to know their rights of women with disabilities thereby acquiring decision-making power over their lives. The INCLUDE project aims to combat discrimination faced by disabled people in Palestine in the Gaza Strip by promoting rights and economic and social empowerment.

Three stories tell about Gaza and its inhabitants.
Video produced by Consolato Generale d’Italia a Gerusalemme, Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo (Ministero Affari degli Esteri) in collaboration with EducAid Onlus.

Active participation and social inclusion of disabled people in Palestine through the empowerment of local DPO’s.

Interviewing Masa

The project, funded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development and promoted by EducAid in the Gaza Strip with the support of RIDS and local partners, aimed to promote the social inclusion of women with disabilities in accordance with the United Nations Convention (CRPD) to improve the living conditions of one of the most vulnerable groups in Palestinian society.