Camp concept
There are more than 500 children in Lithuania, who have vision disabilities, which externally function as impairments of orientation and mobility as well as exploratory activities. For this group of people participation in societal activities is possible only with the help of others. In the developmental programs for these children there are extra assigned lessons of orientation, mobility and self-service skills. However, these lessons are not sufficient enough, that’s why blind or people, who suffer from all kinds of vision impairments, have low self-confidence and often lack courage to explore or travel to public places, like pools, theaters, ice-skating arenas and etc. The goal of this project is to teach children orientation and mobility in a unique environment, also providing them with new experiences and skills.
The project “The Miracle of Cognition”, organized by Klaipėdos Senamiesčio Rotary club and Klaipėdos vision developmental center, is organized annually starting from 2011. It received recognition not only from the region of Klaipėda but also across Lithuania. The reason behind this is that this camp accepts children from a variety of Lithuanian regions and other countries. There is no analogy for this project in the Baltic states.
From 2015 this camp got the title of being international. The participants arrived from Estonia, Latvia and even Belarus. There was initiated contact and collaboration between the Rotary clubs located in those countries, which took care of the free trip the foreign participants take to Lithuania.
The reviews and experiences shared from the foreign participants ensured a continuation of this project in an international span. This year is no exception. With financial stability there is a plan to invite even more foreign participants, also ensuring that the number of Lithuanian participants does not decrease, as well as making sure that different children get to experience the summer camp. It is important to note, that priority will be given to socially supported families.