Los Realejos launches this summer a pioneering inclusive summer campus, called Diver Campus Villa de Los Realejos. This is the first initiative of its kind on the Island prepared to include people with all types of disabilities. It will be developed by Barco de Papel Canary Islands. The mayor of Los Realejos, Adolfo gonzalezand the Councilor for Childhood and Disability, Macarena Hernández, presented this initiative yesterday along with the president of the Afanes Canarias mental health association, María de Jesús López.
The campus offers 18 free places to promote integration. It is aimed at 10 boys and girls with different disabilities and another 8 minors without disabilities. It will take place between August 16 and 29 at the Casa del Emprendedor in Los Realejos, from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The mayor of Los Realejos explained that “based on the concern transmitted by representatives of the inclusive royal association of families with children with disabilities Afanes Canarias, who are sometimes excluded from the conventional offer of summer campus or at other times of the year, we committed to promoting a municipal pilot experience aimed at offering a campus that would include all disabilities, with professionals specialized in the field in different subjects for their development in the town.”
Barco de Papel Canarias contributes with a professional team adjusted to the participants
From this idea and this commitment, Diver Campus 2023 was born. One of the main peculiarities of this campus, in addition to the multidisciplinary team of 9 professionals for 18 registered places, is the fact that once the registrations are formalized, the activities, already previously programmed, can be redefined according to the needs of the different profiles of boys and girls and their abilities.
The entity that develops the initiative, Barco de Papel Canarias, initially makes available a team made up of two managers of the entity, a campus coordinator, 2 activity monitors and 4 specialists, a working group that is subject to changes precisely depending on the needs of those who register on campus.
The representative of Afanes Canarias highlighted “the different realities of disability that exist and that are evident in the families that are members of the group, where this diversity of cases occurs, not all of them have a physical limitation, sometimes it is mental, in other cases there are organic disabilities, which are called invisible, sometimes there are multiple disabilities in a single person, the casuistry is very varied”.
The Afanes mental health association trusts that the project will be implemented in other municipalities
María de Jesús López explained that “on many occasions, these different and diverse profiles of boys and girls do not have access to the revitalizing and social offer put into operation by public administrations, sports clubs or other entities, so this pioneering initiative in Los Realejos is a real illusion for families, because we see the light at the end of the tunnel, hoping that the experience will be enriching for all parties and that this is only the first stone of a project to be consolidated and exported to other municipalities in the Canary Islands”.
The Councilor for Disability and Childhood cited some of the activities planned at the expense of these adaptable modifications, such as “a kite flying workshop, creation of puppets with recycled materials, sports actions, mural painting, music therapy, film projection, manual creations, guided obstacle course or sensory stimulation, among others”.
Macarena Hernández explained that psychomotor skills, knowledge and management of the body, sensory and cognitive stimulation and experimentation and experiences of sensations will be addressed, as well as emotional experiences, with knowledge of the environment, and thematic activities on Fridays.
