SLOWeMOTION

Brazil // Salvador da Bahia

 

This is a journey to discover themselves and own emotions, accompanied by an unusual friend.

Activities of Mediation with the Donkey are actions for “education and reeducation” to the relationship, aimed to promote conditions of well-being, therefore of happiness. The initiatives are aimed at people of all ages, disabled and able-bodied, with troubles and difficulties in affection and relationship. The relationship with animals is a privileged way to facilitate the communication.

Through the non-verbal language and physical contact, is favored the movement of the person outside of itself to establish a relationship with each other, breaking down barriers and letting go. The donkey, with his ethological, physical and behavioral characteristics, helps the relationship, a slow and gradual approach.

The Northeast of Brazil, especially in rural areas, is a place with an ancient donkey's tradition, which are used principally as working tool.

The proposed project is developed with disabled young people and adults in difficult conditions in the metropolitan area of Salvador da Bahia, the first and only example in the country, thanks to the efforts of a group of Italian NGOs engaged since more time in the area. Demographic data of the last Census conducted by SICORDE - Sistema Nacional de Informações sobre Deficiência - indicate that about 24.5 million people, 14.5% of the Brazilian population, with at least one type of disability. Persons with disabilities who reside in Brazil are still living today in hardship conditions, because of lack of adequate social and rehabilitation services and a cultural lag that tends to isolate them from the rest of the population. The school integration of children with special needs still faces considerable difficulties and gaps, the lack of a program of support and awareness is forcing families to isolation.