Local centre fights for inclusiveness
Para’Demics Edu Centre hosted their third annual walkathon on June 16 in Freedom Park in commemoration of Youth Day.
Para’Demics Edu Centre hosted their third annual walkathon on June 16 in Freedom Park in commemoration of Youth Day.
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Para’Demics is a preschool and development centre catering for children with special needs in the community of Freedom Park.
The walkathon was aimed at raising awareness about the plight of children with special needs who can’t attend “normal” schools because of lack of acceptance from the public.
Organisers of the event wanted to use Youth Day to shine a spotlight on the often neglected and forgotten challenges faced by these children and also to let the public know that there are facilities such as Para’Demics that cater for children with special needs.
Young and old came out in numbers to participate in the walkathon despite the hot weather.
They marched a few kilometres from the centre and back singing struggle songs and chanting slogans raising awareness about disabilities.
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For the event, Para’Demics partnered with Thokozani Sunshine Centre for the Disabled and other stakeholders in the fields of healthcare, education, rehabilitation and livelihood development.
They partnered with these stakeholders with hopes to raise more awareness about inclusive education access in townships while fighting discrimination against children with special needs.
