Compassion with persons with disabilities, OŠ Otona Ivekovića, Zagreb, Croatia

In Croatia there are over 500,000 people with disabilities and they represent more than 12% of the country’s total population. Croatia is one of the 168 countries that have signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

At our Oton Iveković Primary School we organize various activities throughout the school year to help our students develop sensibility for disabled persons and to foster toleration of differences and promote assistance towards those in need.

We did a number of activities, within Art classes and during breaks, aimed at experiencing what it means and what it is like to be a person who cannot see or hear.

Some students had blindfolds on their eyes, some had their ears covered, while others were trying to assist them.

We tried to paint with our eyes closed to experience how persons with disabilities feel.

After the activities we talked about what we experienced and how we can help.

We mentioned famous artists and performers with disabilities, such as singers Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli and Zdravko Škender.

We came to the realization that each person had some special abilities in them and that everyone deserves respect, and that we must help whenever we can, help all who ask for and need our help.