Children everywhere! By Liz Carridge

If you’re expecting us to come back with tans then you’ll be
disappointed. There’s so much to see that sitting in the sun would be a waste!
I’ll let Kat tell you the goings on of Tuesday morning, and I’ll tell you what
we got up to in the afternoon… First stop was the state university of Amazonas
where they offer physical exercise classes for people of all ages with
disabilities from those who have suffered strokes to those with learning
difficulties. They were putting me to shame as I’ve done no exercise since
we’ve been here, made more pronounced by enjoying so much wonderful food! We
also got to her about a Rotary-sponsored campaign ‘Respeito Passe Adiante’
which culminates in a march in Manaus where both disabled people and those who
are able-bodied aim to raise awareness of disability needs. Apparently there
are few facilities for disabled people even down to parking spaces and access
on to buses. The situation’s improving but there remains much to be done.
This was followed by a visit to Casa Crianḉas
− a free pre-school nursery run by the church
for the children of poorer parents. It is supported by donations from
Rotary among other organisations. The children were adorable and I was sad to
leave. It seems playing at tea parties
is universal and I managed to chat away to them and be understood. Well, if the
conversation is around “coppo”, “colher”, “prato”, “faca” and “garfo”.
We finished off the night with a presentation to RC Adrianopolis
at a rather glamorous Italian restaurant. It went ok considering technical
difficulties (well, we got laughs in the right places!) and we were presented
with some wonderful Amazonian
handicrafts. I can already see them on my wall…