“The Wonder Within” Campaign

Every year, the month of June is an opportunity for Sense Internațional România to celebrate deafblindness and to honor the legacy of Helen Keller – one of the most well-known individuals with deafblindness and a true ambassador for the rights of persons with disabilities, a remarkable figure whose story continues to inspire generations.

This year, the joy of celebration was even greater, as for the first time, June 27 was officially recognized as International Deafblind Awareness Day, an important global acknowledgment.

On this occasion, together with over 600 children and more than 400 adults – including teachers, parents, and volunteers – from 20 partner schools across Arad, Bucharest, Craiova, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Galați, Iași, Oradea, Focșani, Fălticeni, Tg. Frumos, and Timișoara, we carried out the campaign “The Wonder Within”.

Among the activities organized in schools were therapeutic stories, creative workshops, sensory dance, music therapy, hippotherapy, sensory games, theater, painting, gardening, nature excursions, sports activities, visits to sensory centers, educational competitions, social and awareness-raising events, as well as festive meals. All of these were joyfully experienced by the students, their teachers, and their parents alike.

As part of the campaign, we promoted the Global Deafblindness Resource Hub, developed by our colleagues in England. This platform aims to provide persons with deafblindness and their supporters with access to content, information, best practices, and educational materials available in seven languages, including Romanian. Over time, we hope this platform will grow and offer as many useful resources and solutions as possible to everyone in need.

Additionally, we launched a new project – the bi-annual magazine “The Wonder Within”, a publication dedicated to teachers, parents, and persons with deafblindness. It will include articles with resources and practical activities to support the development of children and will be published on the Global Deafblindness Resource Hub. Teachers from partner schools – and beyond – will have the opportunity to contribute relevant materials.

This year’s theme highlighted what already exists within each of us – courage, perseverance, love, friendship, in one word: WONDER. And even though the campaign has come to an end, the impact of these meetings and connections remains.

We thank everyone who was part of this celebration – it truly was a month of wonders!