21 Jan 2011

New !! Facebook Account in English.

Dear members and followers of Mediterranea, we are pleased to announce that we now have a Facebook account for Mediterranea in English, please click the following link www.facebook.com/pages/Mediterranea-NGO-ONG/168538416524140 to check it out.

We have had one in Spanish for quite a while and it is well supported with many members making comments, giving feedback and ideas.  We would very much like to achieve the same with our English-speaking followers on this Facebook page. So if you are a follower of our UK blog and use Facebook then please 'like' our new page (click the 'like' box at the top of the page) and spread the word to your Facebook friends.  
We hope that through Facebook we shall be able to reach out, build awareness of the work that Mediterranea is doing and ultimately win more supporters and volunteers.  I hope you can help us with this.
Thank you for helping us to help others.

We Are On the Way and Together with Virginia Perez


Thank you to everyone who has responded to our request for help with ideas and handicraft skills, to produce items for the deaf and blind children of Akaki Mengist School, Ethiopia.

We are on the way.

If anyone else would like to help please write to Ana at     apadrinamediterranea@gmail.com Ana is coordinating the work group.

We have the great pleasure to announce that Virginia Perez, creator of the original Braillin doll, has offered us her support.  She has volunteered to make Braillins for the boys and girls in Ethiopia.  What’s more she will adapt them more to the educative needs of the third world than those that are used here.  Undoubtedly she is the best person to make them, as she was the person who first thought of and made the Braillin doll.  They are more complicated than they appear at first sight.

We believe that Virginia, with her long experience of working with blind children, will be able to bring us ideas, especially ones that can be fulfilled without the technology that we are accustomed to here but does not exist elsewhere in the world.

If there is anyone else, from ONCE, or teachers with experience of integrating deaf and blind children into schools, who would like to help by offering their presence and experience in Ethiopia then you would be very welcome.  The more we are the better we’ll do.

We want to have a class for blind babies in Abugida, aged 1 to 3 years.  We need someone with experience to help us with this project.  Just so you are aware nothing like this presently exists in Ethiopia.  The idea is that blind babies, by spending time in the kindergarten, where they will receive special attention, will be fully integrated with the other children by the time they reach school age.  We know that we will have to overcome a lot of fear and prejudice but we are confident that we will be able to achieve it.

In the Independent Republic of Abugida everything is possible.

18 Jan 2011

We Need Hands



Due to their high price we have decided to handicraft items ourselves that can then be used to help to stimulate and to teach the blind students at the Akaki Mengist School in Akaki Kaliti, Ethiopia.

We have ideas but we need hands.

If you enjoy manual, handicraft work or have some ideas, or both then please contact us at: mediterranea.ong@gmail.com

Please help us to help.  Thank you