Disabled kids shine at festival

Grade school students from the Centro Psicoeducativo Freire take delight in performing the Spanish Christmas carol “Arre Borriquito” (Giddy Up; Little Donkey). Chapala’s Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo was the setting for a heart-warming celebration for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, held Monday, December 3 under the auspices of Guadalajara’s distinguished Centro Psicoeducativo Freire.

With Chapala Mayor Joaquin Huerta, first lady Marisela Navarro, Jalisco Education Secretary Antonio Gloria and students from a local kindergarten attending as honored guests, Monday’s festivity showcased song and dance performances by Centro Freire students enrolled in kinder, grade school and junior high groups.

Chapala Mayor Joaquin Huerta (L) and Jalisco Education Secretary Jose Antonio Gloria join Freire Center Director Marcela Paramo in opening the event. The day’s program focused on the center’s Escuela Amiga project aimed at encouraging socialization between regular school kids and youngsters challenged by disabilities in order to break down barriers that hamper mutual understanding and acceptance. The project recently gained national recognition as a finalist in the Initiativa es Mexico award program, sponsored by Televisa and TV Azteca.

Over one billion people, or approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, live with some form of disability, making up what the United Nations calls “the world’s largest minority.”