Germany
participants
Inclusion of Minority Groups - Changing Persectives.
''Dinner in the Dark'' took Place in ESG Student-dorm in Bonn. Volunteers from ESN Bonn prepared a 3-course dinner for 25 Participants. Food was served and eaten in complete darkness.
To enrich the experience, we invited a special guest, a very friendly and open young man who is blind since birth. Our guest, Marco, answered all the curious questions partiipants had, from how manages to do minor tasks, to how he percieves color and light.
For a couple of hours, students were struggling to hold a fork and eat without making a huge mess, trying to figure out what the meal are, starting conversation with people sitting next to them without knowinh who they are and how they look like, and feelig respect towards people who manage to live their whole life this way.
We had very positive feedback from the participants; saying that they this experience has given them a new prespective in life, that they feel more encouraged to give help when needed; that they found out the could make friends with strangers without having a clue about their looks; and that they now view disable people differently and don#t reduce them to their disability.
Our special guest enjoyed the dinner as well, and was appreciative of this oppurtunity to share his life experience, and represent a groupof people that is often under-estimated by society.
Dinner in the dark has been organized by ESN Bonn four times in a arow now and has always been a success.