Portugal
participants
The goal of this Dinner in the Dark was to raise awareness to visual impairment and to the obstacles visually-impaired people might encounter in their daily lives.
This activity gave international students the opportunity to experience having dinner with a big group while blindfolded. Participants were blindfolded at the entrance of the restaurant and guided by ESN Coimbra's volunteers, who helped them climb the stairs to the room where dinner would be served. They spent the entire dinner blindfolded, but were told that they could always remove them if they needed to remove them. Everyone was excited to have dinner blindfolded, but they soon learned that it would be challenging, as they would have to use cutlery to cut their food and to drink. They were helped by ESN Coimbra's volunteers, who were spread across the tables to help with serving drinks, guide the students to the bathroom, etc. The participants were also seated next to people they did not know, so that they could talk to and meet new people. At the end of the dinner, the participants removed their blindfolds and were thanked for their enthusiastic participation and dedication to this activity.
The participants were surprised by how something as simple as having dinner would prove to be so challenging. Yet, they left feeling more aware of the challenges that visually-impaired people go through in their daily lives.