Aventura Especial
An NGO Champions Inclusive Adventure Travel in Brazil
By Patricia Ribeiro, About.com Guide
See More About:adventure travel in brazil
tIn Brazil, there's adventure travel before and after Aventura Especial, a non-governmental organization which works for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of adventure travel and ecotourism.
Founder and president Dadá Moreira is a journalist and photographer with a passion for travel and sports. Moreira has ataxia, a neurological disease which affects balance, fine motor coordination, speech and vision.
Since its creation in 2006, Aventura Especial has raised the awareness of inclusive adventure travel as a feasible tourism product and generated a model for its expansion in Socorro, a city located about 80 miles from São Paulo.
The NGO offers consultancy to tour operators with an interest in inclusive travel. Almost 25 million people in Brazil – about 14.5% of the population – have some kind of permanent disability. Add people with temporary disabilities, and you have a market whose tremendous potential Aventura Especial strives to demonstrate. "There is a customer out there who needs to be reached," says Moreira.
The NGO is founded on the belief that what excludes people with disabilities from adventure and outdoor activities is not personal limitation, but "a lack of information, of physical and human adaptation and of professionals qualified to offer adequate assistance in the places where those activities are pursued."
A Pioneer's Journey
In the 1990s, the active Dadá Moreira was diagnosed with Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7). As he faced the challenges of his condition, ecotourism and adventure travel were on the rise. For a while, Moreira felt excluded and disheartened.
After three years of treatment with no signs of improvement, he resolved to recover his pleasure of living no matter what. He made plans to go rafting.
He researched his options and even visited one of the potential places for his first adventure since the onset of ataxia, while dealing with a fear of embarrassment and a concern about spoiling the rafting experience for other people.
He also felt that he had to work out and improve his resistance. A year passed between the time he paid for the trip and the day he finally took it.
When he did, his outlook changed.
Ecstatic about how thoroughly he had enjoyed the rafting trip, Dadá Moreira took up climbing, went parachuting and got engaged in other adventure activities. He felt they aided his physical and psychological rehabilitation. When he shared his experiences on the internet, he got "an awesome response" from people with disabilities wanting to learn more. That was the genesis of Aventura Especial.
Adventurers with a Mission
Aventura Especial broke into Brazil's travel scene with Aventureiros Especiais, a pioneering project launched in 2006 in a partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism.
"We took several trips with a group of people with different disabilities – a blind person, a deaf person, a paraplegic, a person with Down syndrome – and a multidisciplinary team of professionals, to find out what needed to be adapted so that adventure activities could be enjoyed by each person on the team," says Dadá Moreira.
The field studies were carried out in Socorro, SP. "We chose Socorro because the range of things they offer is so broad," says Moreira. "I idealized the project and had help from Mario Brucoli from Argentina, who played an important role in making it all happen with the Brazil Ministry of Tourism."
The team explored several types of adventure activities – rappelling, rafting, zip lining, climbing.
"We went to places that had nothing inclusive. We identified the adaptation needs, not only in the activity itself, but in the way the gear was put on people by the staff, for example."
Product development resulted from the team's experiences. For example, a special seat was designed for quadriplegics so they could enjoy vertical techniques. "The seat has more fixation points than usual so that the person's trunk is in the correct position throughout the activity," says Moreira. "The seat maker traveled with us and we tested the prototype on various trips."
The team provided guidance for the creation of a vest and a seat for people without trunk mobility, to be used in rafting. "The vest has greater floatability in the front, so that if that person falls in the water, he or she can wait for rescue safely. "We also developed a rafting code for deaf and blind people. There are five basic commands in rafting. For example, with two brief slaps on the arm, the adventurer knows he has to row backwards, and so on. We call it alternative communication."
Another important aspect of the project was the interaction between the travelers with disabilities and the activity guides. "We demonstrated that the feeling of personal gratification in inclusive adventure is just as great for the monitor as it is for the traveler," says Moreira.
The project fostered accessible travel in Socorro to an unprecedented level for Brazil standards. The city's fully accessible adventure facilities, such as Parque dos Sonhos and Campo dos Sonhos, are a model other Brazil cities can refer to.
"We lit this small flame," says Moreira, "showing that the inclusive adventure travel market in Brazil is huge and needs to be addressed."
On the Aventura Especial website, there is a list of adventure destinations (Destinos). Places with the Aventura Especial logo are adapted for people with disabilities and/or offer them outstanding services and assistance.
"Personalized services are just as important as an access ramp," says Moreira. "For example, at check-in, there should be a special brochure telling the traveler with special needs to let staff know if he wants help with some tasks, if he wants to be called when it's time to take his medicine, and so on."
In a country where accessible travel is still the exception, Moreira acknowledges the value of a cooperative attitude towards travelers with disabilities.
"Personalized treatment broadens options," he says. "People with disabilities who practice adventure travel are open to dealing with a certain lack of facilities. If a place is not fully adapted, but staff is ready to offer adequate assistance, that place becomes an option too."
Related Articles
Accessible Travel - Expert Advice on Accessible Travel for People with Disa...
Accessible Travel - Expert Advice on Accessible Travel for People with Disa...
Travel Tips for People with Disabilities
India Adventure Travel - Interview with Narendra Agarwal from Timepause Adv...
Accessible Air Travel: A Guide for People with Disabilities
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário