Last year in Perm I visited the Association for the Blind. This Association is nationwide in Russia and the Perm branch is very active. This year I spent several hours in a school for blind and partially sighted children. This gave me great joy as I attended such a school myself in the 50s and 60s.
The students at this school range in age from 6 to 18. The older ones take national examinations when the time comes and then move on to work or further education. It is at this point that they become involved with the Association for the Blind.
The day of our visit to the school was beautiful; warm, sunny and golden with the autumnal scenery surrounding the building. I was accompanied by Olga, a student of English at PSU and this was her first assignment as an interpreter.
The school is in the suburbs of Perm and is three storeys high. From the outside it seemed quite imposing but once inside we found it light, airy and spacious. A senior teacher welcomed us, gave us tea and told us something about the school. It is over a hundred years old and is one of three such schools in the Perm Region. There are about 150 pupils, some boarders but mainly day pupils. Blind and partially sighted children are educated together.
We visited a gym class first and later on a judo class. Pupils have won various awards for judo and other sports and it was inspiring to see how the partially sighted pupils helped the blind students to participate fully in the lessons.
We spent time looking at art works created by the students and attended an art class. The previous day the class had gone on a nature walk and the teacher was asking them to describe the sounds, smells and feel of the walk, as well as talk about the colours they had seen. They then set about creating a frieze depicting their walk. It was wonderful to see the collaboration. The blind students, assisted by a sighted one, created vivid pictures using coloured plasticine while other pupils used paint to recreate the autumnal landscape.
After lunch we went to a music lesson where a girl was learning piano. We had an interesting conversation about the challenges of reading music with impaired vision. Then we looked at the boarding accommodation and then went to the Miracle Room.
The students themselves gave this special room its name. In it small groups of children rest and relax on huge bean bags, listen to evocative music or a story. The lighting is soft and coloured and the atmosphere was wonderful. While we were there there was a group of six eight year olds, all blind. They had been told we were there and asked to meet us. They came up really close and touched us, offering their hands to be held. One little boy, Maxim, put his arms right round my neck and gave me a big hug. A perceptive little girl wanted to know why we were not speaking Russian to each other. I explained that I lived in England which is why I don’t speak Russian. I don’t think she was too impressed!
Before departing we attended an upper school assembly on the theme of road safety. The theme was presented through music and poetry and afterwards the students went away in groups to work on a quiz on the theme of road safety.
This visit was the highlight of my time in Perm. Olga too found it both moving and inspiring
Live Adventurously 