Translated material
Irkutsk: volunteers held a action on a person's day with Down syndrome
In Irkutsk, by the World Day with Dowun Syndrome, activists and volunteers held a special action. It began in a local student town, where people with Down syndrome gathered, their parents and volunteers. Actors of the studio "Oh! Theater", in which people with this pathology are engaged, showed a short impromptu performance. His viewers were random passers -by. After the volunteers held a joint game with the townspeople.
In Irkutsk today, a retro-tramma traveled for three hours. Volunteers invited everyone to get to the city center or to any stop. According to the correspondent of Siberia. Reali, the passengers were talked to passengers inside the car and tried to dispel myths about it, such as: “A person with Down syndrome is dangerous for society,” “Children with Downing Syndrome are born in asocial families”, “These people are unsuccessful” and others.
Some participants in the event came in different socks today. Thus, they supported the World Flashmob dedicated to the Day of people with Down syndrome. Passengers of the tram could also participate in it. Volunteers prepared for them the white socks carved out of paper, which had to be painted. Then they were glued to posters with symbolic caterpillars, which activists placed in advance on the windows of the tram.
The action "People as people. Just with the Down syndrome" organized children with disabilities "Rainbow" in the Irkutsk regional public organization of parents with disabilities. Today, it consist of more than 140 families. This is the first experience of such an action.
“They are the same people, have the same rights, and really want to communicate. I hope that this action on some step will bring us closer to a tolerant society,” said Natalya Popova, head of the Rainbow.
World Day with Down syndrome has been celebrated in the world since 2005 every March 21. It was this date that was not chosen by chance, this is a symbolic designation of the Down syndrome itself: in a person suffering from this disease, the 21st chromosome is present in three copies. According to statistics, every 700 child on the planet is born with this pathology. About 2500 children with Down syndrome are born annually in Russia. The syndrome is included in the list of diseases in connection with which disability can be obtained in Russia.