On Friday, May 26, the RACI team visited one of its partner organizations, a strategic activity that has been carried out monthly since 2016 with the aim of sharing an exchange day and getting to know its members more closely. This time it was tAsociación de Ayuda al Ciego ASAC (ASAC).
The visit was made in the morning. Verónica Martella, Head of Fund Development at the institution, was waiting for us. She gave us a warm welcome and a general description of the organization, its history and the services it offers.
Born in 1963, ASAC is an organization that works to improve the quality of life of people with visual impairment through comprehensive care. Its services are divided into four working modalities: Rehabilitation, Labor Training, Day Center, and Home; All of them of great importance to achieve the objective of the organization.
The first step of our journey was to the rehabilitation area, where the Vice President of the institution, Graciela Morel, along with therapists and some attendees taught us how they work. This area is the oldest, and has two services. In the first place, the Integral Functional Rehabilitation service, whose objective is to make people develop their autonomy to the maximum. The treatment involves medical and psychological assessment and monitoring, and the development of skills for everyday life such as occupational therapies and communication techniques. But it also has a Visual Rehabilitation service, aimed at people with low vision who wish to improve their visual efficiency. In both cases the treatment is totally personalized, responding to the possibilities, needs and desires of each attendant.
The Labor Training and Day Center modalities were added later, but are intertwined with Rehabilitation. The first is a training proposal that seeks the reintegration of people, one of the prerequisites being that the person is independent in their mobility and personal responsibilities. In the Center of day, on the other hand, they offer a great amount of workshops and activities. In this space, the skills and behaviors learned are strengthened, socialization is favored, and families are supported and guided.
Finally, and although we were not able to visit it, ASAC also has a home located in the Almagro neighborhood, which provides coverage to independent and visually impaired adults who are homeless or have socio-family problems. The Hogar provides basic resources such as housing, food, and medical and nutritional controls, and offers most of the services that can be found at headquarters.
RACI is deeply grateful to the whole team of the Aid to the Blind Association for allowing us to know closely the work they do and the warmth provided throughout the day.
For more information, visit the organization’s website: http://asac.org.ar/asac/.