Inclusion in summer: Telethon’s recreational activities for children and young people in rehabilitation

Until Saturday, January 15, summer activities are being developed for children and young patients of the Telethon institutes of the country, an activity that the institution carries out every year with the name “Verano Teletón”.
This 2022 the participation of about 700 users from Arica to Coyhaique for whom various workshops and entertainment activities have been prepared that are being developed all week.
As every year, since 2009, the Telethon Summer is an instance in which volunteers – we call “Telethon friends” – participate with users of the institution in walks, workshops and recreational recreational activities, where, in addition to having fun, they learn from each other. All these activities, of course, are guided, monitored and coordinated by a staff of permanent volunteers of the institution.
“For many children and young people of Teletón these are their holidays, either for accessibility issues or economic resources many times parents do not have the possibility of taking them on vacation and here we generate all the conditions: entertaining workshops, groups with colors, we invite workshops that do entertaining activities, share with their peers, a playful atmosphere is generated, summery and entertaining. And that is in one way or another the magic of the Telethon Summer”, explains Aldo Orrigoni, director of Social Management and Volunteering of Teletón.
The children and young people who participate in the Telethon Summer are between 7 and 14 years old, and are active users of the Telethon institutes from Arica to Coyhaique.
The activity will take place between January 11 and 15, 2022. Of the total number of institutes, six will hold the Summer Telethon with a face-to-face format: Antofagasta, Calama, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Talca and Puerto Montt. Meanwhile, five institutes will carry out a hybrid modality, which considers activities in separate groups, or workshops and face-to-face walk and remote closure, as is the case of Copiapó, Santiago, Concepción, Temuco and Valdivia. Meanwhile, the Institutes of Arica, Iquique and Coyhaique will hold the event 100% remotely.
Inclusive Summer Telethon 2022
In addition to this activity, Teletón also carries out in summer the “Inclusive Summer Telethon”, aimed at young users aged 15 and over. This activity, also organized by the Telethon Volunteering, includes recreational activities, in community spaces, and depending on the interests of the participants.
Its objective is to support the connection of telethon youth with their peers, mainly, promoting autonomy, socialization, soft skills and seeing leisure as a right.
This year, due to the Covid-19 health situation, five regions will develop the Inclusive Summer in January. The rest of the institutes will carry out this type of initiative during the second semester, as part of the winter holidays.
From Arica to Coyhaique the teams have worked on the planning and execution of the Telethon Summer and the Inclusive Summer maintaining the safeguards, mainly of capacity, in consideration of the health regulations and considering that the development of the activities may be subject to changes, according to indications of the Step by Step Plan and the health authorities.

Original source in Spanish