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4th edition of the ParaPraia Project - São Tomé de Paripe

07/01/2017

On January 7th, São Tomé de Paripe beach premiered the 4th edition of the ParaPraia Project. The program, which began in the summer of 2014, is an initiative of the City of Salvador and has the support of Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública and Jornal A Tarde, in addition to sponsorship by Salvador Shopping and Braskem.

In its fourth year, ParaPraia has been promoting assisted bathing in the sea for people with physical disabilities or reduced mobility with the use of adapted chairs and monitoring of undergraduate students and professors at the Bahiana.

The coordinator of volunteers and professor of the Physiotherapy course at Bahiana, Luciana Oliveira, explains that the selection process to summon volunteers to ParaPraia was carried out through a public notice. People from the community, students and teachers at the School underwent training in order to participate in the project.

"This year, we have students from the Medicine, Psychology, Physiotherapy, Nursing and Physical Education courses and all these students participated in training, not only in the removal of the amphibious chair and assisted bathing, but also in the management of patients in need thus enabling a better reception with security for the participants”, says Luciana Oliveira.

The student of the Nursing course and member of the Anjos da Enfermagem project, Jessica Paiva, reports that ParaPraia is a very important project and participating as a volunteer is very rewarding. "The support of Bahiana it is fundamental, as it is an institution that embraces the community and encourages the participation of students in projects like this one”.

Monique Teles, social worker at Lar Vida explains that the children's participation in ParaPraia was substantial. During the program, leisure and well-being activities were carried out for the children with the help of volunteers who were very attentive and caring. “I had already heard about ParaPraia and, for sure, I will participate in other editions. The children were able to interact with the public by participating in the activities”.

A person with a disability, Larisse da Silva, 21, was already familiar with the project and says that the initiative to bring well-being to people with disabilities is very important, as these people are still somewhat forgotten and need this moment of relaxation. "I will definitely be at Ondina beach and I find the structure that is offered so that people with mobility difficulties have access to the beach and activities interesting, thus raising people's self-esteem."

The student of the Physiotherapy course at Bahiana, Paula Duplat emphasizes the proposal of the project, to work with people with reduced mobility and physical disabilities. “It's great to see the joy of these people when they enter the sea and help them by doing this work of social inclusion”, he said, pointing out the experience as enriching for his profession. "Working as a volunteer in the project provides a very large professional gain, in addition to being in direct contact with the community."