Instituto TIM and One By One Join Forces to Offer More Opportunities for Impaired Children and Teens
When Teresa Stengel took her son Nicolás, who has myelomeningocele (a congenital malformation of the spine), for treatment at Hospital Sarah Kubitschek, in Rio de Janeiro, she noted the hardships of many families. “I drove my car and on the way I saw those women walking the entire distance from closest bus stop, which was 800 m from the hospital, carrying their children on their laps. I started lifting these mothers and I started a movement to raise money to buy special chairs”, she says. Thus was born One By One, an organization that has donated over 1600 custom chairs since 2004, and provides guidance, family support and stimulation and arts, education and literacy, and digital entrepreneurship classes.
One By One has the goal of providing social inclusion for impaired children, teenagers and young people who found themselves in social vulnerability situations. In order to do so, one of the projects created is Educação Exponencial (Exponential Education) – of inclusion through technology – which now counts with the partnership of Instituto TIM. The enterprise prepares children and teenagers who have cognitive abilities for the job market in a playful and interactive manner and by taking into consideration the technological transformations we are experiencing.
Over the course of five months and split into groups, participants conceptualize an application, prepare the service until reaching interface browsing, use market tools to create a brand, perform consumer and market surveys, pricing, budget calculations, and present the final project. “The students are encouraged to develop their communication, critical thinking, teamwork, analytical ability, negotiation, self-learning, public presentation skills and they also learn how to use tools such as iMovie, Google Sheets, Google Forms, among others”, explains Frances Tanure, engineer and project founder and coordinator.
The Educação Exponencial 2022 edition’s inaugural class was carried out on March 8 at the One By One’s headquarters, when computers were handed to those lacking, and children were split into six groups. The classes are on a weekly basis and online, since most of the 41 participants live in cities of metropolitan Rio de Janeiro and in the countryside. The course ends in July and then the groups show the apps they have developed and they receive their certificates. A new cycle begins in August. “We believe that, ‘one by one’, we can change the world and transform the lives of these children and their families, improving their quality of life and offering opportunities”, Teresa states.
Wheelchairs: The First Step Into Social Inclusion
In addition to the partnership with Educação Exponencial, Instituto TIM is donating 50 wheelchairs acquired through an internal raising campaign in which TIM Brazil added to the amount donated by its collaborators. The wheelchairs will be delivered in July. Each wheelchair is custom-built and costs between BRL 1,800 and BRL 3,500. “Many of these children and teens who are receiving our wheelchairs have never left their houses to play, stroll or go to school”, Teresa says. The One By One founder, an Argentinian living in Brazil since 1997 emphasizes that providing mobility is a first and important step into the social inclusion of people with disabilities.
