Solidarity, mutual respect and a spirit of sacrifice for those who cannot see all the colors of life. Two guiding principles that have guided the work of the volunteers of the Italian Red Cross and also the many Paralympic sportsmen who have given so many emotions at the Tokyo Olympics. It was to them – and to the Coni which received a special mention – the XXV Louis Braille Award, the highest national award for personalities and organizations that have made a decisive contribution on the issues of visual disability promoted by the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired (UICI). The Prize was awarded last night at the Ghione Theater during a great evening-event with free admission, sponsored by the Municipality of Rome and the Lazio Region organized in conjunction with the European Disability Day.
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The supporting role of the CRI volunteers
The fil rouge chosen this year by UICI wanted to put the spotlight on the world of sport and volunteering, which were even more protagonists and present in society in the year of the difficult recovery from the pandemic, unfortunately far from over. The Braille Award to the Italian Red Cross wanted in particular to highlight the support role played by CRI towards blind and partially sighted people and people with disabilities in general, both in the terrible months of health emergency, and with a much wider horizon with dedicated projects the employment inclusion of people with visual disabilities and frail subjects, in the particular case of the LISA project in which UICI also collaborates through a specific cooperation protocol. “We are proud to receive this Award – he underlined Francesco Rocca, president of the Italian Red Cross. We have also recently launched an agreement with Uici, linked to our Lisa project for the promotion of social and work inclusion, aimed at promoting the autonomy of people with visual disabilities throughout the country. These important synergies strengthen our daily efforts to respond to any vulnerability and allow us to be more and more ‘An Italy that Helps’ “.
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A rich Olympic medal table
The Braille Award assigned to the Italian Paralympic Committee then paid tribute to the work of the organization and its athletes, who this year recorded the richest medal table ever at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and who kept the torch of commitment beyond one’s limits, integration beyond all differences, pride and national redemption. Values that have always united the whole world of sport for its educational values to respect for rules, positive competition, a sense of belonging and collaboration, which the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired wanted to reaffirm by assigning a special mention to CONI. “It is a great pleasure and an honor to take part in the 25th Louis Braille Award promoted by the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities – commented the president of the Italian Paralympic Committee, Luca Pancalli – And it is a source of satisfaction to know that this edition will be dedicated to the values that unite the sporting world and that engaged in solidarity activities. On the other hand, sport can represent an extraordinary tool for inclusion and integration, able to put each individual in the conditions to be able to express their potential and to break down numerous physical and cultural barriers. Initiatives like this have the merit of contributing to the change in the perception of disability in our country and of offering significant food for thought on the model of society of the future that we should all build together. A society where there will no longer be special rights for special people but citizens and citizens, without adjectives and categories “.
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The Braille Prize
The Louis Braille Award was established 25 years ago by the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired with the aim of paying tribute to those who work in favor of visual disabilities, a reality that today counts over 360,000 blind people legally recognized in Italy. to which are added one and a half million visually impaired people that UICI represents and protects. “This Award wanted to celebrate small and large protagonists of our country, whether they are committed alongside those who suffer in everyday life as is the case of the volunteers of the Italian Red Cross, whether they are bearers of a message of hope, trust in the future and victory over their limits, as in the case of Paralympic athletes and sportsmen in general who have always been witnesses of fundamental values of collective citizenship and civil coexistence – declared the president of the Italian Union for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Mario Barbuto – Each in their own way manages to make the torch of respect, of the spirit of self-denial, of overcoming physical and mental barriers shine in each of us, embodying the values of “I” and “you” which together can finally become ” WE”. And this is even more important today in a country where, as also the pandemic has shown us, solidarity and mutual aid are the key to restarting and the main road to give full dignity to all its citizens, starting with people with disabilities. “
Participation of the artists
The award ceremony, which will be broadcast on Rai Uno on a deferred basis in the late evening on Saturday 11 December, it involved personalities from entertainment, culture, politics and sport who offered moments of entertainment and reflection around the world of visual impairment and the main critical issues that these people have to overcome every day. The singers performed Antonello Venditti e Roby Facchinetti, who performed the most loved pieces of their repertoire, the blind pianist and composer Franco De Feo and his daughter Dea, the blind jazzman Massimo Tagliata, one of the most popular on the music scene in his field, the Band Little Tony Family with Cristiana Ciacci and Serena Rigacci, the comedian Emanuela Aureli, who told about solidarity and disability with the help of irony.
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