Raising Awareness with Hands-On Education
AUDELA NORTE
Organizational Vision
Citizen Base Strategy
How It's Working
Lessons Learned
Audela Norte promotes the integration of individuals with disabilities into society by developing programs for students, professionals, and the general public that foster tolerance and respect. Audela’s interactive approach combines educational workshops with experiential learning opportunities, providing direct engagement between individuals with and without disabilities. Students and professionals from throughout Argentina are given opportunities to appreciate their peers’ disabilities and challenges, as well as their talents and strengths. According to Audela co-founder and President, Mónica Espina, “We put ourselves in their world, not the other way around.”
Audela’s principal educational program, Lifting Barriers, consists of a variety of hands-on activities that simulate situations encountered by people with visual, motor, and audio handicaps. Students may play soccer wearing a blindfold or basketball sitting in a wheelchair, teaming with disabled individuals who take part in the activities. According to Espina, the beauty of these exercises is that “no one knows who is who.” The organization also targets a broader audience by holding events that are open to the public. Between 2003 and 2006, Audela reached close to 12,000 people in Argentina’s capital with public events such as “Hands That Sing,” a musical performance in sign language featuring local high school students.
Respond to a growing demand for alternative learning methods
At the start of the 2002 school year, Audela launched its Lifting Barriers program to capture a growing demand for alternative approaches to diversity learning in Argentine schools. Audela began by targeting private schools in Buenos Aires’ Zona Norte, an exclusive residential area with many upper- and middle-class neighborhoods. Focusing on these schools was an important strategic decision: not only was demand especially high in private schools but they also had the financial resources available to support Audela’s work. In the program’s first year, Audela instructed more than 500 students, building credibility by initially offering workshops free of charge before deciding to charge schools roughly US$4 per student. Rather than experiencing a decrease in demand because of the new fee structure, Audela saw demand increase as word of mouth created opportunities at other private schools.
As its student programs grew in popularity, Audela decided to expand its workshop offerings by tailoring courses to meet the needs of local businesses and corporations. Working with the business community, Audela has grown its resource base while capitalizing on the increased demand for diversity training in the workplace. Corporations are willing to pay nearly ten times more per employee than Audela charges per student, and Audela uses some of these funds to subsidize Lifting Barriers workshops for public schools in the region. Espina believes that the financial support from the business community shows that “people are willing to support each other; you only need to show them how.”
In addition to providing an important source of funding for the organization, Audela’s corporate programs also open up new avenues for collaboration between Audela and members of the business community. The most important partnership to emerge is Audela’s alliance with the Fundación Telefónica, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Argentina. After Audela led a workshop for a group of Teléfonica employees in 2004, the company decided to partner with Audela to create an experiential youth leadership program that Audela’s staff led in 18 schools during 2006.
As its student programs grew in popularity, Audela decided to expand its workshop offerings by tailoring courses to meet the needs of local businesses and corporations. Working with the business community, Audela has grown its resource base while capitalizing on the increased demand for diversity training in the workplace. Corporations are willing to pay nearly ten times more per employee than Audela charges per student, and Audela uses some of these funds to subsidize Lifting Barriers workshops for public schools in the region. Espina believes that the financial support from the business community shows that “people are willing to support each other; you only need to show them how.”
In addition to providing an important source of funding for the organization, Audela’s corporate programs also open up new avenues for collaboration between Audela and members of the business community. The most important partnership to emerge is Audela’s alliance with the Fundación Telefónica, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Argentina. After Audela led a workshop for a group of Teléfonica employees in 2004, the company decided to partner with Audela to create an experiential youth leadership program that Audela’s staff led in 18 schools during 2006.
Replicate successful strategies of community engagement
Gallito Ciego—Spanish for the children’s game Blind Man’s Bluff—is the best known example of Audela’s experiential learning approach. Formerly housed in the Roman Rossel Institute, a rehabilitation center for the visually impaired located in Buenos Aires, Gallito Ciego is a restaurant that simulates the eating experience of the visually impaired by forcing customers to dine in total darkness. The Gallito Ciego model accomplishes two important goals: it contributes to Audela’s mission of promoting tolerance and hands-on appreciation for people with disabilities and also creates job opportunities for disabled workers. The restaurant’s employees (most of whom are blind or visually impaired) purchase, prepare, and serve lunch to groups from schools, businesses and citizen sector organizations. In addition to the unique dining experience, Audela provides sensitivity training workshops before and after the meals to prepare and then debrief participants and also facilitates discussions between the restaurant’s visitors and their visually-impaired hosts.
The inspiration behind the Gallito Ciego program is a social enterprise in Zürich called Blindekuh, which is thought to be the world’s first dark restaurant. Audela co-founder Florencia Prato discovered Blindekuh on a trip to Europe in 2002 and immediately recognized an opportunity to apply the innovative social enterprise model 7,000 miles away in Argentina. The Gallito Ciego restaurant opened in October of 2002, just one month after Prato’s return to Buenos Aires, and the public’s response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive: the restaurant was acclaimed by members of the media and was featured in leading Argentine newspapers and magazines. In its first three months of operation, Gallito Ciego filled its entire reservation book, serving over 400 meals. The restaurant went on to serve 4,000 meals and raise US$17,000 in 17 months of operation.
Although political issues at the Roman Rossel Institute forced the Gallito Ciego to close temporarily at the end of 2004, Audela plans to capitalize on the program’s reputation and success by launching a transportable version of the restaurant in 2007. Housed in a converted trailer with space for 20 guests, the new Gallito Ciego Mobile (GCM) will extend the restaurant’s reach to schools and businesses outside of Argentina’s capital by bringing its service door-to-door. In addition to the advantage of mobility, the new GCM will also afford Audela complete control over the restaurant’s schedule, allowing Espina and her team to add breakfast, a second lunch sitting, and an afternoon snack to the product mix. In the GCM’s first year, Audela plans to serve over 13,000 meals and raise US$60,000—forecasts that reflect the restaurant’s larger potential customer base as well as its expanded product offering.
- More than 10,000 students participated in one or more Audela Norte events between 2002 and 2006.
- 203 professionals from eight businesses/organizations in Argentina took part in a workshop run by Audela between 2003 and 2006.
- Audela reached more than 12,000 members of the general public between 2003 and 2006 with its various events in Buenos Aires.
- Respond to market demand. Audela raises awareness for people with disabilities by providing services that are highly sought after by schools and businesses.
- Carefully identify your target audience. Audela initially targeted private schools with its Lifting Barriers program, in large part because the schools have more resources to dedicate to alternative education programs.
- Be flexible. By adapting its diversity workshops to meet the needs of local businesses and corporations, Audela expanded its resource base and cultivated relationships that have led to other partnerships and collaborations.
- Replicate successful resource mobilization strategies. Audela developed one of its most successful strategies, the Gallito Ciego restaurant, by adapting a strategy developed by a CSO in Switzerland.
- Reinvent your own strategies that work. Despite losing one of the program’s key supporters, Audela plans to launch an improved version of its successful Gallito Ciego restaurant in 2007.