Wearing a red vest and a heart-shaped pin, it is easy to identify the volunteers at the 18th Reatech – International Fair for Inclusion, Accessibility, and Rehabilitation. There are about 270 people, including students, professionals from various fields, and retirees, who decided to make themselves available to help welcome the event's public.
“Volunteers undergo basic training on how to assist people with visual impairments and motor limitations or reduced mobility. Anyone who arrives at the volunteer desk can receive information about the fair and assistance from the arrival van all the way to departure,” says Suely Yanez, volunteer coordinator for Reatech.
Suely explains that the search for newcomers is done spontaneously through the website, but also relies on the participation of veterans who volunteer every year as a way to collaborate with the comfort and safety of visitors, in addition to improving their personal or professional practices. “Reatech contributes to the education and training of these volunteers. We have partnerships with universities and students can use their volunteering as complementary hours. In addition, many of them report how much being a volunteer helps during a job interview.”
Veteran Ariana Neves, 32, has been a volunteer since 2009, when she started volunteering through a teacher. Since then, Ariana, who is a physical education teacher, has accepted the challenge every year. “It is exciting to revisit the friendships that began at the fair and to reunite with the people we guided years ago. The connections we make here are what I value most. It's what keeps me coming back,” says the teacher.
Meanwhile, the 62-year-old retiree Armando Tafner Neto is volunteering at the fair for the second time, but he is a “professional” volunteer and participates in many events across various segments. Among the greatest lessons learned from Reatech, according to the retiree, is the exchange that allows him to improve and become a more inclusive person. “Here I am practicing Brazilian Sign Language (Libras); at others, I've practiced other languages,” he says.
