You may have never thought about it, but blind children have little use for chocolate letters. Of course they can’t read the alphabet. According to a school for blind and visually impaired students in Breda, this can be improved. That is why all students there receive braille characters made of chocolate.
Braille is an alphabet specially developed for the blind and partially sighted. Thanks to this alphabet, they can also read and write ‘normally’. That is why a chocolate letter in braille is so appropriate for the students of Visio Onderwijs Breda on the Galderseweg.
The school in Breda is one of five Visio schools in the Netherlands. All these schools participate in the initiative. Rachel Kemperman is a school leader in Breda and she is very enthusiastic.
“They also celebrate Sinterklaas and they want Braille letters.”
“A teacher at a Visio school in Rotterdam indicated that Braille students never actually get their own chocolate letter. They have nothing to do with regular letters. They also celebrate Sinterklaas and they want Braille letters. We felt we had to do something with that.”
The Piets will therefore hand out special Braille letters to the students of the Breda school on December 5. The letters distributed in Breda are made of ‘really good chocolate from a really good bakery’, says Kemperman.
“That they are just there for children. That’s what we hope for.”
The molds for the Braille letters are made by one of the Visio schools with a 3D printer. Other Visio schools, including those in Breda, will then receive these molds. So there is quite a bit of effort involved, but according to Kemperman it is all worth it.
“We do this because we want an inclusive society. What is the difference between ‘just participating’ and inclusive? The latter means that these letters will simply be available in stores. That they are just there for children. That’s what we hope for.”
