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Exploration of geological treasures of Latvia

06.09.2022

The project "Ģeoloģija cilvēkiem ar redzes traucējumiem un cilvēkiem ar invaliditāti" took place from May 23rd to May 27th. This time, representatives visited us from Greece, Spain and Cyprus. A total of 3 representatives from Latvia, 8 from cyprus and 4 from both Spain and Greece went to look for geological treasures from Latvia.

On the first day, all partners arrived in Liepāja, and enjoyed traditional Latvian dinners after the long trip.

On the second day, the partners visited Liepāja's society for the blind, where the official welcome was held. Our guests were greeted by board President Māris Ceirulis. Students from Liepāja University were also invited. Members of the Liepāja society for the blind and students of Liepāja University had the opportunity to test the G4ViD application and to take part in a variety of classes, such as filming, floristry, ceramic art, wickering, skin treatment, music therapy and an exercise in the gym.
Further down, our roads led to the social rehabilitation and cognition center “Dvēseles veldzes dārzs” in Ziemupe. We ate lunch and later went on a guided tour of the area, walked on the barefoot footpath, visited the flowering sensation park, the stand "Dievs radīja" and the "Smaragd" maze. At the end of the day we took a guided tour of Liepāja.

On the third day we went to see the beautiful, small town of Kuldīga. We reached the widest waterfall in Europe, Venta. At Kuldīga Castle Park, participants and partially sighted members of Liepāja's society for the blind's Kuldīgas division had the opportunity to test the G4ViD application. We went on to the sand caves of the Riežupe. Accompanied by a guide, we had the opportunity to learn about the history of the cave, that the caves had been dug for three generations and all the mazes were people's handiwork. In the caves, the sand is as white as flour and was once used to make glass. We saw bats as well, during the tour. After our tour, we went to Riga in the evening.

On the fourth day, we visited Rīga's Strazdumuiža's High School, which is the only educational institution in the country where children and young people with serious visual impairments are provided with a learning process tailored to their visual characteristics, and which provides support to the visually impaired and blind students integrated into general educational institutions. In the high school, we were welcomed by the school principal. We had the opportunity to look into the classes and see the school. School students participated in app testing and gave their recommendations to improve the app.
In the afternoon we went to the suburb of Sigulda. Guided by a tour of Turaida Castle, we learned various interesting historical facts and stories. Our next stop was Gūtmanis Cave, which is the widest and highest cave in the Baltics. Following the tour, a meeting of coordinators took place to discuss the organisation of the next meeting in Cyprus.

On the last day of the meeting, we visited the rehabilitation centre of the society for the blind of Latvia, which provides social rehabilitation services to people with visual impairments. The main objective of the rehabilitation centre is to help people with visual impairments acquire and improve daily skills, for example, cooking, safely navigating premises, handling money, shopping and other skills. Customers at the rehab centre had the opportunity to test the G4ViD app.

More information about the project can be found at: www.g4vid.eu/lv.