The METAS Projects page showcases initiatives that empower the blind community through conferences, school visits, and the Cambiando Vidas program, providing essential skills training for Spanish-speaking blind adults.
Conference in Guadalajara, 2019
METAS hosted a national conference in Guadalajara, Mexico. With funding from the Holman Prize, we were able to bring together 300 families, educators, blind people, and supporters for a 3-day free conference. We provided all attendees with breakfast, lunch, childcare, and resources.
Cambiando Vidas, 2018
One of our flagship programs is Cambiando Vidas. This program works with blind adults in the United States that are Spanish speakers. We work on orientation and mobility skills, daily living skills, technology skills, and self advocacy. This allows participants to get training in Spanish over the span of 3 days. We also serve all people regardless of immigration status. We partnered with the NFB of Texas for this Cambiando Vidas session. We have since run various Cambiando Vidas sessions across the country.
Visiting a School for the Blind in Guadalajara, 2017
In this trip we focused on our train the trainers model, in which we held sessions with educators as well as sessions with parents. We were able to speak honestly with parents about expectations and their fears for their children. We worked with students on many blindness skills.
Visiting a School for the Blind in Guadalajara, 2017
METAS went back to the same school from the 2016 visit, and this time focused on sports and recreation and orientation and mobility. We worked on general exercises with the students, showed them adapted equipment and played adapted sports. For many of the children, it was their first time experiencing beeping balls and adapted sports. Richie Flores led this session.
Visiting a School for the Blind in Guadalajara, 2016
METAS visited a school for the blind in Guadalajara, Mexico, where we worked with students in the areas of orientation and mobility, Braille, daily living skills, and self-advocacy. We did this while focusing on the educators using a train the trainers model. Likewise, we partnered with You Cane Give Initiative to get free canes into the hands of all the students in the School.