tavaszán, egy akkor a húszas, harmincas éveikben járó, ambíciózus mozgássérült fiatalokból álló baráti körben merült fel az ötlet, hogy jó lenne összefogni a fiatalokat. Az a felismerés vezetett minket, hogy több olyan sorstársat is ismertünk, akik lehetőség hiányában otthon unatkozva, céltalanul töltötték idejüket. Arra gondoltunk, jó lenne közös találkozókat, kirándulásokat szervezni, táplálva bennük azt az érzést, hogy mi is hasznos tagjai lehetünk a társadalomnak. Eljártunk szalonnát sütni a Duna-partra vagy egyszerűen csak beültünk valahova fagyizni, beszélgetni. A beszélgetések során egyre jobban megismertük egymást, közös problémáinkat. Kiderült, szükség van arra, hogy megosszuk egymással tapasztalatainkat, információinkat. Voltak ötleteink, terveink. Ezek megvalósításához azonban szükségünk volt egy akadálymentes helyre, ahova be tudunk jutni, valamint irodai eszközökre. Azt is beláttuk, hogy programjaink megvalósításához anyagi támogatásra is szükségünk van, melyekhez pályázatok útján tudunk jutni. Ehhez az egyesületi formát találtuk megfelelőnek. Dr. Báthy Andrásné Györgyi a Magyar Máltai Szeretetszolgálat Nyugat-dunántúli régiótitkára az első kérésünkre mellénk állt és rendelkezésünkre bocsátott egy irodát, ahonnan intézni tudjuk hivatalos ügyeinket (telefon, internet, fénymásolás, stb.). A mai napig is ez az iroda ad otthont egyesületünknek, itt tudunk tagjainkkal hetente találkozni, így télen sem kell lemondanunk arról, hogy találkozzunk egymással. Az egyesület nevének kiválasztásakor azt tudtuk; nem szeretnénk olyan nevet, amelynek hallatán az jut rögtön az ember eszébe, hogy mi valamilyen szempontból hátrányos helyzetűek vagyunk. Éppen ellenkezőleg; motiváltságunkat, lelkesedésünket szerettük volna kifejezni. Így Arthur-király legendájából a Camelot nevet választottuk, mert:
"Camelot igazi varázsa épp abban rejlik, amit képvisel. Olyan hely ez, ahol egyetértés uralkodik, a becsület és bátorság a legfőbb erény, ahol az erős megvédi a gyengét". CAMELOT Association of Young People with Impaired Mobility
Our Motto:
"We don't need an umbrella shielding us from the world, but we need a world in which we are able to live in our own right." (Uwe Frehse)
We have established our association with the aim of helping people, who have become disabled due to an accident or some disease, cope with the radical and permanent changes, facilitating their social integration, organizing outdoor and sports programs for them and helping them with their efforts to study and be employed. Our association has been created
with the aim of making the life easier for persons who became physically handicapped due to an accident or a disease, and they have to absorb the radical and permanent changes happening in their ways of life; promoting the social integration of physically handicapped persons; organizing free time and sporting activities for them; helping their learning and working ambitions. In spring 2002 the idea of bringing together young persons came up in a circle of friends of ambitious physically handicapped youngsters in their twenties and thirties. We were lead by the recognition that we knew quite a few fellows who spent their time being bored at home, not having any aims in the lack of opportunity. Our idea was to organize meetings and trips, just to prove for them that we are also able to be useful members of the society. The news spread in a fast way, so more and more persons joined our team. We would barbecue at the bank of the Danube or we had an ice cream together, having some conversation. During these conversations we were getting to know each other and our common problems. It turned out that we are in the need of sharing our experience and information. We have been ideas and plans. We needed an unhindered place, where we are able to get in, and some office equipment for achieving these. We also admitted that we need financial support for realizing our projects, so we have to make applications. The format of an association seemed to be suitable for that purpose. Györgyi Báthy Andrásné, the secretary of the Western Transdanubian region of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, supported us from the very first moment and offered us an office, from where we are able to arrange our business. This office is still the headquarters of our association; we can meet with our members here on a weekly basis, so we can meet wintertime as well. Around forty young persons take part in our programs or ask for some help from us. Our activities are done by our members in volunteering; everybody uses his or her own abilities and knowledge in the tasks. We are very proud of the fact that most of our members are learning or working. The majority of members are between 23 and 27 years of age. We are organizing "Opportunity Classes" for elementary and high school students. In the lessons we familiarize the children with the daily routines of the disabled, the hardships and the positive aspects as well. The children also have the opportunity to try and take a closer look at our wheelchairs. It is a brand-new service in Győr, the schools have been very pleased, and they would like to take advantage of it. In our opinion, one should start off with broadening the minds of children and changing their attitudes positively. We do hope that they are going to become tolerant adults who will take the physically disabled naturally, and they will also make other people more tolerant. Obstacle races for people using wheelchair
We are regularly asked to build and organize obstacle races for people in wheelchair within the framework of different programs (e.g. university open days, children's day, footraces, Everybody's Festival, Social May Day Celebrations). Those who are interested can try using the wheelchairs, can put themselves in the shoes of the disabled, as they need to solve different ability tasks which can help them feel the difficulties wheelchair users might come across day by day. Living Library
Thanks to personal contacts ordinary people have the chance to see the world through somebody else's eyes for some seconds. They have many questions, stereotypes and prejudices, and there are few opportunities to make things clear. In the library the books are the physically disabled who can answer the questions and even the books can ask questions and can learn a lot. Ferrymanship
Our association, supported by the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, has launched a much-needed service. It involves special counselling provided by some physically disabled "ferrymen" after their having passed a special course. Through voluntary work, those in need are provided with psychological advice, life-coaching and can ask for help with social issues, too. EVS projects
So far we have completed 3 EVS projects. One of our members has finished his 9-month-long EVS in Berlin in a Montessori nursery school. In the summer of 2005, another member of ours embarked on a different EVS project, and he spent 2 months in Ireland, where his task was to develop the homepage of the host organization. Both guys came home with a lot of positive experiences. Preferably, we tend to draw the attention of our members and other people with physical disabilities to the very opportunity, and are glad to inform them about our experiences. It is a unique opportunity because the disabled are given the same chances as the able-bodied youngsters, and they can test themselves in an unknown environment or in a community with a different native language for a shorter or longer period, and it all can result in their making new friends and acquiring some useful pieces of experience. Since February 2008 we have been a host organization in addition to being a sending organization, and we hosted a German girl for 8 months. Assessing the status of accessibility in Győr
Within the framework of the project we would like to assess to what extent the town of Győr is accessible, how difficult it is for the people with different disabilities (visual, hearing, mental, physical), for the elderly and for the people pushing prams to live in our town and use the most important public places, catering facilities and shops. The first step involves mapping the town from the disabled perspective. For the survey we asked the social worker and engineering undergraduates of Széchenyi István University for help. Our members and the visually impaired friends of ours were analyzing the practical aspect. We intend to make a database with the places mapped so far. Action for accessible parking
Together with the House of Equal Opportunities of Győr, the local police force and neighborhood watch, we organized a raid, visited the parking places of every shopping centre and were checking whether the disabled parking places were actually taken by those in need. We could see that able-bodied people took the places many times illegally. That day car drivers could not get away with the offence, they all got fined by the police. Providing information, counselling, training opportunities
Those who ask for it, we can continuously provide advice and information regarding career prospects and educational possibilities, and social financial support in case of therapeutic aids. In order to extend our knowledge, we regularly take part in conferences and trainings on any topics that concern us. Our association is pleased to welcome the undergraduates from colleges and universities who would like to develop practical skills at our place, and would like to get some help with writing their theses. Camelot Cup
The program, which is a sort of a tradition at our association by now, is basically an ability race for physically disabled drivers. We advertise the race with several categories, depending on how the driver can drive the car (either manually or with one foot). Some of the participants come from other parts of the country, and they also look forward to meeting us at the race. Since 2009 the ability race has been salted with orienteering, where the drivers, using our navigator and the itiners, have to get to the shooting range in Écs through Pannonhalma. Outdoor activities
Week by week we organize club activities for our members. The activities are instrumental in providing the physically disabled with an opportunity for going out. For some of them those occasions are the only chance to be in company. We also take part in cultural (cinema, theatre, concerts) and sport programs on regular basis, and organize longer journeys, short trips, outdoor programs (e.g. barbecue, cooking kettle goulash), and we celebrate certain holidays (Women's Day, Santa Claus, New Year's Eve, etc.) together with our members, volunteers and friends. Looking forward to hearing from you!.
