ABOUT Lara Guide Dog School



Lara was the first guide dog in Greece, brought to the country by her guide dog handler Ioanna-Maria Gertsou. Lara was the reason Lara Guide Dog School was created back in 2008 as a nonprofit civil partnership. Her owner wanted to provide other visually impaired people with guide dogs offering them the chance to “see” through their eyes. Lara Guide Dog School is the only such school presided by a blind person who also happens to be an active guide dog handler herself, activist, and psychologist at a Greek hospital.

Lara Guide Dog School implemented the training program Mobility and Orientation with a White Cane, in collaboration with Elpida Friends of the Blind Association of Epirus.

Nea Optiki Group proudly supported the project of Lara, where 8 participants of various ages and different parts of Greece, specifically from Arta, Ioannina, and Lefkada, took part in a program consisting of 15 individual lessons completed about a year later. The aim was for the participants to feel confident and secure while using their white cane, as well as to develop independent living skills.


 


According to Lina Callee, Trainer of Mobility, Orientation, and Daily Life Skills for people with partial or complete loss of sight, "the training was about what we do at home every day as well as cane techniques to move safely through indoor and outdoor environments...", adding that "learning these techniques for most of them turns out to be much easier than what they have in mind... Blind people living in the province don't have support in terms of education".                           

The youngest participant, a 4-year-old boy from Ioannina, cordially accepted the white cane and showed great interest in using it, and as his father pointed out "he is moving a bit more independently without us constantly holding his hand". At the same time, Christodoulos, a High School student, confirmed that "thanks to the mobility classes, I started going out more with the white cane".

It was our honor as a GROUP to be one of the sponsors of the program Mobility and Orientation with a White Cane and we hope to have helped Lara in our way in its successful completion!