MapMyDay: Worldwide campaign to raise awareness for common barriers
Accessible or not? With the help of the MapMyDay campaign you can enter this information in a special online map which is available for people around the world; © Andi Weiland | Sozialhelden e.V.
For people with wheelchairs, walking aids or baby carriages the most common obstacles which limit their freedom of movement on a daily basis are stairs. With the campaign MapMyDay the German non-profit organization Sozialhelden e.V. and the World Health Organization (WHO) want to raise awareness and improve mobility on December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The MapMyDay campaign calls upon people worldwide to mark the public places they come to during the day on Wheelmap.org, an online map for wheelchair accessible places developed by Sozialhelden.
The campaign specifically not only addresses people with a disability: "Barriers affect many people: Seniors, children, families. With the campaign MapMyDay we want to start a worldwide movement to call attention to barriers and to eliminate them in the best of cases", says activist Raúl Krauthausen, the inventor of Wheelmap.org.
To prepare for the event, all who are interested can inform themselves on the website www.mapmyday.org to find out how they can be part of the movement as an individual, with friends, colleagues or family members, in their clubs, schools or associations.
All you need is access to the internet. "It is really very easy: Log in on your smartphone or your computer, select a place, choose whether the place is 'fully', 'partially' or 'not wheelchair accessible' and you are done. We are offering a simple get-involved-campaign for working towards the goal of a more accessible world. That is why we have chosen the slogan 'Be the Movement' because everybody can contribute to creating more freedom of movement for people with mobility impairments," says Krauthausen.
On the one hand, MapMyDay aims to make more information available to people about their environment. "Does my favorite café have a step at the entrance? Would I be able to enter the supermarket around the corner in a wheelchair without a problem? Which nearby subway stations have an elevator? The answers to these questions benefit everyone", says Raúl Krauthausen.
Simultaneously, the campaign seeks to raise awareness for the barriers that people with mobility impairments and families with baby carriages are confronted with every day.
REHACARE.com; Source: Sozialhelden e.V.
More about the campaign MapMyDay at: www.mapmyday.org