Like many 16 year-olds, Jorge is passionate. He loves technology. He’s an avid reader. He’s a fútbol (soccer) fanatic.

He also has a family who is unwavering in their commitment to his education, ensuring he has access to a learning environment that’s both inclusive and empowering.

But for many young people like Jorge, access to quality and inclusive education is anything but guaranteed. Jorge is visually impaired, but his horizon is only getting bigger thanks to the support he found in Fe y Alegría’s inclusive education model.  “I am very happy at Fe y Alegría,” Jorge said, “and I am very grateful for the teachers and directors. At Fe y Alegría we are taught and live the values of inclusion.”

Growing up visually impaired

Diagnosed with glaucoma and high eye pressure as a newborn, he endured multiple surgeries in his early years. Unfortunately, by age four he had lost one of his optic nerves, leaving him completely blind in one eye, shaping the trajectory of the rest of his life.

He began to face life with visual impairment: learning Braille, moving around very carefully, using his hands, sharpening his hearing, his memory and his intellect. All this with the unwavering support of his mother, Irene, who is by his side at all times.

Key to that support was finding a school that could not only support Jorge’s needs, but give him the tools to thrive. “Other educational institutions with ‘greater resources’ of all kinds are very far from working on real inclusion and treating people like me equally,” Jorge said.

Then in 2020, he began to study at a Fe y Alegría school.

Finding his place at Fe y Alegría

“Joining Fe y Alegría was a very important change in his life,” Irene said. “He was the first visually impaired student in the school with all that this meant for him and for the institution. His teachers learned a lot from him as well. He has his group of friends and develops his life like any of them.”

Jorge’s education at Fe y Alegría opened the doors to enjoying hobbies that most would deem impossible for him.

“I love programming,” said Jorge. “I take online courses in my spare time. Now I’m learning JAVA.” Applications such as TalkBack make it easier for him to use his cell phone and, with the help of the screen reader on his computer, he can use programs from the Microsoft environment, just like his classmates. “I always wanted my teachers to treat me like everyone else.”

This inclusion led Jorge to his second passion: literature. He is a passionate reader and this inclination for literature, instilled in him by his teachers, called him to begin to write as well. Now, he is working on the final edits of writing his first book of poems which he will call “Un poeta soñador” (A Dreamer Poet). His poetry explores a range of themes from personal to social and even philosophical.

National Champion in Adapted Fútbol

When he is done writing, Jorge also becomes a bit of an artist on the fútbol field. Playing fútbol is practically a requirement growing up in Salta, Argentina and Jorge wouldn’t let his limited visibility keep him from learning. He joined an adapted fútbol team and even participated in a big travel competition at the Evita Games in 2023. 

This national sports competition is hosted by the Secretariat of Tourism, Environment and Sports of Argentina each year in Mar del Plata, southeast of Buenos Aires. The Games also include an adapted selection for athletes with disabilities. The Secretariat explains that these adapted games are a reflection of “public policies aimed at the integration of sectors of the population, whose possibilities of access to sport are different from the generality of the community, in this specific case, because they are part of a group with specific needs and daily realities.”

For Jorge, the chance to travel to Mar del Plata and participate in the games was very impactful. This was the first time he traveled so far from home without his mother. “We took more than 20 buses from Salta and 21 other provinces. There were 30,000 people at the games. It was wonderful. Even better, we came in first at the national level in adapted soccer,” he said.

Jorge may be visually impaired, but his horizon is only getting bigger. 

Jorge’s story is just one of many inspiring testimonies from Fe y Alegría which challenge stereotypes about disability and highlight the value of educational inclusion. Fe y Alegría Argentina already includes 102 students with disabilities and/or functional diversity in our educational centers located in vulnerable contexts in 7 provinces. Read more here.