The value of technology reflects in the ways it can improve the quality of living of both individuals and communities. The project “Cross Border Sound for Children with Disabilities”, also known as CBS-CD used technology to support inclusion of children and young people with disabilities into cultural and social life of their two communities, in the Hungary-Serbia border region.
Thanks to the EU (IPA) co-financing, facilitated via this Programme, the project partners purchased the musical devices based on Soundbeam technology, which enabled young people with disabilities to make music.
Soundbeam devices are based on sensors which detect even the slightest body movements through ultrasound waves and transform them into sounds and music. Besides obtaining this equipment, the project included training sessions for usage of the technology, workshops, knowledge- and experience-exchange and live performances of the project participants as the orchestra “Dobri ljudi” (“Good People”).
For the young participants in the project, the opportunity to create music presented more than a form of expression and discovering own abilities and talents. It offered them a chance to take an active part in the cultural and social life of their communities. This way, the project helped increase visibility of disabled persons and create positive attitudes of their fellow citizens towards them.
The project was implemented in the period between 1 September 2018 and 31 December 2019, within the Programme’s priority of encouraging cooperation in tourism and cultural heritage preservation. It presented a partnership of the Elementary and Secondary Boarding School Milan Petrović from Novi Sad, Serbia and the school for children with special needs Egyesült Út Alapitvány from Baja, Hungary – the institutions that have been collaborating successfully for nearly 20 years.
The enclosed video clip (Serbian with Hungarian subtitles), produced within the project CBS-CD, offers insight into the experience of the young participants and the project team, and it highlights the importance of cooperation projects that promote social inclusion.
More details about the project are available in the section Projects of this website, as well as on the Facebook page of the project CBS-CD.