Ride on the number twenty two with the Walking People
Prague – 17th May 2012 - In the first phase of the Sirius Foundation’s chodicilide.cz campaign at the
start of the year it brought to the media’s attention the subject of communicating with people with
disabilities. It is now continuing with its activities which call for original forms of interaction
between people with and without disabilities. Several tram rides will be held in May and June in
selected towns throughout the Czech Republic. The first tram will depart on 23rd May in Prague on
tram route no. 22 between Vozovna Střešovice and Nádraží Strašnice. The tram will set off at 8
o’clock in the morning and, except for a break for lunch, it will travel on the route all day until 5
o’clock in the afternoon. The tram journey will be free for all passengers.
The chodicilide.cz (in Czech: Walking people) campaign arose as a reaction to the results of research
between the parents of children with disabilities and representatives from the state and non-state
sector involved in this area. One of the most serious problems was considered to be the public’s
attitude towards children with disabilities and people in general who have disabilities. A working
meeting with children and young people with physical, visual or hearing disabilities showed that the
things that hurt them most about the attitude of people around them is their sympathy, fear and
excessive caution but, on the other hand, also their general indifference. The people behind the
campaign have decided to give the public a sensation that will snap them out of their everyday
apathy and that will help them to see the world through the eyes of people with disabilities.
Therefore a fictitious world has been created in which flying is normal and people who walk are
disabled.
The campaign is continuing in the same spirit in its second phase, during which tram rides will take
place in selected Czech towns. The special chodicilide.cz tram, which will run on the same route as
one of the normal tram routes, will show the public the feelings that people with disabilities
generally experience. “I liked the idea with the tram as soon as I heard about it. I like the way the
problem is being looked out with humour but also the fact that we will have the opportunity to talk to
passengers on the tram and to show them that we are completely normal and that they do not have
to be afraid of communicating with us or refusing to give the help that we ask them for if they do not
feel up to it,” says Eva, a student with a visual impairment who has been working on the campaign
from the very beginning.
The majority of the passengers on the tram, which will have chodicilide.cz campaign stickers on it,
will be people with visual or hearing disabilities. An ordinary person who gets on the tram will
suddenly find himself in the same situation that people with disabilities usually find themselves in –
he will be in the minority among people with disabilities and to begin with will not know what is
going on. But that is where the similarity with the everyday life of people with disabilities ends. The
rest of the time on the tram will help to clarify the whole situation. Each passenger will receive an
information leaflet, inside the tram there will be posters explaining the problem of communicating
with people with disabilities and there will be a presenter (“Tomáš” from the chodicilide.cz TV spots)
onboard who will try to stimulate communication between the passengers. For this purpose there
will also be people who know sign language on the tram.
“Our aim is to convey useful information in a humorous and innovative way, without undue
moralising,” adds Jana Muhič Vobořilová, the project manager of the Sirius Foundation.
The Walking People tram will set off in May and June in Prague (23.5. and 20.6.), Brno (1.6.), Liberec
(5.6.), Plzeň (6.6.), Ostrava (12.6.) and Olomouc (13.6.). More information about the tram rides will
gradually be provided on www.chodicilide.cz.
For more information contact:
Denisa Lexová
Ewing Public Relations, s.r.o.
Tel.: 224 800 521
Mobile: 731 513 691
E-mail: [email protected]
Jana Muhič Vobořilová
Project Manager
Sirius Foundation
Tel.: 257 211 445
Mobile: 602 390 605
E-mail: [email protected]