Wan! Pakukko Summer School at Sendai Training Center

2022. 7. 28

News
Children wearing life jackets are playing in the river with staff members.

Sendai Training Center was established in 1996 as JGDA's second facility and is the only guide dog training school in the Tohoku region. The center focuses on training guide dogs, as well as rehabilitation to improve the quality of life of the visually impaired.

"Wan! Pakukko Summer School" is one of the various rehabilitation programs, and it has been popular since it started in 2003.
"Wan! Pakukko" is a play on words with "Wan" meaning woof and "Wanpakukko" meaning naughty kids in Japanese. It is a 2-nights /3-days summer school for elementary school kids with vision-impairment and their families. The summer school aims to help children develop a sense of independence and rediscover their potential through useful daily life experiences and challenges they have never done before. In previous summer schools, the children have enjoyed river exploration, canoeing, hula dancing, playing blind soccer, horse-back riding, making curry, and other activities, and their faces lit up with every new experience.

A child explores the river hand in hand with a staff member. He seems to have found something.
A boy is experiencing horseback riding. He looks a little bit nervous.
A girl is measuring rice using a cup with the assistance of a staff member.
A girl with a long cane is doing a trial walk with a guide dog.

Children who have participated in the summer school have stepped up to short-term visual impairment rehabilitation, home training, and even become guide dog users. We are hopeful that the program will continue to help children with vision-impairment and their families broaden their world and horizons.