Songpa-gu Conducts Disability Awareness Education Through SongpaSsaem YouTube Channel

With the HeartHeart Orchestra of Developmentally Disabled Artists with 900 Performances

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu District Office (Mayor Park Seong-su) and the Heart-Heart Foundation (Chairman Oh Ji-cheol) will jointly conduct online disability awareness improvement education.

Disability awareness improvement education is a legally mandated program conducted by government agencies and others to ▲eliminate social prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities ▲promote social participation and rights protection for people with disabilities ▲create an inclusive society integrating people with and without disabilities.

The district has conducted the “Disability Awareness Improvement Education Visiting Schools” annually. However, this year, due to COVID-19, the program will be delivered online to 6,500 faculty members and 62,000 students across 85 elementary, middle, and high schools in the region.

To this end, at the end of September, filming was conducted with the “Heart Heart Orchestra” at the Seokchon Lake cultural experimental space “Hosoo,” and the video was released on the Songpa Saem YouTube channel. The performance features autobiographical storytelling of a person with developmental disabilities overcoming challenges and striving for excellence.

The educational video consists of ▲introduction of the orchestra ▲trumpet solo performances “Fanfare” and “Turkish March” ▲violin and cello duet “Salut d’Amour” ▲flute solo “Tambourin” ▲trumpet and flute duet “Cs?rd?s.”

Through this, it aims to inspire the youth, the future generation, providing them with an opportunity to dispel prejudice against people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, the “Developmental Disabilities Heart Heart Orchestra,” founded by the Heart-Heart Foundation in 2006, has led efforts to improve disability awareness through over 900 domestic and international performances, including at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center.

Based on a business agreement with Songpa-gu, various projects have been carried out to strengthen disability rights and improve awareness.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “Although all areas of society have been constrained due to COVID-19, we must actively respond and seek change,” adding, “The disability awareness improvement education prepared as online content will reach more people and contribute to creating a society where people with and without disabilities live together.”