My Nonprofit Reviews

Efren
Review for BRAUSA Health and Fitness for the Sighted, Blind and Visually Impaired, Los Angeles, CA, USA
I am so grateful to know Master Raiul at BRAUSA and learn Kapoeira from him! He is so passionate about helping the visually impaired and he is providing a wonderful service! I have never met anyone who has really wanted to improve fitness in the blind and visually impaired community! I had an accident at work in 2004 that left me totally blind. I became depressed and I gained a lot of weight. Before the accident I was very active - I played soccer three times a week! And after the accident I tried to find some kind of exercise that I could do without sight to make me feel better. But there was no information about what I could do, and walking and doing push ups were not enough. After six surgeries in each eye some of my sight was restored, but I was still searching for a way to feel better and escape depression. Luckily, Master Raiul was providing free Kapoeira classes at the Braille Institute. I didn't know what Kapoeira was or if I was able to do martial arts, but I decided to check out his class. Kapoeira was an exciting new sport for me, and I felt safe learning from Master Raiul. Now, after doing Kapoeira for 7 months, I feel a lot better. I am stronger and more confident. I invited my family and friends to class, and now my son takes classes with me every week. We love Kapoeira!
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Taking the Kapoeira classes has made me stronger and more confident. Now I feel free to take my shirt of at the beach! I have also met new people, made new friends and strengthened old friendships through these classes. I truly believe in BRAUSA's mission to bring fitness to the blind and visually impaired community through Kapoeira, and I hope to volunteer with this organization in the future.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
It would be great if more Kapoeira classes were being offered at different times during the day every day of the week! That way more people could benefit from this amazing service. It would also be helpful if there were specific classes dedicated to educating the community about nutrition. Master Raiul does talk about nutrition sometimes during Kapoeira class, but it would be nice to have a regular class about nutrition offered.