EVS for mental health - My November in Minte Forte
The
day-care center Grădinița Malteză, a
project from Serviciul de Ajutor Maltez
în România, welcomes children with disabilities. In here I developed my professional
project that implies practicing sports with the children, for their well being.
On the 29th of November I spent for the first time an afternoon with
the children, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. I was a little nervous before we started
because I had never worked with young children with disabilities, my experience
until now being only with teenagers with disabilities. I'm not really a confident
person, because of the fact that I don't have a lot of experience with small
children, but I believe it's very interesting for me to learn what we can do
together and how I can help them.
I was
received with a very warm welcome, I talked a little bit with my colleagues and
afterwards I went to change my clothes, because it is important, as a hygiene
rule, that we wear clean clothes when we start the activities. After this
practical step, my colleagues accompanied me to meet the kids and shared with
me the various difficulties that can appear so that I can be prepared and be
able to get the most from my activities. The children were enthusiastic when they
met me, which made me very happy and this quickly motivated me and helped me
adapt with no problem.
It did
not take long for me to adapt and I didn’t encounter any difficulties, even if the
children have not met me before and they had to get used to a new person. I
showed them that I was there for them, because I wanted for us to play together
and help them. Having them to trust me was an important step before I started
my activities.
I did
not focus on a specific activity. I saw that the children were interested in
playing the “electric train”, the “car”, etc., so we gathered around and we
played the game each child chose. Like for example with a little boy who wanted
to play the “electric train”. He found it to be very amusing because we had to
cross the room and he could choose which direction he wanted to take. A second
example was a game with a handkerchief. I
played it with a little girl and each one of us had to hold one side of the
handkerchief. We ran and turned in
circles holding the handkerchief during all this time and, even though she
cannot speak, her joy and happiness were not difficult to observe and this made
me very happy as well. Another example
would be that of a little girl who has difficulties in walking, but whose
desire to walk is extraordinary. I helped her walk around the room and she was
also very pleased by my help.
I think
it is very interesting to participate in "individual games" with these
children because it allows you to observe their abilities, and it's easier to
understand their difficulties. This is of great help to me because by knowing
what they can and cannot do I am able to better select and prepare my
activities with them. The more time I spent with them, the more I learned about
them and their abilities.
At the
end of the day some of the children went home in special cars, while the others
were accompanied by their parents. The children began to leave the association around
3:30 p.m.
My first
afternoon in the association was very well spent and I must say I encountered
no difficulties. The children also seemed happy of my presence, which makes me
happy. This was only the beginning, because there are many more visits to
plan, which will take place in the afternoon as well as in the morning. This
makes my future visits much more interesting, because this way I get to
work with different children and, implicitly, with different working plans.
Cassy