In the day care center “House of Light” we first had to stop working with special need people on March 18, 2020 in order to comply with the state-imposed lockdown until May 15. Since then the “state of alarm” has been in effect. During that stage everyone has to wear a mask even in closed public spaces. This requirement makes it practically impossible to work with special needs children and adolescents, since most of the interactions take place through facial expressions, gestures, showing and imitation.
Our colleagues from the “House of Light” continue to be contact persons for the parents of the children and young people in problematic situations. They also provide tips on how the parents can support the children at home so that not all therapy successes are lost. During the summer months, the team offered programs on a farm that is used as a therapy and leisure center. Parents could come here with their children and enjoy a few hours of relaxation while the team looked after the children.
For the young people the changes were not quite as big as for the children. They were out on the farm grounds every day and worked there under the supervision of Felix Meinel.
Since September 9, children and young people have been coming back to the “House of Light”. The team still has to slowly adapt to the new conditions, experiment and think about how they can master the new situation – so that no child is left behind. Especially the mask duty makes working with people with handicaps difficult. But it doesn’t stop there: everyone has to sit in a certain seat, keep their distance from the others, disinfect regularly, … But the Romanian employees find creative solutions for this.
For the children with disabilities we are still looking for sponsors to finance a therapy place for them. This way the children can receive the best support possible.
