Navrat: Lets find every child in Slovakia a family

Dear donors,

Thank to your support and generous gifts we managed to stand by tenths of adoptive and foster families during the whole year 2015. We have prepared more than 30 new adoptive or foster pairs or individuals. We have provided psychological and social counselling for more than 50 parents. We have served more than 60 children with specialised therapies focused on trauma relief, strenghtening of the safe relational bond between parents and child, encouragement of confidence in the world and in the close people.

We have trained 14 parents in the Training of parental skills with the elements of filial therapy. We have used diagnostical and therapeutical advantages of Sandplay therapy with 13 children. We have trained 16 parents with their 20 children in how to use touches as a healing element of the relationship in the Touch therapy.

We have spent a lot of time dealing with the life history of the children. It is very crucial for them to be aware of their past, to accept the past experience and to take active role in the formation of own future. The identity of the child who was abandonned by biological parents and then spent time in various places (orphanages, diagnostical centres, foster families,...) is very complex and it demand a lot of time and attention to manage it and thus become able to find own place in the world and in one’s own life.

It is also thank to your contribution that we have provided with special professional services mroe than 80 families and 60 children in adotive or foster homes.

Thanks to the cofinancing from the Global Giving we could continue in training a group of parents from Zilina in how to use filial therapy with their children  very effective in dealing with behavioral problems, lack of child’s need od communication, which is one of typical traits of children who spent long time living in institution. They have literally to learn how to speak about their feelings, experience and needs and fiflial therapy and structured playing with these children helps them to break down their barriers and free them from their closeness.

In august we realised outdoor camp for youth from substitue families and families at risk. In the cooperation with Pygmalion project – a group of volunteers, mainly young male teachers we held free time activities during summer holidays and in September as well. These volunteers  work with children and youngsters from various age groups. They organise sport and art activities and prepare children from families with bad social condition s for school. That is very important because they help children to achieve better school results and be more successful in further education and thus help to encrease their potential to overcome social exclusion.

In the east region of Slovakia, the town of Presov, our professionals used Sandplay therapy in their sessions with children who need to open their past and heal the trauma they undergone. We used Sandplay with 2 children continually since May to September 2015 and 3rd one since September 2015. In September we invited the parents from Professional families who take care of the children from Children’s Homes in their own households to a seminar about using therapeutic stories. Now they use it to enrich their care for children placed to thier homes and they learn how to become a therapist to their child. We trained several new adoptive/foster parents to use touch as a means of therapy with the newly placed children.