Navrat: Lets find every child in Slovakia a family

For families, who took in children with special needs, we were providing service called „relieve service“. Parents, who take care of children who require special and very intensive care, are often exhausted. This can lead to their total collaps. We are offering to these parents some time for themself - as a prevention of their collaps. Trained volunteers spend time with children while parents have time to rest and relax, or spent time alone as a couple. This service is very important, because while volunteers are spending quality time with children, their parents can gatherstrength to be able to continue taking care of their children with new energy.

We are thankful to our donors, that we could also buy new toys for our special playground. This playground is place where children play with their adoptive/foster parents. Children are playing their own way, and we teach parents to respond to it correctly. Everything that parents do or say during the game, tells kids that they see and accept them. This therapy has some rules and for parents it´s hard work, because it is not enough to learn some "formula" but parents must stay themselves all the time. Because children, and particular those who have experiences difficult situation in the past, have limited options to express when they are having trouble. Thanks to the support of donors we were able to add special toys to our playground – various sandboxes, and bowls for the sand, rise and other masses in which they could bury, a frog to be transformed into prince, various figurines of birds, dress for the princess and others. Thanks to this special toys and way of playing with children, which we are teaching the parents, children can express themself despite the difficult childhood experiences.

During the year we were visiting families also in their homes. Because they live in villages in different parts of Slovakia, but in principle, far from professional help. We were traveling to various destinations and help them as consultats and therapists at their homes. We were visiting them also to see how are their doing and how the relationship between child and adoptive/foster parents is developing. This we are able to see when the family is in their natural circumstances and parents are more relaxed than in our premises and children are less shy. During the time, when we meet with families in their home, we give them practical counseling in daily situations they share with us.