Die Arche - Warsaw

„Wait, I’ll go tell my mum I will join the camp again next year!”

As we approach his home town again, this little boy obviously finds it hard to say good-bye to the past days of our holiday camp. It was not only the first time he went with us on a camp, it was even the first time he ever went outside his home town for a vacation.

Far from everyday stress, the familiar environment with all its crises and existential questions, a lot of children who come to us had the chance to go on holiday camps with us this summer.

For every single one, it is a completely new, great and often eye-opening experience of getting to know a world that was hidden before: Camps at DIE ARCHE are days of seeing nature, finding new friends and further getting to know oneself. The kids love to finally be in the center of attention with our pedagogues caring about them the whole time. When we put them to bed, they get bright eyes as they tell us about what they experienced during the day: “I never had so much fun” or “this camp is the best time ever” are comments we often get to hear. Of course, we are deeply happy about that, yet it also reminds us that it is so important to be there for them back home as well.

On our camps, the children learn what it means to be a team player, build trustful relationships with others and handle conflicts. During the time together, they also tell us and the other children what usually causes worries at home or school. Above all, the children learn how precious they are.

Dear friends: Our heartfelt thanks for your support in the past. We would be very grateful if our vision to create perspectives for children in need remains close to your heart in the future!

Karl keeps us on the go. He comes to one of our houses on a regular basis and is very present. Karl is a bit smaller than the other children, what yet might be a factor for his feeling of having to fight his way through more than the others.

Working with Karl is never easy, but that makes his great progress in recent weeks even more worth admiring. Let’s tell you the story of a great boy who is taking big steps right now.

On the football ground was where Karl used to be in his element. He used to sidestep any defender and celebrate every one of his goals as if it was deciding a World Cup final. Actually, he is still a very good football player. But until recently, this was all he had in mind. Doing homework usually looked like this: He pulled one of our pedagogues by the sleeve, said “Please help me with my homework!”, and with that, he meant: “Please do my homework!” A few minutes later, he would say: “Finished! I’ll go play now!”.

Day for day, we tried to support Karl. Having a friendly ear for him and starting the tasks together with him. A lot of failed attempts and alarm signals from school later, he reluctantly agreed to wrapping a deal: We would read football books together, and, more important, before he starts to play. “Football players read as well”, he found out. After reading lots and lots of football books, Karl started reaching out to other books as well: He began to do his homework, finally with some patience as well. “Please help me” now really means: “Please explain this to me”. And when it comes to the range of numbers up to 20, he says: “Thanks, I can do this by myself”.

This is a great progress, but of course only a start. Reading and writing are still a big challenge. But when he leaves the football ground, he nowadays often says: “Come on, let’s read again!”

Children like Karl show us how important it is to take time for every child, even if it is a long road to go. We strongly believe that Karl is taking the right way now. Dear friends: Our heartfelt thanks for your support in the past. We would be very grateful if our vision to create perspectives for children in need remains close to your heart in the future!