Imagine growing up spending most days in a tiny living room with other children and shifts of caregivers.For hours you sit on a rug, watch tv or circle the room. Shelves hold stuffed animals and toys but what you want and need is a safe place for exercise where you can express yourself through art, music and games.Your brain craves stimulation but there is none. So you self-stimulate, rocking your body back and forth. But what if you had a play space for exercise, painting, dance, and more?
Special needs children living in disability centers are suffering emotionally, cognitively and physically. They do not attend school. USC Brain Institute research shows brain development and learning social interaction requires play and stimulation through art, music and "free" play. The Barlad facility is in Vaslui County, the poorest area of the E.U. There is no government funding beyond ensuring the children are fed, clothed, have a basic level of medical care and are looked after by aides.
We are partnering with the orphanage Director who has long wanted a year-round space for art, music, exercise, dance, and unstructured play. A Delia Foundation Trustee in Barlard is the project manager. We committed funds for labor to enclose an existing outdoor pavilion and turn it into an inviting playspace. Donations will pay for construction supplies so the pavilion will have new sides to open or close, heat, and art, music, and pretend play materials. The kids can play and explore!
The year-round playspace will provide a safe, stimulating environment for 70 kids now living at the Barlad facility AND HUNDREDS of children in the future. While this project will greatly improve the current quality of life and bring joy, the long term impact is the positive emotional, physical and intellectual development of these children. This development will enable them to learn to function in society. If they can't, they will be placed in an institution for life when they turn 18.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
