WORKCAMP “PARASKOVEYEVKA”
14/08-28/08 2005
The workcamp “Paraskoveyevka” took place in the boarding school for children with mental and learning disabilities. Main objectives of the project were to help with renovation of the boarding school, and to repair the playground.
First days it was less work to do because the materials were not supplied yet. Removing wallpapers took several hours. We used free time for games to get acquainted. Moreover, there were people who arrived the second day of the camp (the day we began to work), so it was the first day we met all together. The next day we removed wallpapers in the classroom. There were 13 people working in the same place so soon it was gone… The participants were motivated to work and initiative. So the group decided to collect some fruits lying on the paths.
This day we discussed plans for work. We defined
working hours for the camp: from
The school has got the materials. We worked on the sport ground cleaning the rust, painting sport equipment, cutting grass on the football field. We were told that the sport equipment wasn’t painted for 40 years! But it wasn’t the only task. The same time some participants were painting rooms, cleaning up and painting stairs, putting on wallpapers, painting doors, completing beds.
Everyone worked hard to help the school staff to improve everyday life of children.
The children are thankful and it’s the main reward for us!
ACCOMODATION AND MEALS
Those who came didn’t expect for special conditions in the boarding school. But the toilets were over their “expectations”. You can’t close it, you need to organize washing off on your own, water drops from the ceiling… You need to get used to it! It’s difficult to change some things but at least we can warn participants to be ready to meet such sanitary conditions.
Another problem we met was difficulties with heating water for the shower. So we had hot shower only for 3 or 4 evenings. Other days we had cold one!
When we came we were asked if we want two rooms for living or a big one for everyone. Without doubting people chose a big one.
We liked the room we lived. It was a piece of our privacy, our small world, home for our family!
We had good relations with school staff, especially with kitchen staff. We could ask to change some meals, to set the time we need. Sometimes it was really early when we went for some excursions; they left food for us in some room if the canteen was already closed when we were back. We could also order some ingredients for national cuisine and the participants cooked special dishes for us and sometimes for children as well!
FREE TIME AND STUDY PART
We spent a lot of time with children. The participants felt responsible to let those 8 children who stayed in the boarding school to feel beloved and interesting to play with. So it was in our plan that after lunch we can spend time with children. We went to the ponds nearby to swim, played with a ball, and played games in the evening. So we attracted a lot of children not only from school but from the area as well.
Several times we went to a pub, which became a disco for weekend, we walked around. Once 5 of us went to visit local people to see conditions they live - it was a flat and a house not far from the boarding school. We were invited to come one more time to the old woman who lived in the flat and the woman from the house we visited next morning brought us some food and wine as a present! This way we could learn a bit about locals.
Sometimes we stayed at home and had frank talks or just had a fun.
We learned a lot about region as we had an opportunity to visit Doneck on the 24th of August where we witnessed a great holiday devoted to the Day of Independence, Svyatogorsk with its monastery, Artemovsk. We had impressive excursions to salt mines and champagne factory. The last day people who hadn’t left yet went to Soledar to stay on the holiday organized to the Day of Miner.
We missed such component of study part as a workshop
about voluntary movement in
DINAMICS OF THE GROUP
First days we had some games to get acquainted. Some girls felt aside because of language. One Italian girl didn’t speak English at all and a French girl didn’t feel confident speaking English. But everyone was really friendly so soon ice had melted. People tried to speak with those people Spanish, French to let them feel in the group. Otherwise girls from the same countries translated for them. However, because of the English-not-speaking people English-speaking ones sometimes felt excluded. It happened several times when the campleader could be stricter about keeping talking English.
Anyway, sharing one room and frank talks, round table for meals (be precise it was square one), group activities and pleasant surprises to “secret friends” gave everyone group (“family”) feeling and feeling desired in the camp.
According to the evaluation “How do you feel?” we had at the beginning and at the end of the camp people felt much better at the end.
ROLE OF CAMPLEADERS
Campleaders were the link to the school staff: getting tasks and materials for work, questions connected to food, arranging trips, translating all the time. Children called us “translators” as we had to translate a lot.
During the meals (but mostly after- not to disturb the process of assimilation of food) campleaders raised questions to discuss, gave alternatives to choose, proposed and announced group decisions.
When there were two of us there was a division of main responsibilities:
- communication with the kitchen staff
- communication with the director and with the responsible person for materials.
Then everything lied on shoulders of one person. To run a lot…
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
The changed sport ground and positive impressions of children remind about the work we’ve done. Thanks of the participants tell about the good time we spend together.