Useful holidays

From July 31 to August 2, 2018, the integration campaign “Useful holidays” was held. During the event, the pupils of the accompanied accommodation department of the Chervensky house-boarding school for disabled children with special needs visited a social hostel opened under the “Chance for everyone” project in Polotsk. Young people could see with their own eyes what opportunities a social hostel provides and what services they can receive from the center of social services for the population. Communication with those living in a dormitory has become a serious motivating factor for many pupils of the EAD (accompanied accommodation department), because these young people have already successfully passed the path that the children from Cherven have yet to come. The conversation of the staff of the department of accompanied accommodation of the house-boarding school with the specialists of the Territorial Center of Social Services, who escorted people living in the social hostel, became very fruitful. The Cherven house-boarding school hasn’t got a lot of experience so far in leaving the children into an independent life: in 2017, the first students entered the accompanied accommodation department, as two young people with disabilities left the institution. The specialists of the Territorial Center of Social Services told the staff what difficulties young people face when starting an independent life in a hostel: they learn to move around the city, independently distribute and control their budget, make necessary purchases. Special attention is given by the specialists of the Territorial Center of Social Services to finding the job to their students and supporting them at their workplace.
For all participants of the action, an excursion to the hotel complex “Slavyansky” was organized. The young people observed the work of the employees of the hotel, restaurant, tourist bureau and wedding salon, which are part of the complex. They were able to see the work places of the administrator, maid, cleaner, cook’s assistant, waiter, sales assistant, and tried to perform simple labor operations on their own. For children from the Chervensky house-boarding school an excursion has become an important part of the career guidance program, showing future employment opportunities.
Accommodation of the participants of the action was organized in the estate "Okhotny Dvor" (Polotsk district, village Bobynichi, Shkolnaya str., 1a). The estate is located near the lake, which made it possible to diversify the leisure of the participants of the event. In the estate, the young people from the boarding house and social hostel lived together, talked a lot. On the first evening, the psychologist of the Territorial Center of Social Services conducted the training aimed at getting acquainted with one another and improving communication skills to overcome barriers in communication. Motivational training "My future depends on ..." was held on the second day of the action. The training helped the children understand what the independence and self responsibility mean, they learned to set their goals and think about ways to achieve them.
The evening ended with a dinner around the campfire, socializing, songs with a guitar and positive emotions.
The final event of the action was a career-oriented meeting, which was organized for the children by the specialists of the Territorial Center of Social Services of the Polotsk District. The participants of the action learned about the most popular professions in the Polotsk region and about the requirements for candidates. They also learned how to register at a job center and get help with employment.
The agenda of the event was completed in full, without changes. The guys actively participated in all activities, showed great interest in what is happening and the desire to stay with us and help in solving organizational issues. Trips and excursions were also held at a high level and left a lot of impressions for their participants.