 1. The "Healthy Lifestyle" program (work with teens at school on prevention of
smoking, drinking, drug use, on communication, decision making, etc.).
In December, the members
of our Center provided 25 sessions on the program "Healthy Lifestyle". Among them, 11 sessions were devoted to HIV / AIDS
prevention, 2 sessions on violence prevention, 11 sessions were focused on team
building and 1 session was on tobacco prevention. Active involvement of schools
is due to the fact that we provided the FASD project for more schools and they
learned about the activities of our Centre. The professionalism of lecturers,
active advertising and individual approach to each class provide the best
results - the confidence of teachers and pupils' interest.
This month we were
particularly active providing lectures on HIV/AIDS. The presentation on
HIV/AIDS consists of three parts: to identify the level of students' knowledge
about HIV / AIDS, showing video on the topic and team play, which allows to get
more understanding of this disease. This way of presenting helps quickly to acquire
new knowledge. Here are some of the statements of pupils after presentation:
"Never in my
life I thought so intensively!” (Feedback during the game).
"Can I take a
questionnaire and share with my friends?"
"I thought I
knew everything about HIV! And today I still learned a lot!"
"I thought
that HIV is transmitted through infected insects and feared them! Now I know
that this is impossible. And thanks for telling me."
This and other statements
once again show the importance and need for further work in this direction. 
 This month we got
an interesting and unusual for us organization Birthday and New Year parties
for the group of children where we do training on team building. New forms of
work suddenly opened new possibilities for us. During the entertaining
activities we used the psychological exercises on team building and it helped
in making a team. Children participated enthusiastically in a quest contests
with other children and this kind of game would not work under normal
circumstances. Children performed tasks very amicably, constantly laughing,
helped each other and shared experiences. They started to rely more on each
other and became a team.
Besides this we
played the game which is called ‘A secret friend’. On random choice each child
got ‘a secret friend’ and he/she was supposed to take care of a ‘’secret
friend’. This task initially frustrated some children as they didn’t like the
guys who became their "secret friends." It was obvious that there was
a hidden conflict between some children, but during the game children became
more friendly towards their mates.
 Very touching
moment was when one of the boys brought to his "secret friend" a
jacket. The child was so surprised that didn’t even said "thank you."
This game has become part of the lives of children for the whole week, and the
guys were trying to do something good for others. Everybody has forgotten that
didn’t like someone. Everybody wanted to make his ‘secret friend’ happy.
Those kinds of
results make our work truly meaningful and necessary.
 2. Project "FASD"
In December we
provided more than 70 lectures at schools. Principles of schools are opened and
willing to cooperate in FASD project. For pupils this information was very interesting and important. Teachers
confirmed the importance and significance of the information as well.
3.
"We are just like you!" (work at the detention centre).
Unfortunately, in
December the "Florence Centre" has not visited the Detention Centre
for juvenile offenders, but the guys got Christmas gifts from us. As a gift
they got balls for football, volleyball and basketball games, and we covered
their travel expenses for a trip to the circus. Coming year we plan to continue
sport events there.
4. Program "Volunteers"
Volunteers from
Zaporizhzhya National University helped in preparation of teaching materials
for the "Kangaroo" program.
5. The "Kangaroo" program
The
"Kangaroo" provides early social rehabilitation of children with
special needs from 0 to 6 years.
During the month 14
families attended the "Kangaroo" program.
Every child gets
the services according of his/her individual plan of development.
This month we have
3 new families (delayed speech development, autism and achondroplasia).
A few hours a day works
a volunteer Natalia, who provides invaluable assistance in the organization of
children's activities.
This month, the
children continue to enjoy access to the pool. Many of them no longer afraid of
the water, swim with pleasure and look forward to the next sessions.
Special attention
is paid to the self-service skills training and also to the individual and
group classes, eating, walking, sleeping.
We find very
helpful the work of speech therapist and music therapist.
Systematically conducted
a walk with the kids to the playground, where children communicate with other
children and play outdoor games. Christmas party was
held in "Kangaroo” and brought a lot of positive emotions and gifts.
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