look, what I’ve found:

And please comment! What do you think about it?

Love

I’ve told you a lot about the work I do – but: it is not only work I do (fortunately! )

Last week we had a great Summerparty in the KHT that is celebrated every year. There’s always a motto that has to be chosen  and this time it was…*tadatataaataaataaaa* THE CARIBBEAN! Sound nice, hu? Well, you guys, it was !

I want to tell you everything about it – there’s just one thing that’s bugging me, I had no camera there and all the people who took pictures have not given them to me yet… Please forgive me, I’ll try to make it as vivid as possible and add the real pictures later!

Here goes!

The KHT possesses a beautiful garden at the back of the building – there is a round place of meadow, framed by a little river with tiny bridges and nice flowers and trees. So romantic! Allocated inside of this garden we’ve built up stands with different titles and tasks, that I will present to you later on. Every stand was individually decorated – that is to say, there were huge colourful flowers attached to the tents, big, individually painted signs that told you about the stand you were about to visit and moreover each stand was decorated individually of course!

We had festoons everywhere, palm trees, hammocks and moreover everybody dressed up according to the theme!

Then we had a little program, that is to say:

• that there was a performance of a band and a choir (they consisted of helpers and the handicapped!) who played a Spanish song together,
• our Capoeira group gave us a little show of what they’ve learned so far
• and also the therapeutic-dance-group showed us some extracts
• there came a real Caribbean drum group and performed for us – we all sang and danced together!

Now, as promised, here comes a list of all the stands there were:

1. Quiz-Stand - here you could do a quiz about the Caribbean, paint in different pictures and then you got a button for it, with the painting you’ve created before on it! –> good for general knowledge
2. Make-Up-Stand – one could get painted to fit even more into this Caribbean atmosphere. The paintings were mostly flowers and tribal patterns that were painted on arms, cheeks, necks, … everywhere –> good for fun
3. Tropical-Fruit-Stand – there were all different sorts of fruit laid down on a great table, so e.g. pine apple, star fruits, mangos and so on, and one could try them – but : there was a tricky part! You were blindfolded and had to taste which fruit it was! –> good for sensitization of senses
4. Music-Stand – there were about 20 drums, so that we could all play a rhythm together and dance! –> good for coordination and feeling for rhythm
5. Relaxation-Stand – here one could find hammocks under palm trees and get little back massages!
6. Bottle-Message-Stand – one could fill coloured sand into little glass bottles and then send it to someone special! Everybody did great patterns with the different colours – this looked so nice! –> good for coordination (filling in was difficult)
7. Game-Stand – one could throw balls through the holes of a self-made, beautiful, huge traditional mask and hit some balls with it (like canned-throwing, do you remember that?) –> good for coordination
8. Horse-Riding-Stand - there was the possibility to attend therapeutic horse riding, and even wheelchair users could do it! This was amazing to watch – the smiles and the joy on their faces when they were up there, impayable! –> good for coordination and sensitization of senses
9. Treasury-Stand – they build up a boat with sand and palm trees and somewhere there was a treasure hidden. You got there through answering questions and shoveling sand aside. –> good for general knowledge and fun
10. Cocktail-Stand – we had three different kinds of non-alcoholic cocktails and they’ve tasted really nice! –> good for fun
    
11. Food-Stand – our kitchen team provided some really tasty food! We had rice with coco-banana-curry-chicken/vegetables and a BBQ! And: they even prepared dessert! So tasty! *yummy* –> good for hunger

It was just so bright and colourful! You definitely should have seen that!

I hope, you’ve got a little impression of the summerparty and as soon as I get pictures, you’ll get them too!

Love

here it comes: the much longed for, incredible and exclusive interview, I’ve promised you:

(to all the English-speaking people out there: below you can find the whole interview translated – special service, just fo you )

Lilly:  Hey Caro, thank you for taking the time to realize this interview. Maybe you could start introducing yourself?

Caro: Of course. My name is Caro, I’m 20 years old and from Berlin. At the moment I’m realizing my Voluntary Year of Social Service in the Kaspar-Hauser-Therapeutikum in Berlin – I work in the ceramics department there.

L: Nice! And what exactly are you doing in the sheltered workshop?

C: Well, I supervise and accompany mentally, corporally and psychologically challenged people while working in the sheltered workshop. I guide them concerning the working processes and also therapeutical treatments – that is to say music therapy, art therapy, dance therapy, and all these measures that exist…

L: Sounds great! How do you like working in the social sector? Do you see advantages and disadvantages?

C: Well, all in all I think, it’s great! While doing it, I’ve recognized, that this is exactly what I want to do, however there are naturally assets and drawbacks. An asset would be that, I personally feel really good helping other people, especially when you see, more or less, clearly that they are in a need for help, that they are dependant on your help and that you are able to support them. On the other hand it requires a lot of strength, you have to be patient and always considerate. One should really mind the communication – how do I approach someone, how do I adress them at all. This really requires a high concentration and sometimes – you know, it can happen, that one has a bad day perhaps, so possibly concentration is missing, sometimes you just get up on the wrong side of bed and then it really can sap your energy. You have to take care, not to be too unpatient then and stay friendly, even though if there are “not so nice” situations and you just feel stressed – which can happen, if you want to do thirty different things at a time – which of course, you cannot, I mean, one cannot split, right? So you have to prioritize, who you can deal with first, whom not and this, yes, this can be quite exhausting. Moreover one should really keep in mind that the problems inside the sheltered workshop, let it be individual issues or problems between others, these should stay there – do not carry them home! It’s just, that one has to say, okay, until this point and then this far and no further. From this point the work does not concern me anymore and I have to stop thinking about it nonstop, because otherwise this can really get you down, as you only think about others people’s problems and of course oneself has to deal with some life issues too!

L: Definetely! Maybe you want to tell us to what extent this work has changed you. You have been doing this for some time now and it will soon be over (the Voluntary Year of Social Service). How far has it changed you?

C: It helped me on my insight into human nature because I can now deal better with different kinds of situations, I mean like stressed situations or situations where you are just absolutely happy when somebody tells you “Hey, it is so great to have you are here!” – this is great and one is so glad about it but you should not act too effusively because the others will copy it and do it all the time – that’s kind of this little learning effect that springs from the handicapped people… Well, I’ve become more patient definetely, it really helped me on being able to judge different situations better and I really hit the brick wall there everyday and got to know me a lot better through this work. So, I am now able to judge how far I’m able to go and when I have to stop.

L: Do you think that it would be good for people of our course of studies or students in particular, to be committed and what character traits should one bring along?

C: Well, all things considered, I think it’s great if people are committed in a sector where I’m committed too – it’s just great to have people around who feel the same way and who also want to help and support other people, who want to give other’s the feeling that they are great people and that they have abilities that can be used, especially in the sheltered workshops. I think, especially there, every help is needed – there are so many that would need that help and claim it but there are just way too few people that want to help – maybe this is a little appeal for all those who are thinking “Well, I don’t know if I can do this..and you know, working with disabled…” most people say “I cannot do this!” but maybe one should let oneself in for this, visit a workshop, perhaps with somebody one knows well – having a contact person nearby, and just get involved with it! Just put this taboo topic of disability aside and get yourself into it! Have a look on how to approach someone, how you affect them and how they affect you? Just get to know each other!

L: Great! Thank you so so so much for your time and I hope everybody  heard the appeal and will keep on reading this blog about the topic…

C: Hopefully

L: So thank you and see you around!

Please feel free to comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Love

I’ve found two articles you might like (unfortunately one of them is in German.. sorry!). It’s about the helper’s syndrome – I’ve wondered recently if people who volunteer suffer from that (including me), but I’m not sure – it is considered an addiction and I personally do not see myself being addicted to volunteering but hey – I think it’s worth reading and thinking about it! Thoughts?

Moreover I’d like to make an announcement: Next week you will be able to watch a first-class-video! I’ve got to interview a charming girl who works in the social sector and she is going to give you an exclusive insight on what one needs to work there, what pros and cons there are, and so much more…  So hang on!

Looking forward to it!

Love

I’ve found some articles about how important contributing can be for your career and what rewards there might be in your job – sounds interesting, he? Until now I’ve found one in English:

The Independent – A Helping Hand

And some in German:

Article – HR-departments prefer students who do voluntary work

ZEIT-Article

I hope you’ll like it

Love

Now I have told you some basic things about my work and voluntary work in general. But one aspect is still missing, that I consider very important. This job is indeed fun and enjoyable, but you also have to deal with situations one is not usually used to. Sometimes things happen that make me feel very emotional and I would like to tell you about one of these situations I’ve experienced.

One day, one of the group members suffers from epilepsy (this is very common by the way, but in her case, it is quite severe) and was not feeling very well. She complained about her hands hurting, and her body not being under her control. Moreover she was frightened of what could happen and got nearly hysterical.

Then all of a sudden, she had the epileptic seizure and I was just standing near to her, not knowing what to do. The only thing I did, was holding her very tightly, so she would not hurt herself more than she already did or fall down her wheelchair . It only lasted some seconds but it was more than enough. She cried so much after it and I felt extremely helpless and sad.

You see, this can also happen, when you work in such an institution. These things makes me think about, how healthy I am and how good my life is. How uncomplicated. Naturally, you can also be aware of these facts without contributing to society – that is for sure, but isn’t it making you more conscious? What do you guys think?

I’m waiting  for your opinions with bated breath and thank you for listening.

Love

while surfing round the internet, I’ve found some links you might consider quite interesting I think/hope

They’re dealing with the topic of voluntary work (surprise surprise ) in an international context:

• UN Volunteers Online
• International Student Volunteers
• Volunteer abroad

Moreover for those of you who would prefer to participate in Germany, I’ve found the following:

• Intermediation of voluntary work in Germany
• Civil Academy

So maybe you check out some of these sites and tell me what you think about them?! Or you can tell me more links – I mean, this is just a little excerpt of sites I’ve found, so feel free to add some more

Love

you may wonder what all this writing of mine about me contributing to society is about. I mean, I fully understand that questions like

• Why should I do this? or
• What is in there for me? or
• Why is this even important?

pop into your head automatically – beyond question they popped into mine one day and I’d like to try to answer some of them.

Let’s start!

I’ve prepared a small summary of the -to me- most important Pro and Con points:

PRO

• feels good helping others
• you use your time in a senseful way
• you learn a lot about yourself
• you learn to appreciate life and all the small thing we’re likely to forget
• you widen your horizon
• you can build up new strengths (as e.g. patience, empathy, compassion, …)

CON

• time intense
• not easy work (psychological burden)
• unpaid

Moreover I’d like to mention, that there is a lack of personell in the social sector, as financial means are scarce. That is why they are dependant on people like us – we can change something, make conditions better for people who really need our help and make a difference!

What do you think? Could you add more aspects to the Pro/Con outline? Do you have any other cogitations?

Please share your thoughts with us and comment!

Love

I want to share a movie with you. It’s done by film-students and when I watched it – by coincidence by the way- I knew, that what I wanted to do was right and important.

It touched me deeply: Short Movie “12. Etage”

Unfortunately, it is in German – but hey: maybe it’s a good training for you international guys No, just kidding: if there is the need, I would post a short summary in English. Just comment on this and it’ll be done in no time

Thoughts on the movie? Please comment!

Sleep well,

Lilly