A film about life and work at the Ümüt-Nadyezhda Children’s Centre.
In 2022, young people spending a year in Kyrgyzstan as part of an international voluntary service made a wonderful film about the Ümüt-Nadjeschda Children’s Centre, which can be viewed on the website of the Anthroposophic Council for Inclusive Social Development.
Founded in 1989 by Karla Maria and Igor Schälike, the centre offers a wide range of activities: four inclusive kindergarten groups, a curative education school with four classes, residential groups, a youth centre, the Janusz Korczak Centre for adults with special needs, a therapy centre with counselling and further training for anthroposophical curative education, and social therapy with international colleagues. The Children’s Centre, with its wide range of activities, is financed almost exclusively by donations from abroad. It would like to continue providing a healthy daily routine for people with special needs, with access to education, further training for staff and participation in the political committees of the country, for many years to come and in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The film shows the work in the children’s centre Ümüt-Nadjeschda, which means ‹hope›, and as the volunteers report, for the children and adults at the centre, it brings just that: hope and joy. Their needs are recognized, and a space is created for them to exist and be together. The volunteers paint a consistently happy picture, and this testifies to how much can be created with the simplest of means. In addition to eurythmy therapy, riding therapy, speech therapy and Waldorf education, there are also opportunities for retreat and play. Work is done together in the garden and there is a school day for classes, where students can also learn important skills like reading. Kyrgyz culture can be seen throughout the film – not least in the freshly prepared meals for everyone on site.
Source Anthroposophic Council for Inclusive Social Development
More Nadjeschda
Image Screenshot from the video ‹A Day in Ümüt Nadezhda (2023)›
Translation Eliza Rozeboom
