Article written by Ilde Navarrete
In the next few lines I will describe what I experienced during my day at the Farm of Life the 3rd October 2015. Little did I know before about the picnic, only that we paid a visit to know their wonderful and brand-new facilities and that my friends Alicia and Berkay assisted during summer there. Moreover it is one of the hosting organizations that IB Polska is cooperating with. Helped by the representatives of IB Polska and many of my volunteer friends, I took part in the welcoming picnic the people at the farm organized for everybody who was interested. The event lasted since the early morning to the afternoon.
The farm is designed to host autistic residents, as well as to serve as a venue for different workshops and activities for those who live at their homes. Other than workshop rooms, residential spaces, and gymnastic halls, the farm also has a huge extension of green areas where animal huts are located. During the couple of meetings we attended, we organized additional activities for the families visiting the picnic, I was assigned to prepare a gymkhana with scoring games and a mini-marathon to somehow inaugurate the new green path that the farm offers. It was for me a great pleasure to count with the support of some of my workmates and friends who showed great interest in helping together with the care of our IB Polska coordinators and farm staff. It is important to mention that we were also helped by volunteers from Ukraine who were present during the picnic. Other than our activities, volunteers also prepared some delicious food treats such as Spanish gazpacho and potato omelets or French croissants.
Our volunteers? gymkhana included a set of challenges based on the different continents (jumping as an Australian kangaroo, hitting balloon animals at an African safari, the American gold Rush or painting in the European Renaissance, as examples). Families and other visitors were collecting scores through team work in all of the games that volunteers led. In the end of the day, the best scoring participants plus the people participating in the mini-marathon received very nice presents on behalf of the farm that everybody took with smiles on their faces and the purest feeling of pride. It is important also to point out the interest of visitors and residents of the farm to participate in our proposal of activities and know more about the activities organized by Internationaler Bund Polska.
So this was the result of joining together a bunch of talented volunteers plus coordinators, tasty food, entertaining activities, and the effort of people who really care about what they are doing. It made us able to enjoy an amazing life learning experience for which I still thank to each and every participant.
Article written by Ilde Navarrete
The European Voluntary Service project ‘Voice of the voiceless’ is organised within the framework of Erasmus+ KA1 and financed by European Commission.
Here you can find more details about Fundacja Wspólnota Nadziei and about Farm of life (Farma Życia):
Biuro Fundacji Wspólnota Nadziei
Więckowice, ul. Ogrodowa 17,
32-082 Bolechowice
http://www.farma.org.pl/
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