Between the ages of 7 and 9 then from 10 to 12 years old, during two one-week stays, these children who have never gone on vacation without their parents, discover the beach, swimming, sports and leisure activities in the departmental domain of Hostens. Change of life, upheaval, emotions, friendship, learning about collective life are on the program.
Lola, 7 years old, big clear eyes, whispers: “ I like swimming, the beach and playing… but I miss mom. His new friend, Ahmed, 8, smiles: Me, I loved archery! » Jessica, 7 years old too, agrees: if she misses family life, here, in Hostens, she gets used to this sharing and these permanent discoveries. Same thing for Lina, same age: “ There are lots of new friends… “Amadou and Jovanny, them, do not say anything else. Everyone lives their first vacation there. The twenty or so children who joined the Hostens departmental estate for a week will soon be replaced by another group, bringing together girls and boys aged 10 to 12.
The purpose of this initiative, carried by the Department since 2007, called educational stay: to allow access to leisure activities for children known to the teams of the territorial solidarity centers within the framework of social or educational support but also family reception. These children do not have access to ordinary vacation stays for many reasons: precariousness, difficulties of separation, autonomy or even relationships. The need for an educational framework and learning to live in a community are therefore fully part of the objectives of these fully privileged moments. Another objective: that they can, by following, leave according to classic arrangements during the next vacation.
Like Karine, Aurélie, Mélissa, Estelle and Anne, social workers or educators in one of the Houses of the Department of Solidarity, Clémence, on a voluntary basis, shares this week of collective immersion. Two referents, Alexis and Karine, provide support with regard to the needs or difficulties encountered by the educational team. Together, they regularly review the progress of the stay.
“It’s the first time that they’ve gone on vacation, that they’ve left their family environment. It is for us, in our social work, a simple and effective way to see them evolve, to accompany them, to follow their daily life” punctuates Clémence, on behalf of the educational team.
Initiation to rock climbing, archery, canoeing, coastal rescue, orienteering, swimming and quiet evening activities dot the stay.
“They sleep two per room, girls and boys being separated, and we watch over this very special time of bedtime when the lack of parents, of the family can be felt more strongly. We have to manage these moments with them, such as their relationship to food, the way of approaching activities with their experience. For example, one of the children has a real problem with water, swimming. We take this into account. adds Clemence.
During this time, the children who have bathed after having shared lunch in a new complicity, are preparing to paddle on the large lake of the Hostens estate. Life jacket fixed, some evoke the morning archery session and the 400 or 800 points garnered thanks to new and surprising exploits, target reached. But when they embark, accompanied by the adults, in their canoe, a completely different feat can be celebrated: having opened wide the range of all possibilities…
2023-07-24 06:05:52
#vacation #Gironde.FR
