PLAY ON WHEELS IN ACTION

At 10 am the participants arrived to the center. At the same time a mixed feeling of warmth, excitement and joy arose inside of me. To see them all gathered at the premises of Project Playground/Play on Wheels felt almost surrealistic. And yet so fantastic!

The staff had prepared the room very nicely with mattresses, blankets and a small box and toothbrush for each participant. A table for play was set up and puzzles, beads and books placed on it for them to have a variety of activities to choose from. Without the help from a home makeover TV show or other interior design experts, the amazing PoW- team has managed to turn a dull, almost unfurnished room into a space filled with a friendly and colorful ambience. A lot more can be done though. But Rome wasn´t built in a day and nor did we have the expectations that everything will be in place from the very beginning. However, we could not have asked for a better start!

It means a lot to them to just get out of bed or outside their door for a few hours, spend time in another environment and have the opportunity to socialize with other people. Since they are not used to these kind of experiences, these “activities” imply a lot of stimulation themselves. An indication on how important the program is to them was shown by one of the participants the other day as she expressed a lot of disappointment when being fetched late in the morning.  Pointing at her non-existing watch on her wrist and shaking her head was an obvious gesture for not accepting to be late. She eagerly wanted to come to the center and get the most out of the day. That is probably one of the most positive responses you can get.

It was also amazing to see the enthusiasm with which some of the participants engaged in the play activities. And how content they looked. That made my day. And I feel fortunate to know that I will have the opportunity to experience many more of those days.