This year Feldman Ecopark started conducting “lessons of kindness” for children with special needs. It is a joint project of two most known Feldman Ecopark’s units – the Centre of Psychological Rehabilitation and the Service for Wild, Exotic and Domestic Animals Rescue “Good Home”. It is meant to provide field psycho correctional trainings with the application of Canis therapy in special children’s institutions. V.G. Korolenko Kharkiv Regional Educational Centre became the first. Specialists and volunteers of the “Lessons of kindness” project as well as their four-legged assistants, come here every week since the end of January, 2018.
“The participants of our project are special children and special dogs. They give each other love and care, share warmth of their hearts. It is the most important lesson, a lesson of kindness, and the main psychotherapeutic effect if not to go deep into professional details and special terminology — the head of the medical service of the Centre of psychosocial rehabilitation Inna Vashkite told. — As always, we use an integrated approach in our work, and we attract the dogs rescued by “Good Home” as animals therapists. During our visits, they get acquainted, play together, learn to work in team and to understand each other. Certainly, everything happens under supervision and moderation of our Canis therapists and psychologists”.
The organizers of “lessons of kindness” plan to expand the project to other educational institutions for children with special needs of the Kharkiv oblast, and eventually to Kharkiv comprehensive schools.
It should be noted that this is actually the second joint initiative of the Centre of Psychological Rehabilitation and the Service for Wild, Exotic and Domestic Animals Rescue “Good Home”. On the Eve of Christmas, they started implementation of the Good Heart project: the children attending lessons according to the program of psycho correctional Eco-therapy in the Regional Landscape Park read fairy tales to the dogs that also stay here on rehabilitation.
It should be reminded that the Centre of Psychosocial Rehabilitation on the basis of Feldman Ecopark works since 2013 and helps children to overcome various diseases, mental and behavioral disorders. The Centre also renders assistance to adults, in particular, ATO veterans and families of IDPs. Since its opening, more than 6300 people, 1900 of whom are children have undergone rehabilitation in the Centre.
Besides, it should be reminded that since the opening of the Centre for Wild, Exotic and Domestic Animals Rescue “Feldman Ecopark Good Home,” its workers and volunteers have already found owners to nearly 18,000 pets and rescued more than 4,000 wild animals.
