Moving Child half-year report 2020

Moving Child turned 10 this year!

The growth and development of Moving Child is a matter very close to our hearts. Over the last decade Moving Child has grown, several new projects were supported, and more and more funds were made available. We are proud and grateful that Moving Child now has such an extensive and impressive list of supported projects. Each of the projects impressed us with its individual approach and concept and it is our personal concern to maintain close contact and exchange with these projects. In this half-year report, we want to give an insight into the projects we are currently funding. Especially considering the difficult situation in the past months, it is important to us to present the state of and developments in the different projects. You can also download this report here.

~ EDUCATION ~

 International Schools in Laos and Thailand

The two international schools Kiettisack (Luang Prabang, Laos) and Kajonkiet (Phuket, Thailand) naturally had to follow many safety regulations due to the pandemic and both schools were closed in March. However, the students were given virtual lessons at home and the schools did their best to keep in touch with the students. It has to be said that the virtual lessons and, above all, the switch to this form of teaching were absolutely exemplary. The teachers were set up to teach remotely within a few days and were able to provide material and assistance to the pupils. The presented challenges were overcome immediately and exemplary and care was taken to ensure that no child was neglected. Even pre-schoolers were provided with tasks that helped them stay motivated, excited, and challenged during this difficult time. Both schools were opened again in July.

Hands With Hands 

Hands with Hands has been supporting projects concerning social education, health, and the environment in Nepal for years. Hands with Hand focuses on building and managing self-sufficient children’s homes. In view of the pandemic, the children in the children’s homes were of course also in lockdown. Fortunately, there were well-established hygiene standards already in place and the children were able to help each other continue to work on the school assignments despite the lockdown. The self-sufficiency aspect of the children’s homes has been of particular value in recent months: during the lockdown the children still had access to fresh vegetables, cereals, and milk. Moreover, the construction work on the new “Eco Village” project was not completely paralyzed by the pandemic and only now had to be stopped due to the onset of the monsoon.

Campus di Monaco – Montessori School Munich

The educational success of children and young people is strongly influenced by their social background and the current crisis further highlights existing differences. This was a special challenge for the Campus di Monaco Montessori School in Munich, because more than half of the students have a refugee or migration background. They suffered particularly from the school closures in mid-March: the young people were isolated, they suffered from the noise in the collective accommodation and the lack of opportunities to retreat. The social service workers were withdrawn because of the risk of infection, and protective masks are lacking. The Campus di Monaco team worked tirelessly during school closure and, with a lot of personal commitment, tried to maintain contact with the pupils. Since May things were slowly improving: almost all pupils were back in face-to-face classes and since Pentecost the sixth and seventh grades were also back at school. Of course, there was still a requirement to wear a mask (outside the well-ventilated classrooms) and thanks to diligent seamstresses, students could also get these free of charge at school. The best news is that, despite the difficult corona situation, the senior class finished their final exams. A really impressive achievement!

Aid for Refugees in Austria

The Syrian family, which Moving Child supports in Austria, was influenced in many ways by the difficult situation in the past months. Fortunately, the older sons were able to continue their education and apprenticeship, but of course the younger children had to drop out of school. Nevertheless, the family of 7 is doing relatively well. They are healthy and help each other: the older siblings help the younger ones with their schoolwork. Even the English summer course for the oldest daughter in Malta can take place. While the oldest daughter is preparing for the final year now, the youngest son will also be starting high school after the summer holidays.

~ HEALTH ~

 Network Birth and Family

The sewing workshop and the café of the Network Birth and Family in Munich are social initiatives to promote the professional integration of long-term unemployed women. While usually funny, non-toxic toys and clothes for children are sewn in the sewing workshop, there has been a change in the last few months and many colourful masks have found their way into and out of the workshop. The café has also reopened in mid-May and freshly prepared lunches are offered daily following recipes from around the world. The movement classes for the women working in the network, which Moving Child has supported for years, have been resumed on a small scale after the Corona break and will hopefully fully take place again soon.

Care for Rare – Child Life Specialists

When sick children have to leave their family’s security to be treated in a clinic, their vulnerability becomes particularly apparent. In order for these children to receive the best possible child-friendly and holistic support, in addition to doctors and nurses, social pedagogues and psychologists are also needed who respond to the specific needs of children in the hospital. Moving Child funded the Child Life Specialist program at the Dr. von Haunerschen Children’s Hospital, which focuses specifically on this point: The needs of children in this uncertain situation are perceived and taken seriously. Despite the challenging times, the Child Life Specialist program was launched in May 2020!

Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC)

Although no COVID-19 infected patients were treated directly in the LFHC, the situation in recent months has had a dramatic impact on the work at the hospital. The national borders have been closed and the voluntary, international doctors and helpers have returned to their home countries. Transport options between the villages were also only allowed to a limited extent and often not at all. As a result, the number of outpatients was reduced to about 50 per day, who were often in a very advanced stage of the disease or even in critical condition when they arrived at the hospital. Despite the country’s lockdown, teaching at the hospital continued. Distance learning programs have been set up that have enabled Laotian doctors and nurses to work on selected topics from home. The lockdown has been lifted since May, the doctors are back in the hospital and the number of cases is normalising slowly.

~ CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT ~

 mitSprache e.V.

This year’s theatre project of the mitSprache association was already in the middle of preparations when the performance had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. However, the organisation for the next project in 2021 is already in full swing! The 10th edition of dance theatre will be performed on May 13 and 14, 2021. This time in cooperation with another one of our funding projects: students of the International Montessori School – Campus di Monaco! The venue will be the Theater HochX in Munich Au, which offers perfect conditions for this event.

This year Moving Child started supporting five additional projects: The Women Health Family Future association, the Institute Trauma and Pedagogy, the MiBi Kids, the Quinoa School, and the Wildwasser association in Berlin. We will soon provide more information on these projects on our website. We thank all projects for the wonderful cooperation and all donors for their support! All the best from us and may there be better days waiting for all of us in the second half of 2020!

Warmly, your Moving Child Team

Anna, Gertraud & Ella

June 2020 – News from the Lao Friends Hospital for Children

The Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC), opened in 2015, is the first of its kind in Laos; a hospital operated by and for the people of Laos. It was and is financed entirely from foundation and donation funds and is independent of, but in constant communication with, the Luang Prabang State Hospital. In the beginning of May, Friends Without A Border received a 4-star rating from an independent charity testing company (Charity Navigator) for the fifth time in a row, demonstrating its exemplary work.

We have already told you about the impressive developments of the neonatal station (see here) and their Department for the treatment of thalassemia (see here). During our visit in February of this year, we were thrilled with the progress of the Lao physician teaching program, that Moving Child initiated and is the sole sponsor. The teaching program at the LFHC consists of two essential pillars: patient education and the training of specialist staff. In particular, the sustainable concept of in-house teaching and training events has fascinated us from the start.

The main aim of the LFHC’s educational program is to strengthen the independence and autonomy of the Laotian doctors, but also of the nursing staff.

“We were enthusiastic about the motivation and commitment of everyone involved in this project. The independence that is being trained here and the sustainability of this project are exemplary and have deeply impressed us.”

Anna, Gertraud, Ella (Moving Child Team)

The teaching program is comprehensive and includes daily topic-related lectures and discussion groups, structured English lessons, and exchange with international experts. But what is most important is the emphasis on ‘training for trainers’: The medical staff is trained not only to practically apply the knowledge they have acquired, but above all to pass it on to a new generation of future doctors. The influence, and thus the dependence on international experts, is slowly diminishing and the independence of the Laotian staff is being promoted.

The current situation in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

So far there have been 19 confirmed corona cases in Laos, three of them in Luang Prabang. Although the LFHC does not treat infected patients directly, the situation has a dramatic impact on the daily life in the hospital. The country borders were closed, and the international doctors and volunteers returned to their home countries. Since then, the work at the LFHC has been mastered with a lot of energy and dedication by the local Laotian doctors and nurses, who have been working around the clock for weeks. Of course, all fundraisers also had to be cancelled, which further worsened the difficult financial situation of Friends Without A Border and the LFHC.

Transportation between villages is only possible to a very limited extent. This has reduced the number of outpatients to around 50 a day, who usually arrive at the hospital in very advanced stages of the illness or even in critical condition. It is expected that poverty-related illnesses, such as malnutrition and infections, will occur even more frequently in the next few months. This makes the free treatments offered at the LFHC more important than ever.

But there is also good news! The country’s lockdown has complicated the work at the LFHC, but the teaching courses continue. Distance learning programs have been set up that allow Laotian doctors and nurses to work on selected topics from home. All doctors continue to receive two full days of training per month: one with a focus on evidence-based medicine (a virtual journal club) and the other with interactive case studies. The doctors are in constant, lively exchange with each other and, despite the adverse circumstances, continue their training to be able to offer the best possible treatments in the future.

We are impressed by the work and motivation of the LFHC team under such difficult and challenging conditions and are happy to report on the positive developments of the teaching program funded by Moving Child. We hope that it will get easier for them and all of us again soon, and thank all donors for their support. Every little bit helps the babies and children who receive treatment in this hospital that they could not get anywhere else. Thank you so much!

Your Moving Child Team

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February 2019 – New developments in Luang Prabang, Laos

CHARITY EVENT, 26. – 27.01.2019, IN LUANG PRABANG

In November 2018, we travelled to Luang Prabang for the fifth time. We felt – despite our 9 months absence – immediately back home. Since we started supporting the children’s hospital, we have been deeply impressed again and again with the speed and dynamic with which it is developing. This fills us with deep gratitude, which we gladly share with all donors and supporters. The longer we were in contact with the children’s hospital, the more concrete became Anna Schulz-Dornburg’s idea and desire to support children and adults in their healing process after sickness, trauma, or surgery. Her plan was to offer holistic medicine in form of Biodynamic CranioSacral Therapy to interested people and also for children after their treatment at the hospital.

The idea to organize a charity event for the children’s hospital took shape and the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center kindly offered its premises. EAST MEETS WEST – was the translation of Ock Pop Tok, and that was the spirit we integrated in our project and in our work. The atmosphere was very fitting for the charity event and created a welcoming inter- and transcultural context. With flyers in English and Laotian, we reached out to people who were interested in charity events and wanted to experience Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Additionally, a monk, and close friend of ours, supported the charity event as well, interesting many people from the Buddhist community.

We formed a competent and motivated team:
Anna Schulz-Dornburg, alternative medicine practitioner, physiotherapist, and cranio-sacral therapist, initiated, shaped, and supported the charity event through the power of her vision and her long-term professional experience.
Korn Sriwan, Spa manager and biodynamic cranio-sacral therapist, was and is an important co-organiser and acted as a bridge between cultures – both organisationally, therapeutically, and linguistically directly with the participants of the event.
Gertraud Leimstättner, alternative medicine practitioner, conducted the local organisation, gathered the anamnesis questionnaires, and, with the help of a translator, investigated the concerns and ambitions of each participant.

On the two days of the charity event, 22 adults and two children got into contact with Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. The interest was encouragingly much greater than we expected. We were happy to find that in addition to the registered participants, a number of other interested people attended, whose curiosity about CranioSacral Therapy had been sparked by hearsay.

From the start, it was important to us to create an atmosphere of trust and orientation. Information, education, and the possibility for participants to freely decide how far they wanted to get involved, helped to make the charity event a full success. According to feedback, the participants got a taste of the possibilities available to them – how this method can help and lead them to improve their own holistic feeling with their structural, physical and energetic sensations, and to sense their autonomy and self-efficacy.

 

“I can feel my heart again”

“I feel internally upright and permeable”

“I have regained confidence in my leg and can strain it normally – 10 years after my accident”

The participants donated according to their resources. The entire revenues were immediately and directly handed over to the children’s hospital in Luang Prabang.

“We want to thank you very much for organizing the fundraising event in Luang Prabang. We received your donation and we wanted you to know that we truly value all the efforts you did and also the very nice involvement of the community you had in your event.” Anabella Coria Zavala, Director of External Relations Lao Friends Hospital for Children & Friends Gallery, Healing Children. Healing Laos.

In any case, these two days were a gift and truly fulfilling pioneering. Inter- and transcultural encounters took place in different contexts and it was a touching and enriching experience for everyone involved. For next year, a whole week of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is going to be offered in the course of a second charity event.

 

 

OPENING OF THE NEONATAL STATION AT FRIENDS WITHOUT A BORDER (FWAB) CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

Very soon after our arrival, we visited the children’s hospital – curious about the progress and expansion of the neonatal station. It is now possible to medically treat and support 23 premature infants there simultaneously. An only 7-months-old baby was born during our visit at the hospital. We were able to witness how it powerfully expressed its strong will to live. This experience was deeply touching. Thanks to the medical care at the neonatal station, the chances of survival for these children are now very high. Just 3 months ago, this baby would not have had a chance of life.

Today, even children born with an abdominal cleft (gastroschisis) can receive life-saving medical treatment here. In “western” hospitals, a diagnosis such as this can be made already prenatally with ultrasound and if necessary be operated on immediately, but to date the medical care in Luang Prabang is far from that state of preventive care.

A heartfelt thank you to all donors, who supported and enabled the opening of the neonatal station with their generous donations.

 

Anna Schulz-Dornburg, founder and managing director
Gertraud Leimstättner, managing director
of Moving Child gGmbH