We are evaluating the last six months of activities related to our Home and Activities Centre. This period started with the move to our new home, which offers space for two more residents who currently live in poor circumstances.
We do not actively search for new residents, but we are keeping our ears close to the ground and visit families if we hear that there is an intellectually disabled family member who is not well looked after. We do not directly talk about our Home, but try to assess, by listening and observing, whether the family is truly looking for a better life for their disabled family member. It sometimes happens that we are visited by well-intentioned people who worry about a disabled person. We will always do a follow up after such meetings. We have learned that some situations resolve themselves; there are others where there is no role for us. Currently we work with a group of people to assess the situation of a potential new female resident for our Home.
One of our difficulties is to find the right people to work for our Foundation. An employee in our Home suddenly resigned. She had been carefully selected and she seemed to be happy working for us. We also have had to deal with absenteeism due to ill-health in our office as well as in the home.
But we do make progress in strengthening our organisation and improving the quality of our work. We’ve had volunteers to help out in the office. A lecturer of the UNAN University helps us when needed with bookkeeping and accounts management etc. In our community home we work with ‘levels of empowerment’ which helps employees to gradually assimilate new tasks.
In the past six months we have also seen progress made by our residents due to our programme of intensive stimulation. We’ve also seen progress in the activities of the participants of our Activities Centre.
We have contributed to the society around us in terms of positive attention for people who live with intellectual disabilities. We all have gifts and talents. Maybe they are more hidden for some, but they are there to be seen by those who are interested and watch with keen eyes!
Conclusion
We have achieved a lot during this semester. There were small delays with the implementation of some of our plans. We are after all dependent on other people, and on the circumstances of life that sometimes can throw our priorities into jeopardy. Lack of experience can sometimes make us passive. But our strategic plan guides us and helps us to move forward!
Thanks to the Ruach Board, our staff, our national and international friends who give us moral support and financial help, and the presence of God who gives us faith and confidence to continue on our journey, we have been able to make big strides in realizing our dreams to improve the living circumstances of adult people with an intellectual disability. We maintain and repeat the statements we made at the first anniversary of our Ruach Foundation:
- “Unity is Power”.
- “Help me to be who I am”
- We renew our dedication to be a beacon in the society (we can only be a beacon as the needs are too many…)
- We continue inviting others to support our work. If more people participate, it’s easier to make progress to create a better world not only for intellectually disabled adults, but for all.