Special young people want to go to the Carpathians

You are 29 years old and you have never traveled without your parents. You have friends, but never went to the mountains in their company. Have never been enchanted by the starry sky, never sung by the campfire playing guitar. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? But such is the reality for some of our friends. They are visitors of the "Dream Workshop". There are eleven of them at present. In bureaucracy language, our Workshop is called “The Day Care Center for Youth with Mental Disorders”. In human language, we get together with boys and girls who have autism, Down syndrome or various cognitive impairments and spend time together.

In the process of socialization usually we do everyday things – cook food, and then clean and wash dishes, sing, talk about our news, create decorative items, go on tours in the city, and watch movies. We also make tea, because the Workshop is a social enterprise, and we ensure our functioning by selling herbal tea.

Our team consists of only two employees – the founder Anna Ivanicheva and assistant Halyna Shtohryn. Yes, we are small. But we are tireless nonetheless. And three years of work (from February 2017) and sincere friendship with our visitors prove it. We are assisted by three permanent volunteers – cool professionals in their fields, who come to the Workshop for sincerity and mental balance and instead give us strength and a sense of support. It’s a circle of dreamers who believe that by changing the world for at least one person, you change the world a little bit in general.

We have made plans to arrange a whole adventure soon – a week's vacation in the Carpathians. You ask what is so special about this? The fact is that one of the main principles of our work is to hold meetings without parents, only among peers. So you don't take your parents to gatherings with friends? And in our opinion – socialization should take place in the most natural environment. And we see that it works: someone learned to use a knife, someone learned new recipes, someone understood how to stop panic attacks, someone began to open up and trust.

So, we are ready for the Great Independent Mountain Trip. Visitors, assistants and volunteers of the Workshop will go to the Carpathians to spend time there in communication with nature and each other (and, fortunately, with mavkas or Chugaistr, our mythological forest spirits). For each of us, this experience will be transformative, because the Carpathians know how to change, strengthen, open your eyes and hearts. We plan trips to the forest near the picturesque village of Tukhlya, described in Ivan Franko’s book "Zahar Berkut", Franko’s readings group, learning gutsul’s legends, many outdoor games, cooking on the fire, master classes in local crafts, discovering orientation by the stars and singing songs by the fire.

And all this in the circle of friends, with a full sense of adulthood and independence. Everyone needs this experience to feel whole and mature. And now we need your support, even a small contribution means a lot. With your contribution you will help young people with mental disorders to discover new sides and broaden their horizons. And you also make a contribution to overcoming prejudice in the society by creating a slightly improved version of reality, where equality and acceptance are the core values.

We thank you for your kindness and loyalty and continue to plan our trip because is it possible to refuse when the mountains call?

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