ESC: Republican Pediatric Rehabilitation Center

The Republican Pediatric Rehabilitation Center was founded in 1989 in Yerevan after the devastating earthquake. The founder of the Center, US NGO "Project HOPE", signed 5 year project with Ministry of Health of Armenia to train local doctors, nurses and prosthetic surgeons, to organize rehabilitation treatment clinics and to equip the artificial body parts laboratory. The German organisation ADRA built the treatment building adjusted for wheelchair use. Republican Pediatric Rehabilitation Center started to function in 1991. The Rehabilitation Center is giving rehabilitation treatment for underage patients with different chronic diseases and conditions of skeletal and neuromuscular system such as Cerebral Palsy, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Myelomeningocele, Hydrocephalus, Neuromuscular diseases, different orthopedic problems, burn injuries, skeletal dimorphisms, amputations, peripheral nerve injuries and other. During the year about 800 patients are getting treatments on inpatient and outpatient bases team approach. There are 3000 children under the Center's supervision. The staff of the Center are about 100 persons, including therapists, doctors, psychologists and technical staff. Rehabilitation medicine is new in Armenia, it needs to develop involving general rehabilitation events that will contribute to the disabled children’s physical and mental maximum development, will give them independence in their daily activities and will contribute to the integration into society. As one of the stages of the development of the rehabilitation medicine an Integration Kindergarten was opened in 2002 on the grounds of Republican Pediatric Rehabilitation Center. Starting from 2020 the Center has changed its profile and from now on it is open also for the adult patients, especially for soldiers who has got different injuries during the war. The organisation has a many-years experience of hosting international volunteers for short (international summer workcamps) and long term (EVS/ESC volunteers). The staff of the Center is well experienced in working with the volunteers and providing them with a rich learning experience. Through volunteer projects within the European Solidarity Corps, young Europeans are offered the opportunity to cooperate with the children of the rehabilitation center, providing their skills, knowledge, promoting social inclusion and equal opportunities. The international experience of a volunteer gives an interesting and valuable input to work of the center. International volunteers are especially active in the leisure time program. The fact that an international volunteer speaks a different language, and comes from a different culture brings new live to the Center. New ideas regarding activities are more than welcome. The majority of patients of this Canter are children with motor-system infringement and cardiac-vascular system illnesses. These children need attention and care more than others and the volunteers should do their best to arrange their stay at the center of full of value and ESC gives this opportunity for them. The main aim of the project is to work with disabled children, to educate and train them to make children feel themselves full members of the society. To reach this goal the volunteer must be involved into the program to realize their own ideas and suggestions. Also the aim of this project is aesthetic education of children, connected with the association with elder people from abroad and Armenia who will develop in them the taste of beautiful. Volunteers will organize different work groups for children, where they can draw, sculpture; learn different national and foreign songs. At the same time intellectual games, English language courses and physical training classes will be organized. Volunteers, who come from different countries and bring along a lot of ideas, spirit, love, happiness, warmth, kindness and make the stay of these children in a center a great holiday. The volunteer will participate in most activities with the children and have a variety of different tasks. She/he will have the opportunity to participate in all arts workshops and to support the staff in organizing these activities (painting, sculpturing, handicrafts, etc.), maintain the “Happy room” in the Center and organised recreational activities for the children. Support and training will be provided by the staff of the organization and by the community. The volunteer will be invited to social events and will be supported in learning and practicing basic Armenian language, according to his/her wish. As a good example of most successful projects of EVS volunteers we may give the opening of the Happy Room in the Center, where the volunteers work with children and create an ambiance of being away from the Center and letting the kids to forget they are in the process of receiving treatment.