Stella Mission: supporting families

Thanks to your generous donations in the school year 2014-15, fourteen children aged 6-36 months have been able to participate regularly in the daily caregiving activities offered by Kindergarten ‘Nido d’Ape.’ These children all come from difficult social backgrounds: most of them are immigrants facing integration problems or come from single-parent households. So as to provide the greatest support to struggling families, the nursery’s opening hours are flexible - standard hours are from 8am-4pm.

The premises for the Kindergarten were provided by the San Fulgenzio Parish, on a free extended loan. Since then, renovation works have been carried out, to ensure the suitability and safety of the Kindergarten buildings: a kitchen was created, the bathroom was adapted to be suitable for 0-3 year-old children, the heating and lighting systems were upgraded, the walls were painted and the floors covered with linoleum to improve hygiene.

The following recreational and pedagogical activities are ongoing: language activities, such as name and object games; making foot and hand prints; activities linking mental and physical processes; playing with natural materials; role playing and free play-time.

It is not only children who have benefitted from the project: Parents receive daily parenting guidance, through contact with teachers, weekly support from a social worker and periodical parents meetings (5 so far). These focus on issues such as children’s health and nutrition, which is supported by voluntary visits from a pediatrician. A special Christmas event was organized for Friday December 19^th on the nursery premises, as well as a party on Sunday 21^st, where Santa brought gifts for all the children from Kindergarten ‘Nido d’Ape’ and ‘Casa Betania’ mother-child community. These activities aim to help mothers feel less marginalized and to increase their self-esteem and self-confidence.

After a settling-in period for the children, new volunteers started collaborating with the Kindergarten, bringing the total number of volunteers to 20. A volunteer training course is ongoing: 7 meetings have taken place so far, focusing on ‘welcoming culture’, solidarity, disadvantage, first aid and fire training. Some volunteers also carry out additional services, such as bringing children home, pointing out job advertisements to parents and collecting food and medicine for poor households.

Having played an important role in the renovation processes, Mission Bambini continues to provide support to the Kindergarten: we help by covering the costs for nursery teachers (particularly those connected with parenting guidance) and the costs of educational and sanitary materials.

Thank you for all your support, please feel free to contact us for further information or any questions you may have about the project.

Links:

• A Nursery for Every Child Program on Mission Bambini Website