In the period of 1-8 of November we had an opportunity to spent a wonderful and informative week in the Netherlands  tkanks to Wandafonds. We came here for two reasons;

­       further improvement of cooperation between the Wandafonds and Ożarowska Association by implementing  The Youth Exchange Project,

­         participation in the International Congress entitled “A global status quo on Cerebral Palsy” to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of The International Cerebral Palsy Society (ICPS), the 35 th anniversary of the BOSK, Association of Physical Disabled Persons and their Parents and 5-th anniversary of the  Dutch Academy of Childhood Disability. The congress was held in Utrecht .

Our visit was very well prepared both from logistics point of view and from the content point of view. On the first day accompanied by Mrs. Ewa Kooyman, Merian van Buren and Connie we went by rented van to see a little printing house in Slidrecht where we had the chance to experience first hand how the problems connected with employment of disabled people are being solved in Holland. One of the employees, 23- year- old showed us his workplace  and told us about his daily activity. Although he requires much help, he moves around in an electric wheelchair and his speech is very impaired, he lives by himself, he works with a computer and is responsible for contact with client.

For lunch we went to Goringchem to a small restaurant, whose staff partially consisted of people with mental retardation. The meal was very tasty and services was very professional and pleasant. Next stop of our program was a visit to farm where people with disabilities are given the chance take care of animals and plants. They also sell their self-made products in their very own shop.

In the afternoon we took a tripe to Dordrecht famous for 19 eighteen century windmills – one of the biggest tourist attractions of the Netherlands . The day ended with meal in the restaurant which had a cat in its name but it also had a real cat who was accompany us during the supper. Upon our arrival at the restaurant we met with Mrs. Magda van der Berg, a member of the Wandafonds who will be our connection with Dutch organization during the Youth Exchange Project.

On Tuesday we had a day off but instead of laying in bad we decided to use this time to visit Amsterdam and its museums. We’ve chosen to go there by train because the best way to see this beautiful city, full of canals and old houses is to go there by foot. We were fortunate enough to see with our own eyes the works of great Dutch masters such as van Gough, Rembrandt, Vermeer and others. We couldn’t say good-by to Amsterdam without seeing The Mme Tussaud’s wax museum where we had experienced many unexpected twists and turns .

We must honestly say that we were pleasantly surprised by the openness of the Dutch people and their willingness to assist us in every step of the way. From what we have seen we can say that both Utrecht and Amsterdam and even smaller town are accessible to people on the wheelchair.

On the next day we drove to The Rehabilitation Centre in where we met Helen van Tilbury a women with spina bifida who assumed the role of our guide and show us around the complex. Thanks to Helen we were able to see gym room, swimming pool and fitness room. We could try out many different devices used in the therapy. The fitness therapy is an attractive alternative to the typical exercises we are used to.

We thought that the visit to The Rehabilitation Centre was very exiting but as it turn out Helen had another surprise for us. She took us to her friend Jacquline who lives on her own even she is severely disabled. She introduce us to the Focus Project which is an initiative aimed at independent living of people with disabilities. There are of course people who look after the residence but as Jacquline told us they enter the premises only upon the resident request, that is when given residence presses the alarm button in the apartment or as it was in Jacqulineąs case button in installed also by her wheelchair. The Focus Project had been implemented a few years ago and one of its main points is respecting the rights to privacy of  disabled inhabitants. We sad good by to Jacquline and went back to the centre for lunch. During the meal Helen discussed with us preliminary aspects of  The Dutch-Polish Youth Exchange Project which is due at April 2010.

Thursday through Saturday we took part in the above mentioned congress. We had a chance to talk with professor Jules Beche, world renowned specialist in the field on cerebral palsy. We attended many fascinating lectures about complex problems of people with cerebral palsy around the world as well as innovative solutions of some of those problems. People with cerebral palsy were not only present in the audience but they were also speakers. Some of the disabled speakers had speech difficulties and had to use computer aids.

What we had seen in those lectures enriched our knowledge of the aspects that interest us the most. The trip and stay in Holland was very inspiring and eyes opening experience. We would like to transfer many of the solutions to the polish soil to improve the functioning and quality of life of the people with all kinds of disabilities both in our association and in our country. We hope that cooperation between our countries will be the opportunity to exchange views, ideas and experiences and will flourish for the benefit of those interested.

We wish to thank all people who made our journey possible and made our stay so eventful. If is wasn’t for You we wouldn’t have met so many wonderful people. We sincerely hope that this visit will give us strength to move forward.

We wish to give a special thanks to Ewa Kooyman, Merian and entire Wanfonds and BOSK

                                     Karol Miller and Mateusz Sinczuk

                                                       with parents

                                    Barbara Sińczuk nad Stanislaw Miller.

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