June 19, 2007

This morning we visited Sanatorium #2 in Vladimir. It housed 105 children, ranging in age from 3 to 8 years old. It was an institution for children who have developmental delays, speech problems, sleep problems, etc. The director said that the children typically stay there for 2 months and then get re-evaluated.

When we approached the building I didn't know what to think because the building seemed very run down. To my surprise, on the inside, it was remarkably clean and bright. The center had 2 classrooms, a massage room, an exercise room, an electric shock room, a speech room, water therapy, and a psychiatry room. Very impressive facility! The electric shock room threw all of us off guard. When we were touring the facility the director said that they do electric shock to help children who have sleeping problems. The children receiving this type of therapy were awake. The center also had a doctor, psychiatrist, social worker, nutritionist, speech therapist, etc.

The director also told us about how they do music and art at this center and that they have a fairytale/drama room. The children sang songs for us, danced and performed a fairytale for us.

We then took the children outside to play. We had about 12 children in our small group. The children loved playing with bubbles and playing tag. We were able to share our photographs and give them bead bracelets.

With the work experience I have done and the populations I have served here in the US, I really felt a strong tie to this center, which made it hard to leave.