The pandemic was and still is a big challenge and a major change also in the lives of the children and teenagers. With a lot of creativity and commitment, KOLPING Brazil has managed to stay in contact with the children during the lockdown and to support especially children from disadvantaged and poor families.
A good example is the Kolping Family Imaculada Conceição from São Paulo: Instead of running weekly group meetings, they offered virtual meetings and various projects for children and teenagers between the age of 6 and 14: There were reading workshops and picture and poem interpretations. Guessing games were fun and playfully boosted vocabulary and creative thinking. To strengthen the community spirit and prevent loneliness, the youngsters wrote motivating messages to each other. Drama groups were already working online on the next play, which will be rehearsed on-site soon. Online dance classes and flute lessons instead of choral singing were also part of the multifaceted programme.
When finally, get-togethers were possible again, there was at first a party with cake. Everyone was happy to finally be together again. The youngsters were excited about the large variety of activities: they dealt with recycling and environmental protection, learned about native plants and produced natural insect repellent spray from citronella and eucalyptus. Thanks to the support they received from Kolping, the children managed to get through this difficult time.
