The establishment of sheltered workshop for people with intellectual disabilities in Belarus
The Polesie village of Molotkovichi hosts one of the 28 Belarusian boarding schools for pupils with special needs. It provides schooling and boarding to over 150 children with various degrees of intellectual disabilities, coming mostly from low-income families in need of support. The facility uses appropriate educational aids and makes every effort to prepare its pupils for future independent life and career.
The school’s authorities started cooperation with the Polish side as part of the Polish development cooperation programme. Initially, workshops and rooms offering classes in carpentry, construction and tailoring were modernized and new ones, among them a pottery workshop, paving workshop and cold metal treatment workshop, were added. In addition, an outlet was opened in the nearby town of Pinsk where orders can be submitted and processed.
In 2018, a manufacturing facility equipped with machinery to produce furniture and adapted for vocational training classes was constructed. The facility operates as a supported employment enterprise, which allows more effective vocational training and, more importantly, creates jobs for Molotkovichi graduates with disabilities. This is the first project of this kind implemented in the Belarusian system of special needs schools. “The most important thing is to capture the children’s attention and make them feel needed. When children discover their interests, we can see them change before our very eyes. Recently, an orphaned boy from a special needs school arrived here. He was a difficult child in terms of both his personality and behaviour. When we showed him how to make furniture, he began to spend almost his entire free time in our carpentry facility. From dawn to dusk, he learned how to make cabinets. Finding something that really captivates a child, their real vocation – this is a great success and real happiness... ,” said Vyacheslav Izotov, the Molotkovichi school principal; source: https://www.sb.by/articles/deti-tsveta-indigo.html.
IMPLEMENTING ENTITY Association of Municipalities of the Podlaskie Voivodeship
PLACE OF IMPLEMENTATION Molotkovichi, Belarus
CO-FINANCING PLN 517,424
