A young boy resting at Children's Village Borovljany Minsk, Belarus…
What are Belarussian children like? What do they like and dislike? What do they prefer to eat, drink and play? What is "IN" and what is "OUT"?
- Lisa
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A young boy resting at Children's Village Borovljany Minsk, Belarus
What are Belarussian children like? What do they like and dislike? What do they prefer to eat, drink and play? What is "IN" and what is "OUT"?
I read about a visit to the SOS Village in Borovljany Minsk, the visitors asked children, aged seven to twelve, the questions above. This is what I discovered:
IN Meal/food: Fried potatoes, pea soup, sweets, pie, fried chicken, fried mushrooms, mushroom soup, liver cutlet, fruit, vegetables, oranges, bananas, soup with egg (cold soup), borsch, salted cucumbers, farina porridge, tomatoes, apples, pancakes of squash, fried cutlets, spaghetti, chocolate, meat, fresh lard, herring, pancakes, pea soup, stewed cabbage, buckwheat porridge, baked pudding, apples, melon, ice-cream.
Drink: Water, sparkling water, coffee, fruit compote, dessert made of fruit, juice, tea, cocoa, mineral water, orange juice, apple juice.
Musician/band: Natalja Oreiro, Britney Spears, modern versions of classical music, N.Baskov, F.Kirkorov, A.Pugacheva, B.Moiseev, V.Leontiev, N.Koroljova (Russian pop music), children's songs, especially "Chunga changa", classical music on radio and TV, merry popular music, waltz.
Games: Computer games, mosaic, indoor and outdoor games with running, card playing, dominoes, ball games, computer games, football, volleyball, "dogonjalky" (Children choose the leader of the game who will try to catch other players. But when the kid reaches the definite line, he/she is saved and the chaser cannot catch him. The game is over when all players are catched); "vybevalo" (Group game with a ball. Two players stand opposite each other at the end of the play-ground. They try to catch children with the ball and bandy them to each other. The children are running to the side where the player is without a ball.)
Activity: In summer - swimming in a lake or river, roller skating, cycling, shopping, visiting cinema, circus or food market, weeding vegetables, playing accordion, watching TV, swimming, playing football. In winter - snow modelling, skiing, sledging, outdoor games, playing "Mother and children" with your sisters, watching snow falling
Lesson: Belarussian language and literature, Russian language ( "I like the lessons and a kind teacher", drawing lesson ("Though I am not good at drawing"), music lesson, Mathematics, English lesson, Russian reading, drawing.
Free time activity: Computer games, travelling, outdoor games, playing with junior girls at home, cutting the paper, reading Russian tales, cleaning the house, playing "hide-and-seek", listening to music, outdoor ball games.
Book: Russian tales, especially about Baba Yaga (the witch in Russian fairy tales), newspapers (news items), books about animals, vampires, popular Russian tales, V. Dragunsky's "Deniska's stories", children's journal "Surprise", adventures, about autumn, winter, Children's Bible (in Russian and English)
TV show/film: Western comedy cinema, horror cinema, TV news, cartoons (about animals), hockey, badminton, adventure and horror films, "A passport to Paris", "Mary Poppins", old and non-violent films, hit movies, "Rex" (about a dog), film "Everything about Cozaks", "Sea police", TV programme "An accidental witness" (about human heroic deeds)
Computer or videogame: All computer games, computer games without shooting and killing. "Tetris", computer games with cars
Cartoon: All cartoons, especially "Three bananas", "Nu pagadi", "Antoshka" (all Russian), "Aladdin", "Tom and Jerry", "Lion King"
Day of the week: Saturday, Sunday, (then it is possible to go to Minsk, visit cinema, circus, McDonalds, Wednesday, Friday - "Only four lessons at school and I like the names of the days" Monday - few lessons at school, Friday - the last day of the week.
- Mary
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Children at a birthday party tea at Children's Village São Domingos, Cape Verde
To go with this picture of a lovely birthday tea I have a story about a little boy who had lots of trouble when he was very little, and slowly learned to be part of a loving family at the SOS Village. The story is told by the child psychologist taking care of him:
"When I asked him to give me a hug, he just reclined his body on me", described the counselor of SOS Children's Village São Domingos, Claúdia Santos, when she first met Roberto*.
When Claúdia first noticed that the seven year old Roberto was unable to show physical affection, she investigated his background, what had his early years been like?
Roberto lived with his mother and brothers and sisters in a poor area. Her mother was addicted to drugs, and the house was not a safe place for small children. By the time he was admitted to the village, Claúdia remembers well the first impression she got of him. "He was a reserved child and often he showed signs of emotional abuse".
Claúdia started a project teaching Roberto how to hug. "I asked him to round his arms on my body" continued Claúdia "and for the first time he did it very tightly and clumsily". He never was hugged before. He could not touch people. Whenever adults talked to him he covered his head defending himself. Finally today, after some time, Roberto does not shy away when he greets Mama Claúdia after school, he runs to her for a hug.
Roberto* name has been changed to protect his privacy.
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