For the third year running, we launched the North Moravian leg of Nebuď srab! Namoč se pro ranou péči — Take the plunge for early intervention with a group swim by the weir at U Žida. The campaign supports families raising children with disabilities and the early intervention services they rely on.
Despite meeting at 7.30 on a weekday morning, almost 40 of us made it into the water. We appeared live on Czech Television’s Studio 6 breakfast programme and again on its evening news.
The campaign raises money for early intervention services supporting families with children with disabilities. Anyone can donate at www.nebudsrab.cz. Just as importantly, it highlights the pressures these families face and how this free service can help them through an exceptionally difficult time.
When life changes overnight
“Through this campaign, we want to show how suddenly a family’s life changes when a child is born with a serious disability. The children and their parents are extraordinary fighters, proving every day that they are anything but ‘wimps’. It is a blunt way of putting it, but life for these families is often tough. There are countless medical examinations, while parents face uncertainty, worries about the future and often physical and emotional exhaustion. Fortunately, they do not have to face it alone: home-based early intervention services can help,” explains Vladimíra Salvetová, director of the Ostrava branch of Společnost pro ranou péči.
How early intervention helps
Early intervention specialists visit families at home. They show parents how to support their child’s development, communicate with them and adapt their home environment. They lend essential aids, offer advice on social support and provide many other forms of help. These services depend on a mix of funding: alongside grants from regional and local authorities and charitable foundations, donations from individuals and businesses are essential. Without them, the service could not operate. Every financial contribution is therefore hugely valuable.
A symbolic dip
As well as donating, people can show solidarity with families raising children with disabilities by taking a symbolic dip in cold water. You do not have to be a regular cold-water swimmer: a cold shower, a foot dipped in a stream or even a basin of water all count. You can also challenge friends, colleagues and acquaintances to join in. The campaign runs until the end of January 2022.
Thank you to the early intervention team for giving us the chance to take part.
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