Erasmus+ 
A day in 
Simultania Liechtenstein
(First  Workshop with Class 5a) 

 Blue group 

After a “friend” from the Simultania, our partner institution,  guided us through the rooms of the Simultania Liechtenstein, we were split up into 4 different workgroups. There, we pursued dissimilar activities. We, Ulrich Spitzer, Mathias Moitzi, Stefan Mischlinger and Raphael Hubl, were delighted to come to the music group and we were curious what us awaited. We were allocated to a really friendly supervisor, who appeared being very relaxed. We could imagine, that she was able to work very well with people with special needs.

We got a yoga-pad, which was very comfortable. We were invited to close our eyes and meditate at peaceful, monotonous music. It was very relaxing, soothing and stress forgetful. The meditation helped us to forget our school life and to drown into our world of imagination. After the relaxation phase we were softly waked up by the music. Slowly, we came back to reality. We can imagine to do this again, because we were really relaxed.

After this agreeable experience, we stayed some more time in the room to exchange our personal experience, that we had made earlier.

Personally, we think, that it can help many “friends” to overcome difficult situations and to forget the difficult life for a moment.

 
Green group

Today we were at the Simultania Judenburg. We were welcomed in a friendly way and the head of the Simultania told a few stories. After that a friend in a wheelchair named Mario guided us around and showed us all of the rooms and introduced his friends to us. When he finished, the head guided us to the rooms, where the people were accommodated on a daily basis. We sat down on a couch and Plo, the manager of the institution, told some other stories. Then we saw a few rooms and we went in the basement. There was an pool table, table tennis and table football. We went into an room where you can relax and we tested out a waterbed. After that we got split up in groups and we all were in different rooms. My group and I played  "Man, don't get annoyed" and jenga with a disabled man of the group where we were. Then Plo picked us up and we got into a spacious room where we gave some feedback on the workshops and our experience and feelings we had during our visit. 

 


Orange group

Today we visited the Simultania in Judenburg, to spend a morning there. As we arrived, we got a tour through the building from Mario. Mario lives in the Simultania and sits in a wheelchair. He explained the difference between the different groups and colours used in the Simultania to us. All the Groups are named after colours. In general, the rooms and the whole building are designed very friendly, frankly and bright.

As we arrived in the orange group room, our friends greeted us in a very friendly and cordial way.  they were greeting us very friendly and cordial.  Furthermore, we introduced us to each other. After that we split up and started playing card games. Jasmin and Johanna played “Skipo” and Daniel showed us his “Uno” skills.  They described their daily routine and their activities. In addition we talked with the tutors about the challenging work that our “friends” have to tackle. Although the work of the tutors is very hard, they are really having fun doing their job. During this talk we became clear about how hard it is being a tutor. It wasn´t easy for us to communicate with our friends, but it got easier to the end.

Finally, we met in a room,  that looked like a therapy room. Plo, the manager of the Simultania,told us about is ideas, and about his experiences with people with special needs. He has a daughter, who is also handicapped, and he told us how he organised and managed all the construction work when the Simultania was built.

Eventually, we find that the Simultania in Judenburg is really useful,  and an  interesting organisation. It was an amazing day, and we are looking forward to see them again.

Red group

The 5a class was split into six groups. We were allocated to the red group where Dagma, a friend, explained the game ‘SKIP-BO’. Then we played it together. At first Dagma was a bit reserved but when Herbert, also a friend in the Simultania, arrived, she began to speak with us. Herbert is a friendly and outgoing person. He told us about the activities and trips of the group. On beautiful days they make a walk or visit other places like Carinthia together. They also like to go to shopping malls. After finishing card game, a girl of our group helped a tutor to lift a friend in the wheelchair. The atmosphere in our group was very good. It was very relaxed and we had a lot of fun and that’s why we wanted to stay longer. We also saw the heartily handing between the tutor and the disabled people and we found out, that some of the friends help the tutor with simply work. At the beginning we were told that the friends are very heartily and that they search for nearness. At the end Herbert gave us a kiss on the hand for saying goodbye.

Yellow Group

We were overwhelmed by the great amount of lovely hugs and kisses we got when we arrived at the Simultania. We spent the whole morning in the Simultania. First a friend, called Mario, introduced all different groups, the meaning of the use of different colours at the Simultania and showed us the building. Then the project started…

In the yellow group we were warmly welcomed. From the beginning on we realised that our friends were friendly and woken people, which was a positive surprise for us because of their physical or mental handicap. As well our friends were pleased about young visitors. With a lot of fun and much motivation our friends invited us to several dances.  We talked about our lives and about our hobbies.

Especially a young, blind and nice man, sweetened us the day in the yellow group. But also Mario, a woken and charming man in the wheelchair conjured us a big smile in our faces. We learned to deal openly and with respect with our friends. We also recognized that also „different“ people belong to our lives. We were warmly invited to come and to spend time with our friends some time again.