Instead of cuddly toys for the little ones: the foundation enables children's home employees to take part in training

Created: 12/07/2022, 12:24 p.m

By: Martin Becker

"Training instead of toys": This is the name of a project by the Archimedes Foundation from Unterhaching, which is close to the hearts of Managing Director Klaus Weidlich and his daughter Mirjana.

Differentiated knowledge required A stuffed animal alone is not enough © mbe

Because there is no shortage of donations in kind, the Archimedes Foundation has come up with a slightly different Christmas present for children's homes.

It enables high-quality training for employees.

Unterhaching/Putzbrunn - Of course, a cuddly toy is part of it.

A teddy bear, a cuddly rabbit.

But there is no lack of that, and therein lies the problem: that many people have an antiquated idea of ​​children's homes like the Salberghaus in Putzbrunn.

A large number of gift donations pile up there, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

An inflation of well-intentioned affection - something else could be needed much more urgently: namely high-quality training that no longer fits into the budget of state funding.

"Training instead of toys" is an initiative of the Archimedes Foundation in Unterhaching.

Its managing director Klaus Weidlich came up with the idea through his daughter Mirjana (25), who is studying social work in her fifth semester and has previously completed a practical semester in the Salberghaus.

Her impression: "Whether it's clothes, toys or leisure activities - the children there have everything." The image of a child in worn out clothes sitting on his bed in a mass dormitory is "a cliché that has been outdated for decades".

With all the love that some people put into gifts, instead of too many donations in kind, targeted investments in training make more sense in practice.

“We very much welcome the initiative”

"We very much welcome the initiative, as competent and committed employees with a heart are very important for our children," says Agnes, the manager of the Salberghaus.

"For small children, and especially small children in need, reliable and competent caregivers are vital." There is often a "difficult history", which means that these sometimes traumatized children are hardly able to communicate with adults .

"Employees need differentiated knowledge and exchange so that they can understand the needs of the child as well as possible and react accordingly," reports Agnes Gschwendtner.

"We have therefore been organizing training courses in trauma pedagogy for seven years and have an in-house training program."

This is exactly where the Archimedes Foundation's initiative comes in, when the financial resources are no longer sufficient.

"We are concerned with high-quality training courses that are no longer covered by the state funding budget," says Klaus Weidlich, Managing Director of the foundation.

“Anyone who invests in one of these €1,500 advanced training courses instead of Christmas presents is ultimately doing the children a favour.

And that in the long run.”

"There are two 'mama'"

A typical case from practice, says Mirjana Weidlich, is the so-called on-call care.

Because the birth parents, for example because of drug addiction, are unable to look after their youngest child (usually between the ages of zero and three), it is placed with a foster family, usually for a year at first.

"How do I explain to such a child later why it doesn't live with its real parents?

And what if the biological and foster parents meet with the child on the playground – how do you deal with this situation?”

During her internship at the Salberghaus, Mirjana Weidlich observed in particular the process of attachment and when it changes, which is “extremely difficult” for children and foster parents alike.

"There are two 'mama' – dealing with it emotionally in the interests of the child's well-being is not easy."

A stuffed animal alone is useless

A stuffed animal alone is of no use, training those involved is.

"We are very happy about the financial support from donors in order to be able to book external speakers," says Agnes Gschwendtner.

Relevant topics include bonding and caring for small children "as well as supporting the mental hygiene of employees".

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On the subject of donations in kind to the Salberghaus, just before Christmas, the manager says: “Good cooperation and timely planning are important.

There are many companies in the Munich area that want to set up so-called gift trees.

It happens that new companies contact us who would like to give gifts and we then have to turn them down.

I think that's a pity, because important larger purchases could be made with a monetary donation.” Among other things, through the Archimedes Foundation, in targeted training courses.

More news from Unterhaching, Putzbrunn and the district of Munich can be found here.