Hamilton County PlayCare Training--Sept. 26!

Project K.I.D. will conduct PlayCare training in Central Indiana on Saturday, September 26, 2009. Prospective volunteers ages 13 and over interested in learning more about responding to children's needs in disasters are welcome.

The training will be held at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. Training begins at 9:00 a.m. and concludes at 4:00 p.m.

Costs of training are being underwritten by a grant from the United Way of Central Indiana. Participants completing training can qualify to receive one (1) C.E.U. credit.

For more information, please contact Kim Pratt, 877-846-7529 x4 (toll free).

Project: K.I.D. is organized around a very simple premise: Play is at the heart of what it means to be a kid. This means that as soon as possible in the wake of a disaster, children need protective, restorative environments where they can return to being kids.

When children are exposed to traumatic experiences such as the devastation following a natural disaster or similar disruption to their environment, they are often immersed in a situation marked by physical destruction and emotional fear. Even when children are not separated from their parents, their caregivers are often themselves in despair, strained by the immediate need to ensure survival and protection for their family members and overwhelmed in facing the challenge of rebuilding their lives.

Emergency shelters are a critical component of disaster response efforts, but the very nature of life in shelters often magnifies the sense of despair and disruption to which children are exposed. These problems are exacerbated by the physical confinement and sheer boredom shelter life imposes.

The founders of Project: K.I.D. believe that in these circumstances, the best thing for children and their parents is to as quickly as possible establish environments in which children who are victims of devastation can spend at least some time each day being kids. Children need to experience continuity of loving care and some freedom from the fear of seeing adults grieve.

More and more childrens advocacy and education groups are recognizing the centrality of play to childrens ability to thrive and bounce back from traumatic experiences. Child Play International puts it this way:

Play is serious business for children; it is the way they learn to master their environment. If everything else is right in their lives, they will always find a way to play. But in conditions of poverty, illness or misfortune, they need some help. They don't need elaborate equipment, but they need the right atmosphere, encouragement, and at least a few simple materials. Above all, they need affectionate and joyful adults to care for them when their parents can't.

Visit Project K.I.D website: http://www.project-kid.org/playcare