BRIGHT CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL
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Mission Statement
BRIGHT is a non profit organization that has a passion for children with special needs. Throughout the planet , there are stigmas associated with children with special needs. In many countries, children with special needs are abandoned or sent to orphanages. Birth families who choose to raise their children with special needs do not have governmental supports in many areas of the globe. BRIGHT is making efforts to educate birth families and orphanage care providers of the potential of their children with special needs. This includes providing training and education on how to incorporate therapeutic techniques into daily activities to present stimulus and encourage development.BRIGHT will supply consultative individual and group services from Music Therapists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Educators, and medical personnel. Each professional will donate equipment and/or materials that families and care providers can utilize based on the consultative services.
About This Cause
Bulgaria: March, 2011 BRIGHT presented at a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria for world Down Syndrome day. There were over 200 people in attendance, including parents of children with Down Syndrome, therapists, care providers, teachers, doctors, and orphanages workers. Parents were given simple instrument kits to use with their children at home, and gathering drums were donated to orphanage directors in attendance. While the other presenters were speaking, we spent some time with the children in child care doing interactive music. While in Sofia, we visited an orphanage called Sveti Ivan Rilski, where we visited the children for a short period of time, and donated instruments. Interactive music was not allowed. BRIGHT also visited a safe house for women and children affected by domestic abuse in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. They women ranged in ages from a young mom of an infant to a woman who had to be in her 80′s (at least). We implemented a variety of experiences, including a drum circle, lyric analysis, expressing feelings through instrument playing, progressive muscle relaxation, and creating a musical rainstorm. The women were receptive to us and later told the resident psychiatrist that they enjoyed the time and would like opportunities to do it again. Three girls and two boys made up the children, and one boy was there with his sister. We also spent some time speaking with the facility psychiatrist afterwards and answering questions she had. She told us a little bit about each child and how the women had a positive response to their morning music session. Everyone was happy to know that the instruments were staying at the facility and could be used when desired/needed. Lastly, we visited an orphanage called Nezabravka in Stara Zagora. We were able to do interactive music with the children here, first with the 4 and 5 year olds, and then the 6 and 7 year olds after that. These children were typically orphaned because their parents were Gypsies and could not afford to take care of them. They received an instrument donation as well. Haiti: August, 2011 BRIGHT Children International partnered with All God’s Children International to travel to port-Au-Prince, Haiti to serve the 50 orphans living at “Don De Dieu” (gift of God) orphanage. These children were between the ages of 4 and 18, and 75% of these children were orphaned due to natural disaster. Because this trip was literally an extended weekend, there was not a lot of training or educating on this trip, but the two music therapist’s that traveled with BRIGHT implemented group music, first with the teenagers, and then with the older elementary kids. Time was spent simply loving on the children, and one other orphanage was visited for a short time. China: August, 2012 Once again, BRIGHT partnered with All God’s Children International, but traveled to Beijing, China for ten days. Two of these days were tourist days, five were spent in orphanages, two were spent traveling, and one “disappeared” due to the weird time change between here and there. The first three work days were spent in a Foster Home called New Day. This is a non-profit foster home that is owned and run at every level by Chinese and Americans. This foster homes exists to care for children with severe medical needs or disabilities that are too tough for the government orphanages to handle. New Day pays for heart surgeries, reconstructive surgeries, organ transplants, etc, all on donated funds. We were able to do therapy with all of the children at this facility (upwards of 50 kids) by age groups; the babies, the toddlers, the pre-schoolers, and the elementary kids (up to age 12). We also spent two hours training the nannies on how they can incorporate music into their daily routine with the children. In addition, we spent an hour with their resident “speech therapist” (she is not licensed, but she is AMAZING, and has received training from various visiting therapists), showing her how to incorporate music into her therapy with the children. The last two work days were spent at a smaller foster home called Harmony House. On the first day, we implemented about an hour of music, but there more much more pressing needs of this house that needed to be addressed. They were looking to move, and in fact, signed the lease to a new place that night. Because it needed to be a large place to house all of their babies, and it has been unoccupied, cleaning would have been a nightmare for the five ladies trying to run the house. Our mission team took the second day and cleaned their new living quarters (both stories) from top to bottom. Nicaragua: August, 2013 BRIGHT was in two parts of the country for this 10 day trip to Nicaragua. We began our trip in Rivas (which is in the southern part of the country). We visited a school called Soe Maria Romero that was for children with various moderate/severe special needs including Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, deafness, and global delays. Since children in Nicaragua only go to school until 12 noon, we saw these children for the morning, and then spent some time talking with the director, teachers, and staff. We then traveled to Los Cedros, a “suburb” of Managua. There we visited a group home for boys (Casa Robles) as well as a group home for girls (Casa Havilah). These children were removed from the home because of drugs, prostitution, neglect, etc at the willingness of the parents. The four therapists that traveled to Nicaragua then went to a preschool called La Esparanza and worked with nearly 100 preschoolers that were receiving a free education on behalf of missionaries. These children were born in the city dump and would most likely show delays due to malnutrition. Another school named Colegio Cristiano Havilah was visited for two days of the trip. This school educated preschoolers through 6th graders who would not otherwise be able to afford an education. Many of the children we worked with had sensory needs, issues with impulse control, and trouble with attention. The trip finished up with a visit to New Life Nicaragua orphanage to work with the children, all of whom has special needs. These children ranged from 4 months to 5 years, and had various disabilities. Many of these disabilities were a result of drug/alcohol abuse. This is one of the few orphanages that work directly with the Nicaraguan government to help care for these children. Nicaragua: June, 2014 After learning of the needs in Nicaragua, BRIGHT returned with it’s largest team to Managua. This team included two music therapists, one recreational therapist, one Physical Therapist, a Physical Therapist Trainee, A Speech/Language Pathologist, a professional photographer, a researcher, a translator/Special needs advocate/retired teacher, and two teens who are along for the ride and excited to love on children. Our trip began at New Life Nicaragua Orphanage, where we were able to implement therapy with these 20 or so children, and spend a few hours talking to the director about recommendations. All orphanage staff were trained on infant massage as well. The next three days were spent at “Tesoros de Dios School. Children with various disabilities attend this school part time (due to the high enrollment numbers) so we were able to work in a variety of ways. They have an early intervention classroom, two Physical Therapists on staff, as well as horse therapy. The school selected children that needed attention in the various areas we addressed (speech, fine motor, gross motor, special education, etc). This was truly a wonderful experience. Lastly, We partnered with UNIDOS Nicaragua to serve with the poorest of the poor children in Los Cedros, Nicaragua. In the morning, we created a field day with nine different stations working on listening, gross motor exercises, fine motor exercises, impulse control, team work, etc. The afternoon included a presentation to the teachers, and then a second presentation to parents that were interested in learning more. It was an exhausting week, but so rewarding! Guatemala: June, 2015 In August of 2015, BRIGHT Children International traveled to Zacapa, Guatemala to partner with Hope of Life, International (www.hopeoflifeintl.org). We took Music Therapists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech/Language Pathologists, early childhood educators, a Social Worker, an equipment specialist, translators, teenagers, and a partridge in a pear tree. While in country, our team served the Safe Haven Village (www.safehavenvillage.org) the Village of Transformation, a nutrition center, and Kelly’s House, a home for children with disabilities. Some of the 150 children living in the orphanage have learning disabilities and speech impairments that were addressed by our special educator and SLPs. The babies and toddlers living at the nutrition center are showing delays and disabilities that our Early Childhood Educators focused on, and the children at Kelly’s House are in grave need of Physical and Occupational therapy. The 70 children living in the family style orphan care housing are dealing with many emotional and psychological issues including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, aggression, etc. Our MFT and Social Worker spent their time working with the families, offering assistance and guidance where applicable.