26 children between the ages of 13 and 15 do special summer jobs at Archipel in Best. These “suns” illuminate the task of the permanent employees.
“There are now many volunteers on vacation. The suns fill those holes. Although they do not carry out responsible core tasks, they do relieve the permanent employees by engaging with the residents. “This is Annelies Verhees, team assistant at Archipel.
“We did not even have to advertise! There are now no less than 26 suns scheduled during the holiday season. Some do it because they have a lot of affinity with the care, others are just looking for a holiday job “, Verhees continues.
It is not a simple vacation job, by the way; in fact: it can be quite heavy. The residents are demented and therefore their reaction is not always predictable. “Some are used to a” steady face “and can have few stimuli. And such a sun can sometimes be too much “says Verhees.
Archipel has therefore decided that from now on only suns are assumed that have someone in their immediate vicinity who works in health care and can take care of them where necessary. Because it is important that the children can tell their story. They are well informed during an introduction evening, not only about the activities, but also about what dementia entails and what they can expect. During such an evening, someone from the home front comes along so that there is also known what is involved in the work of a sun.
Zonnetje Iris is now doing this work for the second year and has asked if she can work in the Gasterij again, the restaurant at the Kanidas location. She prepares tasty dishes, pours coffee and tea and now also manages the cash register. Next year she can not come anymore, unfortunately, because then she is too old.
Jinte, on the other hand, really wants to be involved with the people themselves. That is why he is assigned to one of the living groups. He is busy playing a game with a number of residents. He throws a balloon and the intention is of course that it is thrown back. “But I just had to wake someone up,” he laughs. His parents work in the care sector and according to Verhees you can notice that because Jinte is so easy to deal with people who need a lot of care. Apparently he has been poured into the spoon.
“It is quite a lot of work though. Arrange those suns “says Verhees. “The stack of paperwork that comes with it! But we get so many positive reactions! We always evaluate how things are going and then determine whether something needs to be changed. And of course we have to see if all the alignment works outweigh the revenue. But yes, if only 1 or 2 of those suns later work in the health care it is already great! “