More than a year has passed since the flood disaster. But the children and young people from the Ahr Valley and the surrounding area are still confronted with the traces of the dramatic events. Their lives are still marked by uninhabitable rooms, construction sites and the worried faces of their parents. They absorb the tension and grief around them, try to give their parents strength and shoulder problems that do not belong in children's hearts. Their daily lives are a constant state of exception, leaving little room to breathe, process and forget.
The volunteers of the Ahrtal charity "Fortuna hilft" have been in constant contact with more than 1000 of these children and their parents since the fateful night of the floods. For months, they have been trying to make their lives a little easier and more beautiful through a wide variety of projects. This involves not only collecting heaters or winter clothing, but also helping them to come to terms with what they have experienced.
Space for a child's soul
This need gave rise to the idea for the "Kinder*Seele" project, which was implemented over the year. Not least with the help of the 10,000 Euro donation from PohlCon to the association. This donation made it possible to purchase an urgently needed construction trailer and to expand it to make it weather- and child-friendly. It has been given a permanent place in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler next to woods, meadows, and a paddock.
Horses are part of an animal-assisted therapy that a specially trained therapist and trauma educator carries out with the children and young people. The construction trailer takes on the function of a small island, a place of retreat that gives them the space to share and process their experiences and feelings in peace and disconnected from their parents. Within these four walls, the children, their laughter, but also their tears come first and we are proud that our donation made it possible to create this important retreat for them.
