(article written by Dalia Moțoc, participant in the Erasmus+ training course ”The Invisible”, Samobor, Croatia, March 2023)
Since there is an increasing number of children who are dealing with chronic diseases and who may be afraid of being judged or misunderstood by their peers, we decided that it would be useful for primary and secondary school students to be informed about the existence of some of the invisible illnesses we discussed about during the project.
During our social education classes, we discussed with fourth-graders and sixth-graders about the symptoms and implications of certain invisible illnesses, such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and anxiety. The aim was to make the children aware aware that it is possible for some people to appear healthy while facing certain difficulties that they may be afraid to share with others.
Throughout the activities, the students had the opportunity to experiences related to people in their lives (friends or family) who are dealing with invisible illnesses, and also ideas about how we can show emotional support and understanding towards them.
It was also heartwarming that some of the students shared about some of their family members (parents/grandparents) who suffer from diseases such as cancer yet they could ,,hide” their illness very well, so that only the close ones could know about their suffering.
For Dalia, the Erasmus+ experience from Croatia was the first – in many, we hope. We are super proud of her active participation (just as we are super proud of the other tree participants, Vladimir, Ovidiu, and Răzvan) and the dedication she put into organizing these workshops for students.
May 30, 2023