Special Needs School Visit November 2006

Late October, and Donna asked if we would be interested in having the children from the Special Needs School at Peratata for a visit, we jumped at the chance and Donna took over the arrangements for the visit in November.

A group of ex-pats on the island had formed a committee earlier in the year and decided to enter a float in the Carnival; it was a wonderful float and depicted the UK. The float was a great success and won first prize, and the committee decided to donate a gift to the school and a microwave was what was needed. This had been purchased and the presentation was to take place on the day of the visit. They were obviously very pleased to receive the gift and it is good to know that the money that was won was put to such good use.
 
On the designated day, several taxis arrived full of children and the teachers plus some adult helpers. I had already gathered all the dogs and locked them on the veranda to give the children chance to settle and get used to there being so many animals about. Soon after they arrived we let the dogs out, and I fully expected them to race up to the children in their usual boisterous manner and scare them to death, but no, they surprised me by being on best behaviour and remained that way the whole time of the visit - I was a very proud mum! They allowed the children to put them on leads and pull them about; it was as if they sensed that they had to be more gentle than usual. 

The donkeys were a great success too; they are always gentle and love a lot of attention. They were in donkey heaven with all the petting. Some of the donkeys were brought out of the paddock, and this gave the children the opportunity to get close to them, one young man was very afraid of all the animals, but by the end of the visit he was petting donkeys, which was so good to see.

The big surprise was Gertie the goat, a little madam at the best of times, but not once did she try to jump up at the children and she tolerated being pulled about on a donkey lead for quite a long time. 

Some of the cats did not mind being pulled in every direction and Dotty actually enjoyed being in the middle of two little girls who had half each and both wanted all of him, he was at full stretch at one point but did not even attempt to scratch or bite them.

About half way through the visit, Gertie performed her party piece, causing much laughter among the visitors, and a bit of grief for Keith, as her favourite pastime is jumping on the car roof, sliding down the windscreen and using the wiper blades as brakes! The kids would have liked her to do it again.

It was a wonderful day, and the children did not want to leave when the taxis arrived, but I have to say that it is unusual in Greece for children to visit an establishment like ours, as they are more often than not very afraid of animals. It was touching to see them saying goodbye to their favourite animals of the day, and we hope that they will want to come again soon.

Click the pictures to enlarge them.

February 11th 2007: Read the follow-up article about the Painting Competition