In November, the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya organized a familiarization visit to Switzerland for Oksana Ihnatyzhak, director of the Turya-Remeta Psychoneurological Boarding School, where she and Lesya Levko, the CAMZ project coordinator, had the opportunity to learn about the work of local social institutions.

First of all, the visitors visited the Dietisberg Social Center, where 80 people with mental disorders and various types of addictions live permanently. The experience of the institution is extremely important given that it has been operating for more than 100 years, has an effective philosophy and proven approaches to solving the problems of vulnerable groups of the population. We are talking about forms of occupational therapy where residents are constantly involved in work in the workshops, feel needed, see the results of their own work, and continue to socialize through employment. It is concentrated in workshops for woodworking, wickerwork, and locksmithing, and Dietisberg also has a cheese factory, a farm, a meat shop, a printing house, and more.

"The position of the institution is to be as financially independent from the state as possible. Today, the institution earns half of the funds needed to run Dietisberg on its own by selling its own products – in shops on the premises and in the neighboring village, as well as through orders placed by local businesses and organizations, offering printing services, renting out a conference room, etc. The shops also sell goods from local producers. This is also one of the center’s principles – to support local producers operating within a 10 km radius. At Dietisberg, the wards are not paid a salary, but they receive weekly pocket money that they can use at their own discretion – in the shops or outside the center, as they are not restricted in their movements", says Lesya Levko.

The social center tends to combine humanistic and capitalist principles, when human potential is used simultaneously for self-actualization and profit. The latter, in turn, covers the needs of the institution for further development, introduction of new technologies, and expansion of the product range. Professional support of the production is provided by qualified employees, while the center’s wards are responsible for day-to-day operations. The products sold include home and garden furniture, fences, toys, printing products, food, etc. All activities at the institution are certified, and the manufactured products are competitive and in demand among consumers.

Staying at Dietisberg is voluntary and is in line with a person’s request for social services. If necessary and in accordance with medical prescriptions, residents receive the necessary medications. The institution also operates a retirement home for elderly residents who, despite their advanced age, continue to work at the facility.

For social institutions in Ukraine, the issue of implementing various forms of employment for wards is quite topical and in line with trends in reforming the relevant legislation. For example, Swiss practices of creating a network of workshops of various kinds may well be adapted for domestic institutions, including the boarding school in the village of Turyi Remety in Zakarpattia. Oksana Ihnatyzhak saw such workshops at the Dietisberg Social Center and the Buechehof Association’s institution, where Andreas Schmid, a friend of the Committee and president of the Parasolka Association, works.

As part of the visit to Switzerland, meetings were held with the leadership of the Network Switzerland-Transcarpathia/Ukraine "NeSTU" and representatives of the Parasolka Association to discuss further cooperation with the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya.