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The scene was a common one; a man was coaching a boy learning to shoot baskets. The details, however, were not so common. The boy was a teenager with a developmental disability. The man uses a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury. And the spontaneous coaching session was an example of the unique bond that has formed through Motivation Romania between two groups of people with different disabilities.
The man, Filip, has been playing hard in a game of wheelchair basketball that was a demonstration by Motivation Romania. The game attracted a crowd, including the teen-aged boy, and when the game ended, Filip invited the teen-ager to shoot some baskets.
Filip is always attentive to people with physical or developmental disabilities. Driving down the road he'll stop to talk with people using the wheelchairs created at the factory run by Motivation Romania, where he is manager. All of the factory workers also have spinal cord injuries.
Motivation Romania Foundation has been helping adults with spinal cord injuries learn independent living through its program since 1995. In 2003, a partnership was formed with Mosaic to create housing and programs to bring children who
have developmental disabilities out of government institutions.
The programs for the two groups are set up to encourage as much interaction as possible, according to Anca Beudean, Sustainability Coordinator for Motivation Romania. The children with disabilities in the group homes and foster families gain role models and friends. At the same time, the adults who use wheel-chairs are making the next step toward independence by caring for others as members of a family.
"The relationship between everyone working at or support by Motivation can best be described as one resembling an extended family," said Rich Carman, Senior Vice President for Advocacy at Mosaic. "While they all strive for independence, they recognize the value of interdependence and have created a caring community rarely seen."
One fruit of that relationship is a camp that is use by both the children and adults in the mountains of Romania. In addition to fully-accessible cottages, the camp has a wheelchair accessible playground for the children. The adults have also served as sponsors for the children when they are baptized into the Church, and even chose to use the factory profits to support the children's programs.
"Their gift to us is the opportunity to learn from them and witness the love they share with each other," Carman said.