Students with specialized skills and interests, or with a specific assignment to fulfil for their major, have been able to carry out projects that have been helpful to Veritas and the Sighisoara community. Here are some examples:
- Students initiated and ran for years “Coffee House”, an outreach from the local Nazarene church that allowed them to connect with high school students and young adults with music, coffee and friendships.
- A physical education major spent time socializing with a young man who had lost his legs in an accident, was able to raise funds to pay for artificial legs for his new friend, and taught him to ride a bicycle
- A special education major and a recreational therapy major who were here for summer term started a program of socialization for adolescents with special needs, training and mentoring 7 high school students who volunteered to be “big brothers” and “big sisters” for the disabled teens. These teens were later integrated into the larger Veritas program for adults with special needs.
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ocial work and youth ministry majors have developed presentations on developing healthy relationships and the dangers of human trafficking, and have taken them into English classes in the local high schools. - A social work major who grew up riding horses introduced Veritas to the idea of “equine therapy” – the therapeutic use of horses for people with disabilities. The discovery of an equine therapist in a village not far from Sighisoara allowed the student to organize weekly excursions to the village with a car-full of special needs clients. She made a presentation to the local Rotary Club and obtained funding for Veritas to continue the program after her return to the US. Over the past five years it has been very effective in stimulating and helping clients with autism in particular.
- A graphics design major produced printed materials for use in the International Café and for more general Veritas publicity. A social work major used her camera to document Veritas activities – several of her pictures were used on a new brochure aimed at the local community. For her final senior project a communications major made a video about a family that had been helped to make significant changes for the better with Veritas support – you can see the video on the Veritas website: http://veritas.ro/news-media/video-gallery/
- An “undecided” student with gifts in story telling and art produced a video with one of her most popular illustrated stories, with a Romanian sound track. The story, emphasizing the value of diversity was especially intended for the Kids’ Club children who struggle against prejudice and discrimination.