Partnership: a week of vacation between dads and children

Spending a week’s vacation with your children when a solo parent is not easy. A fortiori when you don’t have a big income. For the past twenty years, Pro Junior Friborg – which has taken its independence from Pro Juventute in 2020 – has been offering weeks for solo mothers every summer. For four years, dads have also had their camp. The fifth will take place from July 27 to August 1 in Leysin. And there are still places.

The principle is simple: families have their own room, parent and children together. Parents follow workshops carried out by a trainer every morning, which allow them to approach different themes related to their role as solo parent, share their experiences and exchange with other participants. And thus, to acquire or strengthen their skills in a context of mutual understanding. Meanwhile, children are taken care of by a team of five animators who introduce them to different activities.

The afternoons are free, you can spend them alone with your children or organize outings with other families. Flyers on the activities to be done in the camp region are available to participants. Some evenings, optional activities are on the program. “For the first time in the four camps, we have two people from our animation teams, trained in psychomotricity, who offer an optional parent-child activity around movement, game, relaxation, details Coline Despont, project manager at Pro Junior Friborg. We can even participate several times if we have several children and want to spend a moment with each of them. ”

All meals are prepared by a kitchen team for four people. They are taken on site and included in the price. This is 550 francs per family, regardless of the number of children. And for parents who do not have the means, Pro Junior has a list of organizations ready to provide financial support, according to the canton of the parent’s domicile. Because although it is organized by Pro Junior Friborg, the camp is open to all families in Switzerland, whether they take care of their full -time children, partially or punctually. Only requirements: have an authorization if you do not have parental custody of children and sufficiently master the French to participate in workshops and activities.

“These are weeks of vacation that change from the house,” notes Coline Despont. And which allow parents to end up with other parents in the same situation, to establish links and even, often, friendships. ” The participation requested from families not covering all the costs of the week, Pro Junior completes the financing of its camps thanks to the support of the cantons of Friborg, Neuchâtel, Vaud and Valais as well as the generosity of donors, of which the Roman lottery is part. This redistributes 100% of its profits each year to some 5000 projects of public utility throughout French-speaking Switzerland.