State Institutionalisation in the Czech Republic
Corridor in a state institution in the Czech Republic
At the beginning of January I spent a week documenting with the film and photography the work of an NGO working to transform State Institutions for children and young adults.
The basic idea being to close down the institutions and get the children into more suitable family based solutions in the community, be that foster care or providing support to enable them to return to their own families. The Czech republic itself is a well off country with European living standards and high employment and Prague is quite simply the most beautiful city and one of the most visited cities in Europe.
But behind the curtains lies a Dickensian form of childcare and institutionalisation with the country having one of the highest levels of children living in institutions in Europe. The buildings themselves were clean, warm and had plenty of resources – tv’s. toys, bedding and medication. It was a very different scene from what I have photographed in Ukraine, Romania and Bosnia where institutions were damp, squalid and with no or little facilities for the children. On closer inspection though and putting aside the ridiculous idea that having toys and a TV meant that the children were in a suitable and caring environment, things started to look very similar to the previous institution’s I had visited – 8 rooms in one bed, heavily sedated children and the smell of a hospital. The Czech Republic it seems has a lot of work ahead to improve the overall situation of improving child care services, but without the lure of the utopia of joining the EU (The current president is very anti Europe) it seems that it will be a long struggle to transform this system.