New buddies successful during reception
During this autumn’s reception for new students at the CBH School, there were a new type of reception groups – sponsors for students with disabilities, called funka-buddies.
“We had a simple goal being buddies, which was that all new students should be able to partake on their own terms,” says Ellen Engquist, President of the Chemistry Chapter.
She was one of the initiators behind the introduction of funka-buddies. The idea took shape at the end of 2019 and the inspiration came from two other programs, which already had the system.
“I thought the idea was fantastic so I wrote to this year's safety representative that I would like to run something like this. Another group of people were also invested in this issue, our three reception managers Linnea Lindquist, Emma Kroon and Daniel Hallgren,” says Ellen Engquist.
Last winter, she and the group began discussing what needed to be done to get the funka-buddy project going, and it was agreed that the reception managers would create a new group of sponsors. The group, like all other buddies, received training in how to handle new students, but they also received an extra lecture from FUNKA at KTH, on how to work with new students who have different needs. The group also decided to print t-shirts with the text "Stöttis", as they experienced the word as more positively charged - and a bit more fun - than funka-buddy.
“During the reception, we split up so that we could keep track of 4-5 zero groups. We ran in during the break at the first exercises to introduce ourselves, so that everyone would feel that they knew who we were and what we were doing. During many activities we tried to move about freely so that people would have the opportunity to come to us, and we also relieved our own sponsors (called KOMPIS) a lot in different situations.”
Successfull project
The goal of the funka-buddies was that all newly admitted students should be able participate on their own terms. The idea was that the buddies would re-plan activities at the last second if needed, walk with students who can not walk as fast as everyone else, warn students when it would be loud, and give information about FUNKA to students. Now it did not turn out quite as intended, according to Ellen Engquist, but she still sees the project as a success.
“During the reception, there weren't many who needed our help, so in practice we mostly supported our other sponsors, which was also successful. I think we will have a Stöttis group at next year's reception as well, which would be super fun! One good thing was that all the newcomers thought that Stöttis had been around for a long time, which meant that we had a well-functioning role, I hope.”
Text: Jon Lindhe