Coalition For Kids International Inc.

Welcome To Coalition For Kids International Inc.

Christine and George from LOVE (Leave Out ViolencE) travel to Disney, Orlando, to chaperone Julian and Antoni on their Live the Dream Experience. Here is their diary:

Day 1

Our flights were perfect and right on time. We arrived in Orlando where it was 26 degrees – fantastic!

We took a taxi straight to the Give Kids the World village where Julian, Antoni and their family would be staying. The village is an amazing place – it has 136 villas, each one for a family with a terminally-ill child. In the village are amusements, restaurants, playgrounds, ice cream parlors and so much more – all contained in an atmosphere that is impossible to describe – you could feel the love!

Give Kids the World was founded many years ago by Henry Landwirth, who as a young boy had miraculously survived the horrors of Auschwitz and Mauthausen. Kamila and Garry’s children’s foundation in Poland, Fundacja Dzieci?ca Fantazja, is a partner organization of Give Kids the World.

We spent the day in the wonderful atmosphere of the village and then went to check into our hotel which was only 2km away. After dinner we napped for a bit and then woke up at 1am and took a taxi back to the village to wait the arrival of Julian and Antoni together with their parents and Eliza from the foundation.

The weather had now changed to torrential rain and it was past 3am in the morning when the family finally arrived at the village having left Poland 28 hours previous.

Everyone was clearly exhausted so we took them to their villa - and then the boys woke up as there were presents and a large Mickey Mouse waiting for both of them. We finally got back to our hotel at 4.30 am but it was 5 am when the family eventually got to sleep!

Day 2

Three hours later we all met for breakfast and decided to stay in the Give Kids the World village for the day to give the young brothers a full day to get over their journey - and what a wonderful and full day we had.

The boys, Julian who is 5 and Antoni who is 3, both have spinal muscular atrophy. They can still walk but can't run or jump and sometimes they are unsteady on their feet.

It is hard to believe that this time next year Julian will be permanently in a wheelchair and that the same destiny awaits Antoni a year later and that all the time their muscles are withering away inside - leading to their inevitable fate. Their parents lives will then change dramatically – becoming 24 hour a day caregivers to their wonderful sons, with little help from society or the government.

So we had to make sure the boys had the time of their lives with lots of memories for them and their family to take home - and at the same time, to give their mom and dad a well earned rest.

We became friends very quickly and by the end of the day it was if we had known each other for years. As we left for our hotel at night exhausted the boys looked like they could play forever!

Day 3

After breakfast together and a quick lesson in sand-castle building from George it was off to ride the horses and the boys had a great time. Their dad is a farmer in Poland but it was still the first time that the boys had been on horseback.

Then it was time to catch our private shuttle to Disney and the Magic Kingdom. Everything had been arranged so that we all had front of the line passes – we didn’t have to wait in line for any rides which was fantastic. The boys were game to try all the rides and so were we!

And it was ice-cream all the way too!

Where do the boys get the energy from! They have so much desire to do everything they can in a short space of time and so we're on the go non stop…

Day 4

Today it was Animal Kingdom for Julian & Antoni...

We all met at 8.00am and walked together for breakfast in the children's village. Breakfast is a huge buffet - all you can eat - and the boys have a great appetite. We eat breakfast with about 50 other families - all who have one or more terminally-ill children.

It's a very humbling experience - many of the children look normal on the outside whilst others are clearly in the progressive stage. Everyone is having a wonderful time and we very much enjoy chatting to other children and families in the village.

After breakfast we played with the boys for a while and then left for Animal Kingdom which was great fun. Later in the afternoon a monsoon came down but nobody minded and after 6 hours we cleverly convinced the boys that they were tired (of course it's really us) and then we caught the shuttle back to the village treading water all the way.

After a shower it was then time to meet up in the restaurant for dinner for more fun together. The boys have lost their initial shyness and so the silly games become even more sillier. George can now stack 12 cups on top of each other at the dinner table much to the delight of the boys! Then it was time for ice cream and a few games and still they weren’t tired! Eventually about 9pm they were in bed and we started planning for the next day.

Julian & Antoni are great fun. Their parents are wonderful and they're having a great time seeing their boys enjoy themselves so much.

Day 5

Three special guests turned up at the village after breakfast to say hi…

WOW… And then it was mom and dad’s turn – they wanted to go shopping!! Well it was raining and so while we waited for the weather to clear we went to the mall and looked after the boys for a couple of hours while mom and dad shopped – and looking after two energetic boys in a shopping mall is the most tiring thing we’ve ever done!

Then it was back to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon to see everything we’d missed before.