🐧 It’s Okay to be a Penguin

🐧 It’s Okay to be a Penguin: From Diagnosis to Back to School – Sarah’s Journey

HospiEdu Foundation. Nonprofit, non-governmental association in Hungary,  established 2014.

Our mission: reaching out to students recovering in hospital or at home, their families, and their schools. Identifying, training volunteers. Coordinating learning. Providing ongoing support. Ensuring smooth school re-entry.

This is the story of Sarah, a 16-year-old student, and her year-long journey back to her high school community.

A year of isolation and hope (September 2024 – May 2025)

September 2024. Sarah is 16. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). School attendance impossible. Immediate need: uninterrupted learning support.

Action: HospiEdu coordinates. Two university volunteers step in. Home tutoring for a full school year: Mathematics and English.

Sarah’s reality: Suffering chronic CF symptoms. Gaps in lexical knowledge due to absence. Overwhelming challenge: loneliness, solitude, unpredictable days, exhaustion. Desperate search for company, meaningful activities.

April 2025. HospiEdu’s 10th-anniversary exhibition. Sarah’s artistic contribution: a novel about her everyday life. Featured as an exciting exhibit.

June 2025. impact campaign: A special influencer collaboration. Unique literature class. Sarah’s partner: a famous Hungarian actor. Theme: Kafka. Exploring common feelings, fears, goals. Novel writing as a resource.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG6Es0UwgSM&t=4s  (3 minute film with English subtitle)

June 2025. Success achieved: Sarah passes her school exams. Hope emerges: a new therapy offers the chance to return to school.

September 2025. The great day.

Return to a downtown high school. 17–18-year-old girls and boys. Atmosphere: indifferent, scrutinizing gazes. Passivity.

The silent question: “What are you all doing here?”

The class: A special intervention. Projector displays: Cystic Fibrosis symptoms. Its impact on adolescent daily life.

Sarah’s Story. Painfully honest. Hits hard:

• Diagnosis: lasts forever. Life expectancy in Hungary recently under 20 years.
• Constant fight: inhalations, physiotherapy, hospital treatments, recurrent lung/pleurisy inflammation, exhaustion.
• No end: cannot be stopped. New bacterium risk always present. Harmless to a healthy lung; home for CF.
• Studying: impossible when unwell. Impossible when hospitalized. Difficult to self-motivate. Hard to maintain independence.

The plea: “What would be the greatest help from you? Understanding and acceptance. That would be the greatest help.”

The Role of HospiEdu: building an inclusive community

HospiEdu mandate: Offer every KórházSuli student a special homeroom class upon school return.

Execution: visit classmates and teachers. Ensure the student’s re-entry is understandable and manageable for all.

Action points:

• Collectively gather concrete tools for support.
• Discuss the principle: Support is equally deserved by everyone in the community who has the courage to share their difficulties.

The outcome: If executed well, a unique community is born. A community where it’s okay to be a penguin. Where difference, difficulty, and vulnerability are accepted and supported.

Monika Tóthné Almássy  (from Hungary)

Director of HospiEdu Foundation

Email address:     almassy.monika@korhazsuli.hc