People often ask staff and trainers at Helping Hands what a Placement Week is really like. As you can imagine, the process begins long before the Placement Week. The team of staff members meet several times a month to review new applications and discuss upcoming recipients. Putting together a placement schedule is much like constructing a jigsaw puzzle that spans months of activity.

Once we have made a match and scheduled the placement - the intense work begins. Typically a team of two or three staff members will travel for a week to a new recipient's home. It is a truly magical moment when a new recipient first sees his/her monkey helper. We have seen everything from tears to laughter to pure speechlessness during those first moments.

From the first night of the placement, the monkey lives in his/her new home as the process of seeing the staff members come and go throughout the week is an important factor in the monkey's adjustment. Each day, we work on tasks, building specialized equipment for the new pair and educating our new recipient and their family about monkey behavior, hierarchy, diet, and health.  The entire week, we let the monkey set the pace. Some monkeys will approach a new recipient without hesitation and others are more slow and cautious as they make a new friend. The monkeys get lots of love, praise and playtime during this first week and by the end of the placement week, the monkey has begun the bonding process with their new human partner.

After we leave the placement home, there is still much work to be done with daily phone calls to our recipients to provide advice and further training. Helping Hands staff members provide 24/7 support to our recipients which is especially helpful during the initial months of a new placement.

In the end, the most important skill we have at Helping Hands is teamwork! Teamwork between our staff, recipients, and yes, even the monkeys. It is hard work for everyone involved but in the end, we strive to create an incredible partnership and a lifelong bond.