October 2022
● The Docuart Association ran the “CONGRUENT – Necessary Competences for Heterogeneous Groups of Youth” project for twenty months in the village of Ceauru in Bălești commune, Gorj county.
● On October 13, 2022 at 10:30 a.m., at the “Antonie Mogoș” Secondary School in Ceauru, the association will present, in a press conference, the results from the community: it worked with 200 children between the ages of 6 and 14 and 200 adults – parents and teachers, for various personal and social problems.
● Also, within the project, the creation of a Local Initiative Group was initiated.
The social-cultural intervention project CONGRUENT, carried out by the Docuart Association in partnership with the “Antonie Mogoș” Secondary School from Ceauru village, Bălești commune, Gorj county, was dedicated to children and adults from the inter-ethnic community from Ceauru village, Gorj county, had as aim to improve the relationship between the three major actors of the educational process: teachers, children and parents. In 20 months, 12 of which during the pandemic, Docuart implemented together with its experts programs of: psycho-education for parents (parenting), combating bullying through cinema therapy, financial education for students, entrepreneurial skills for adults , mentoring through non-formal activities, psychotherapy for disadvantaged children.
“It was 20 very intense months, but we believe in tangible results and… happy children. We say that half of that statistical number from the Local Development Strategy of Băleşti commune 2015-2020, i.e. “589 school children”, have turned into real people for us, whom we came to love and whom we were , in a multitude of situations, impressed and moved”, says Daniela Apostol, the initiator of the CONGRUENT project and the president of the Docuart Association.
He worked with students, teachers and parents in Ceaurus to address issues such as: bullying, school dropout, parenting, financial behavior, economic capacity of vulnerable adult groups, personal development.
The experts involved in the CONGRUENT project used methodologies such as: cinema therapy, individual and group exercises, debates, role-playing games with motivational impact, educational workshops, scenario creation workshops, psycho-therapeutic services, mentoring, training, counseling, consulting.
Throughout the project, actions were initiated to activate a Local Initiative Group (GIL) by organizing awareness campaigns, joint civic activities and dialogue actions. The local campaigns pursued issues such as children’s emotional needs, diversity and inclusion, preventing and combating domestic violence, promoting the rights of disadvantaged people, sex education, hygiene, greening, involving both community adults and children. Thus, at the end of the project, 3 proposals were drawn up to the authorities to improve the community’s situation, as well as a Student Manifesto.
At the press conference on October 13, 2022 at 10:30 a.m., at the “Antonie Mogoș” Secondary School in Ceauru, the Student Manifesto will be read and the three proposals will be handed to the mayor of the commune, who has promised to participate. Below are some excerpts from them.
The people in the community want more peace, more promptness from the authorities, to be listened to and credited, to be called to meetings, to be asked for their opinion, to stop being interviewed only before the elections, for the community to be more cohesive, united. Vulnerable people want real and honest meetings, programs to combat school dropout, programs to combat poverty, not just one-off interventions that do not solve the cause.
Students want a renovated school, clean streets, weekend activities for their age, clean playgrounds with slides and basketball hoops, a bike path, a movie theater, a gym, parking for football games on the field and toilets, a boot on the sports field, several trash cans.
Excerpts from the student manifesto:
a) “I wish the lady teachers would stop yelling and explain our lessons fully. And don’t offend us anymore.”
b) “The perfect teacher should calmly explain the lessons to us and if we don’t understand help us.
c) “I would like the school to have new benches.”
d) “I wish teachers would dictate less often and speed up as often as needed.”
e) “I wish the teacher would stop yelling when she gets angry and would calmly explain to us what we did wrong.”
f) “I wish there were new furniture in the classroom and soap in the bathroom.”
g) “I would like the teacher to understand that we cannot know everything she knows.”
h) “I would like a more modern school where it is warm in the winter.”
i) “I would like the lady to stop making differences between us.”
j) …and I promise not to be so late to class again.”
k) “I wish the lady would stop screaming until she has no voice, be calmer.”
j) “I would like the director to consider our (students’) proposals as well.”
www.congruent.docuart.ro
https://www.facebook.com/Congruent-by-Docuart
Partners: “Antonie Mogoș” Secondary School, Radio Romania Cultural, Modernism.ro, National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Vertical Magazine, Gorjeanul, Emi TV
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“The project is carried out by the Docuart Association in partnership with the “Antonie Mogoș” Secondary School with financial support from Active Citizens Fund Romania, a program financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The aim of the project is to increase the capacity of vulnerable inter-ethnic groups of children and adults from the disadvantaged community over a period of 20 months through inclusion measures, non-formal education, parenting, mentoring, combating bullying, economic development through workshops and accredited courses in entrepreneurship , consultancy in the development of business plans, activation of the Local Initiative Group, running awareness campaigns and making proposals to local public authorities.
“Working together for an inclusive Europe”
haide #ActiveCitizensFund #Romania #activecitizens #EEANorwayGrants
The Active Citizens Fund Romania program is financed by the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The general objective of the Grants is to reduce economic and social disparities and strengthen bilateral relations between the 15 beneficiary states and the donor states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway). The program is administered by the consortium composed of the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, the Partnership Foundation, the Resource Center for Roma Communities, the PACT Foundation and FrivillighetNorge, which acts as the Fund Operator appointed by the FMO – the EEA Grants Financial Mechanism Office and Norwegian. Active Citizens Fund Romania aims to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and increase the capacity of vulnerable groups. With a total allocation of €46,000,000, the program aims to develop the long-term sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector, enhancing its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights, while strengthening bilateral relations with donor states Iceland , Liechtenstein and Norway. For more information about Active Citizens Fund in Romania, please visit www.activecitizensfund.ro. For more information on the EEA and Norwegian Grants, go to www.eeagrants.ro.”
