Face-painting was one of the most popular activities of the day
May 31, 2011
On a sunny day of Sunday, May 29, over 400 children, parents and volunteers took part in the International Children’s Day event organized by Policy Center for Roma and Minorities in collaboration with the District 5 Mayoralty, in the ghetto area on Livezilor Street in Bucharest. The event was dedicated to the children in the Ferentari area and in particular to the pupils from the Elementary School no.136 where Policy Center for Roma and Minorities launched in October 2010 the Alternative Educational Club with the financial support of the Netherlands Embassy in Romania, the Soros Foundation in Romania, the European Commission and the Roma Education Fund. Also, pupils from the Elementary School no.147 were involved in the event, as we plan to open a new club at this school.
Whether it was football, basketball, street dance, games along with the Youth Group “Jos Palaria”, face-painting or street drawings, the children showed those who were present that alternative education is valuable and important for their current and future development.
“For the children who are living in the Ferentari ghetto, the opportunity to attend the classes at the Alternative Education Club is a real chance to develop in a direction that is not dictated by the environment they grew up in.” said Raluca Negulescu, Policy Officer at the Policy Center for Roma and Minorities. “In addition to the activities we carry out every day with the children, we believe that they also need hope and encouragement from us and their families so that they learn better and drop out of school. Our intervention is not limited to working with children. We also involve parents in this process of community development. Over 10 parents helped us to organize this event.”, added Raluca Negulescu.
The Alternative Education Club was created to provide an alternative framework of development for the children in Ferentari, one of the most economically and socially vulnerable areas of Bucharest. Currently over 120 children enjoy weekly extracurricular activities including football, basketball, boxing, street dance, film and acting courses, and financial and social education classes. Starting with April the project is also supported by the Roma Education Fund.
The event is part of the REACT campaign, implemented in Romania and Italy for Policy Center for Roma and Minorities and supported by the European Commission.
REACT is a pilot awareness raising campaign that focuses on the active participation of Roma and non-Roma citizens in the civic life, which is being developed by three NGOs in Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Albania under the umbrella of the European Roma Grassroots Organization (ERGO).
While the NGOs in Bulgaria and Albania are focused on direct interventions, Policy Center for Roma and Minorities is developing in Romania and Italy an awareness campaign designed to challenge the negative attitudes towards Roma through a visible approach. The main instruments used are films, documentaries, sports and education as a means of stimulating active participation.
Supporters at the event: Florentina Ardelean and Anca Șipoș from the women’s national basketball team, Alin Șipoș from the basketball team Dinamo București, Svetlana Drăgușin, Female Coach Team Coordinator at the Romanian Basketball Federation, and Mario Rafael Ilie, community leader.
Partners: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Soros Foundation in Romania, the European Commission, the Roma Education Fund, the Romanian Football Federation, the Romanian Basketball Federation , Elementary School no . 136, Trouble Crew, the Local Youth Group “Jos Palaria”.
Media partner: Radio Itsy Bitsy
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Tuesday May 31st, 2011
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