Description
In this project, we want to raise the attention to the need to socially integrate residents and former residents of children’s homes. We will involve 108 young people aged 13-19 in this group in Cracow and neighbouring communities. The following integration activities are planned: writing a newsletter, starting an online TV channel and photography group. Experience shows that creating motivation and willingness among teenagers to take part in a tangible project will help minimise the sense of threat of social exclusion, which is the main goal of the project. Furthermore, young people will produce project-related resources. The partner, Cracow Economic University Foundation, will use its own experience in the field to support the project’s integration activities and add value by sharing experience in managing major projects.
Summary of project results
"The Buma Foundation's experience working with children raised outside of their biological families has shown that providing such children with unconditional support will often lead to an entitlement attitude towards people and institutions around them. Children and youth feel they do not have to make an effort or sacrifice in order to get something. Furthermore, children from children's homes find it extremely hard to get along with peers at school (no interaction or peer support outside school, social detachment), which detrimentally affects their school performance and interpersonal relationships. Similar observations are presented in Education without Exclusion: ABC of Support for Families Threatened by Social Exclusion published by the Dialogue Spaces Foundation. Together to Work! is a project that responds to the problems and provides support for youth in orphanages in Kraków. 173 individuals, including individuals 88 threatened by social exclusion, attended journalism and filmmaking workshops for children and youth from a wide social spectrum. The project formed 9 youth groups (three in each cycle: photography, journalism, film) and published 6 newsletter issues, produced 40 images printed on display materials and made 9 videos. A training session and a wrap-up meeting were held; a YouTube channel has been created and has had 1,610 impressions. The project's beneficiaries were children and youth in Kraków orphanages. Activities had a strong artistic value due to the contribution of project partner, the Kraków University of Economics Foundation."
Summary of bilateral results