Description
The project “Terni Godi: The power of dreaming” conducted by “Impreuna” Agency for Community Development supports the initiative to change the actual speech regarding Roma as “a vulnerable and anomic group” into a new speech that presents the Roma as “resource”. The specific objectives are focusing on (1) promotion of the importance of education as a development engine in personal and professional life and (2) development of a “For Change”/”Organizational Development” Strategy which will take into account the Roma’s development challenges settled for the 2014-2020 period, over a period of 12 months. The beneficiary are represented by more than 400 children; more than 300 Roma parents; more than 50 teachers; 10 students acting as multipliers. The expected results highlight the achievement of the top needs of Maslow’s Pyramid (self-esteem, self-fulfillment) through promotion of Roma success models who demonstrates that anyone can overcome life’s difficulties if they dream, wish and work hard enough.
Summary of project results
The actual speech presenting Roma people as a "vulnerable and anomic group" is a common one in the Romanian society. "Terni Godi – about the power of dreaming” was implemented in order to develop the self-esteem of Roma pupils and their parents from 10 communities (Candesti, Calvini- Buzau county, Baleni, I.L.Caragiale – Dambovita county, Dirvari, Jilava – Ilfov county, Giurgiu, Gostinari – Giurgiu county, Iordacheanu, Varbila – Prahova county). The main activities focused on delivering empowerment messages about sensitive issues like early marriages, school drop-out and beggary, used creative means and music as an appropriate channel for the target group. Mentorship activities were carried out. The youth who were trained as multiplying agents/mentors had as a main responsibility showing the pupils that they can overcome any obstacle if they have lots of ambition and invest in their education. Thus, the youth taught lessons about Roma history, the significance of April 8th and the difference between the terms “Roma” and “Gypsy”. They saw together a series of motivational movies, like “What do you want to be when you grow up?” or “Ilie’s story”, read the lesson from the pedagogical kit “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and shared their own stories in order to demonstrate, through real life cases, that many times only ambition and perseverance can make the difference between the ones who succeed in life and those who don’t achieve their dreams. Also, some of the pupils requested remedial education training, so the youth did everything possible to answer pupils' needs. The project also had an organisational development component. The extended team of the foundation had the opportunity to interact more with the board members, presenting the team’s strategic vision for the next period of time and improving their competencies in team work, communication, strategic planning. At the end of the project, in order to promote project’s results, a final conference was organised. The youth had the chance to present their statements and to discuss about their mentorship experiences. Also, during the event, the animated video called “O sansa” (A chance) was presented. The video has a background song by Raluca Dragoi and delivers the following message: every child can succeed through education, regardless of his/her ethnicity or social position.
Summary of bilateral results