Description
Objective - the empowerment of the interethnic communities from Toflea and Brahasesti by stimulating the active participation of the citizens at the identification process of social and economic problems in the area, finding sustainable solutions, but also at the decision process next to the local administration. Moreover, the project’s purpose is to increase the interethnic cooperation by emphasizing the importance of this type of cooperation but also by reducing the communication and cooperation barriers between these two ethnics (Roma and Romanian). The project is necessary because the community members don’t have the skills or instruments in order to understand social development and also they don’t have knowledge about managing their autonomy being fully dependent of the public administration decisions and implication of external organizations. The main advantage for the community, through this project, is the improvement of their autonomy socially and economically. In the two villages Toflea and Brăhășești the population is as following: in Toflea most of the citizens are Roma and in Brăhășești Romanians.
Summary of project results
The overall objective of the project was to develop the social, economic and ethnic aspects of the rural community of Brahasesti, by involving community members in the process of local development and fostering intercultural dialogue. Most of the project activities implied a continuous process of involving community members (from Brahasesti and Toflea) in the economic and social life of the village. Thus, during the project an ethnic group who actively participates in monthly meetings with representatives of local authorities was built, in order to create the framework for a bidirectional dialogue. The meetings were designed for about 20 people interested in the discussed topics, but every meeting had about 40-60 attendants (Roma and Romanian) interested in a dialogue with representatives of the town hall. The first meetings were organised by the promoter, but after a while the citizens started to plan new ones according to the Hall representatives’ availability. The meetings became a routine which proved beneficial for the community and now, after the end of the project the meetings are still on the agenda. During the project, workshops with young people were organized. The attendants were given a set of specific tools to identify community problems and ways to redirected resources to make a difference in their community, workshops which had a huge impact in the community. Inspired by the living library method’s structure, several activities were organised, where guests talked about their lives and about success. These meetings had also a great impact on the youngsters and on their parents who now better understand how important education is and how continuing studies can improve their chances of living a life full of achievements. The activities (including camps, cultural activities etc.) usually involved children from the two schools in the village. These activities showed that children with different ethnicities can help each other, they can be friends and they can always be “one for all and all for one”.
Summary of bilateral results