Balkan Sunflowers Learning Centers Network Narrative Report – August 2009 Submitted to The Sunshine Lady Foundation General Balkan Sunflowers News: - With the support of the Dutch Embassy and GTZ, the “Ibar Open Air Cinema” project in Mitrovica of Balkan Sunflowers Kosova provided light-hearted entertainment to a mixed crowd of 300 to 400 Albanian, Serbian and Bosniak youth and families each night, for four nights. The project was a great success, with plans already being made by the Municipality of Mitrovica and local partners for a sequel to the event. A longer report, including photographs of the festival can be read here:
http://balkansunflowers.org/images/stories/ibar%20open%20air%20cinema%20 report.pdf
- Preparations for Rolling Film Festival (19-21 October) are going well. The first draft selection of films has been made, and the team has been in contact with several film makers who have shown a strong interest in attending the festival in person. This will give the festival an added dimension - bringing the issues raised off the big screen and into the cinema hall! News about the festival can be followed here: www.rollingfilm.org.
- A volunteer from Serbia, Perisa, helped through August with the development of a new concept for further education career support and guidance for the Learning Center tutors. Perisa also assisted with the development of a proposal for the Plemetina Scout camp 2009.
Learning Centers Network News: August was a relatively quiet month on account of the summer holidays. FKP and SLC ended the summer program on Friday 7th August and resumed with a training week on Monday 24th. GLC and PLC ended the Summer Program a week later, on Friday 14th and enjoyed their holidays until the end of the month. - Two Canadian volunteers, Ruth and Fred, spent one week in PLC, managing their own mini-center. Ruth is a qualified child psychologist and Fred also has extensive experience in working with children. Ruth and Fred worked with small groups of children, focusing on building their self-esteem and confidence.
- Summer Program Coordinator, Tim’s contract came to an end on Friday 14th August. Tim served as a great support to the program during his three month contract, and his involvement ensured that the Summer Program achieved the objectives set at the beginning of the summer.
- Jeff and Alice, two Summer Program volunteers, left in early August. Their support to the program during their month here was much appreciated by children and staff, who organized leaving parties for both of them.
- On Wednesday 12th August training was attended by GLC staff where they were given ideas on new activities to plan with the children. The same training was provided to PLC staff later in the same week. The new activities were based on ‘Graphic organisers’ in a unit based on ‘All about me’.
- The Summer Program in FKP ended with a parents’ day and exhibition of children’s work. This included performances and plays presented to parents by their children. • From August 24th for a week, SLC and FKPLC staff attended a five-day training provided by the Association for Psychosocial Assistance to Children and Families. This training included topics such as Effective Communication (among staff and with children), Child-Centered Non-Formal Education, Teambuilding and Teamwork.
- Staff of the Learning Centers have been working on the registration of children for the coming school year. This is the first year BSF have been driving the registration process for children of the Roma community in Fushe Kosova, as it is still a new program. This has been happening in all BSF’s other communities and is ongoing. Before the intervention of BSF in Fushe Kosova, only two out of 22 children attending the Roma Preschool Program were registered to begin first grade. After the outreach by LCN staff, 13 children are now registered. The other nine children are unfortunately too young, or too old to enter first grade. Two children did not pass the necessary medical test to enter first grade and will instead attend a school in Lapi Selo for children with learning difficulties. This instance of low registration rates in schools shows the need for the existence of the LCN project. The intervention from LCN staff has lead to increased cooperation between LC staff and the staff of the Serbian school of Fushe Kosova / Kosovo Polje.
- Evaluation of the Summer Program began. Center evaluations were completed with GLC and PLC staff. The process involved each staff member rating themselves and the Center on different categories. They then told the group where they would like that ‘rating’ to be in 1-2 months time, set clear goals and defined the necessary steps to reach those goals.
- Gradually, as the program continues to provide long term support to vulnerable children, the results are becoming clearer: in 2007, 125 RAE children dropped out of school in FKP. Last year, this number was only 15 and in 2009, only 3 children left school early (excluding those who have moved from Kosovo). The Director of the school in FKP puts this dramatic decrease down to the work of the FKPLC and is very happy with the lowered rate of early school leavers.
- The parenting program, supported by the Foundation for Democratic Initiatives, has begun with a series of parent meetings in each community. Parents are coming to the Centers to learn about the program, how their children are developing, and are informed about health, hygiene and other issues.
Out of over 700 children registered to attend the Summer Program, a total of 635 children attended the program on a regular basis, with average of 400-500 daily. Children not registered in the LCN or at school attended on an ad hoc basis. Learning Centers operated from 9 am to 12 noon and 1 pm to 4 pm every day of the Summer Program. Children were supported in their education through the structure of minicenters focusing on different curriculum areas. Many activities took place outside during the summer, and were more active and physical than the school year program. All activities were interactive in nature – with children actively participating and thereby ‘learning through doing’. Children continued to receive a meal each day during the summer, as they do during the regular program. - Staff activities were organized for two center staffs. FKP staff went on a tour of Kosovo’s waterfalls, visiting three in one day! GLC staff spent a day picnicking at Gazi Voda Lake in North Kosovo.
Women’s Literacy Program News: - Challenges: Women are bringing their children to the WL lessons so we are trying to find solutions to this. These are children younger than our kindergarten age program. Naturally the children are playful and distractive so we are making and equipping a separate area monitored by one of our tutors for them to play.
- Success: Letters are being learnt quickly as the women are very attentive and eager to learn. The learning facilitators are creative and using different methods to teach the letters of the alphabet such as sewing the letters onto a big alphabet chart and individual letters. The women are demonstrating to each other how they write their names and are beginning to form simple sentences. On the way to the Learning Centers they are walking together from house to house indicating the strong friendships they are beginning to form. Fundraising and Development:
- Core BSF staff and SLC Coordinator Jasmina attended a meeting in American army base ‘Bondsteel’, meeting members of the National Guard and presenting the work of BSF and the LCN. The meeting was attended by Directors of Education from the different municipalities of Kosovo, and two other NGOs working in the field of education. The outcome of the meeting will be an increased cooperation between US KFOR and BSF. One idea was to have volunteers from KFOR come to the LCs to give health and safety trainings.
- Work has begun on submitting a proposal to USAID under the “Initiating Positive Change Program”.
- A concept note has been sent to the Dutch Embassy for possible support to the LCN.
|
Recent Reports
