July 2015 06_NEWSLETTER JULY: The consultations for the emergency needs have been resumed in July
Events and actions in the community The consultations for the emergency needs have been resumed in July Following a series of consultations that took place in the Cantonului and Coastei communities in the spring, which prompted cleaning and road repairing activities, the consultations have been resumed in July within three out of the four communities: Cantonului, Coastei and Rampă. Approximately 250 people participated in meetings, which consisted of a total of 6 information sessions per community and 10 consultation gatherings among all three communities. Within the Dallas community, which was the most affected by the closing of the garbage dump, the activities were postponed until the situation stabilizes. The emergency needs are a medium-term intervention plan for specific community activities and needs that the authorities are unable to meet promptly, yet which would improve the living standards of the community members. You can find more information on the needs identified within each community, as well as the difficulties that arose during the consultation and information sessions, by watching the video made with the three community facilitators by accessing the video section on our website, or the project’s Youtube channel.
„Flowers, girls and boys...”, activities with the children from Dallas during the design and bricolage session The third session of The Great Construction, which took place in Dallas, gathered approximately 40 people over the course of 2 days, including a large group of children who accompanied the adults’ work with their games and their joy, at one of the community’s wells. Special attention was given to the children during these activities, in order to create safe working conditions during the activities that involved them as well. Yet, at times it was necessary to move the barrows round the children, so as not to disturb their games. You can read a description of the two days of activities, given by the case managers that took care of the children: “Flowers, girls and boys... We spent two hot summer days together with the children from Dallas, on the occasion of The Great Construction 3. We had the chance to restore the community’s well during these two days, but we also played games and had fun. Thus, the well’s surroundings reminded us of the childhood playground, because games and toys were always present: skipping ropes, rubber bands, „flowers, girls and boys, singers and songs”, dodgeball, truth or dare, and playing army. Approximately 15 children participated in the ludic and artistic activities. Their joy and laughter accompanied the sounds of the chisels and hammers. During the day, it was sometimes necessary for the hardworking adults to avoid us with their barrows, and at other times we had to contain our overwhelming enthusiasm, but the overall experience left us spiritually richer and reminded us of the joys of childhood. In the evening, we headed for our homes, but not before children accompanied us at the end of
Biroul MecanismulFinanciar Str Joseph II 12-16 (adresa poștală) Bd du Régent 47-48 (adresa fizică) B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org
sau www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA și Granturile Norvegiene, Biroul Mecanismului Financiar, 2015
NORWAY GRANTS | 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015
the playground and said goodbye. Due to thiss event, this street from Dallas became a carefree playground for the children for these two days.” Project team members who represent the AltArt Foundation facilitated the organization of cartoon and film screening sessions within the community At the request of the community members, and with the technical and logistical support of the AltArt Foundation, a series of cartoon and film screenings was launched at the community center on the Coastei community, in Pata Rât. Up to this point, two screenings took place, which gathered an audience of approximately 20 children. Similar screenings are being planned on a regular basis, especially for the summer. The youth of the community participate in the YouthBuild Cluj programme On Monday, July 27th, 26 teenagers began the activities of the YouthBuild Cluj programme, which provides them with training in the construction industry,participation in non-formal education, and personal development activities. The programme offers a setting in which the teenagers partake in professional training, personal development, and voluntary work activities, while being encouraged to find a job at the end of the programme. Until the end of October, the participants will receive a professional course for structural workers. During the course, they will practice on the Habitat for Humanity Cluj construction site in Jucu, where they will participate in the building of 15 simple, decent, and accessible homes for low-income families. The YouthBuild Cluj programme is implemented by Habitat for Humanity Cluj, in partnership with the Patrons’ and Craftsmen’s Association, the Romanian Scouts, and the Cluj Community Foundation, and it is affiliated to the YouthBuild International programme. The first meeting on the topic of the emergency needs of the Cantonului community took place with the participation of the vicemayor Anna Horvath On Wednesday, July 29th, the first meeting of the work group of the Cantonului community was on the topic of emergency needs, with the participation of the vicemayor Anna Horvath. The list of urgent needs, which was established through the consultations with the community, and by the working group of the community, was presented at the meeting. A part of these needs will be met with the support of the authorities. This meeting with the Cantonului community was preceded by two other meetings with the Dallas community, and a series of meetings with the Coastei community, to discuss and solve the problems on the necessities list of each of them. The emercency needs are a medium-term intervention plan for specific community activities and needs, that the authorities are unable to meet promptly, yet which would improve the living standards within the communities. For more information on the emergency needs, and the list of problems that need to be solved within each community, access the following webpage http://www.patacluj.ro/info-pata-cluj-cu-privire-la-nevoie-de-urgenta/ .
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| 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015
July 2015 06_NEWSLETTER Past events The employment team was actively involved in managing of the situation created by the closing of the garbage dump At the end of June, the garbage dump of Cluj-Napoca was definitely closed, which caused an occupational emergency for over 700 people directly involved there. The Pata-Cluj project helped these people and their families through a series of activities on different levels: employment for adults, cultural and educational activities for children, and educational programmes for teenagers and adults (more details about them can be found in the project’s official statement on the closing of the landfill, and in the declarations of the project members who do field work - here and here). Since then, the employment team has been actively involved in the community’s process of job searching, it has contacted employers, it has handed in résumés to different companies, and it has accompanied and offered supportto the people from the community at job interviews and other activities that are part of the job searching process. Thus, the three colleagues from the employment team have assisted 27 people from the community on interviews for a sanitation company in Cluj-Napoca, which hired 11 of these people as sanitation and landscaping workers. All of the employed people were assisted on completing the employment documents. The members of the employment team attended the French National Day, where they presented the project and emphasized on the necessity for all the authorities from Cluj to get involved with the social, professional, and residential inclusion of the Pata Rât inhabitants. The “Second chance” educational programme has been launched The courses of the “Second chance” educational programme have begun, in partnership with the Christiana Association. The courses take place daily at the Mobile Unit in Pata Rât, with two groups, one for children and one for adults. 40 children are enlisted in the programme, with an average of 20-22 of them attending the courses regularly, as well as 20 adults with an attendance frequency of 10 participants per meeting. The “Second chance” programme is intended for people (both children and adults) who did not attend school for the last 4 years, and who are willing to complete the cycle of formal education. The programme offers the possibility to participate in training courses for different grades, until de completion of the 10th grade. You can find more information on the programme and the courses on the website. Cultural activities of design crafting take place in Pata Rât
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As a follow-up of the urban furniture assembly activities that took place in June at the Mobile Unit in Pata Rât, the members of the Dallas community asked to organize a session of design and craft in their community as well. Thus, on June 6th and 7th, a restoration of the water well was organized in Dallas following a consultation with the community and Biroul MecanismulFinanciar Str Joseph II 12-16 (adresa poștală) Bd du Régent 47-48 (adresa fizică) B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org
sau www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA și Granturile Norvegiene, Biroul Mecanismului Financiar, 2015
NORWAY GRANTS | 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015
three architects from Cluj,. Approximately 40 people who helped restore the well during the two days of Great Construction managed to level the surrounding surface, to repair the faucet, and to build a cover for the well. At the end of July a consultation with the members of the Coastei community expressed their desire to build a hardtop sun shelter in the community, with the help of the three architects from Cluj. This activity was planned for the beginning of August, and the exact date will be chosen after consulting with all the involved parties. You can find more details about the cultural activities that took place between March and July 2015 on the website, under thread #6: social identity through cultural participation, or by accessing the webpage containing the summary of the activities, as well as the video summary on Youtube.
Future events The Coastei community wants to build a sun shelter during a new session of the Great Construction Following two Great Construction sessions of urban furniture assembly at the Mobile Unit in June, and another one of restoration inside the Dallas community in July, a new session will take place within the Coastei community in August. A consultation with the Coastei community members took place on July 23 rd, and they solicited to build a hardtop sun shelter in the community’s park, so the date of the fourth session of Great Construction will be chosen by the community members and the three designer-architects by common consent. More details about the event will be soon available on the website under the events sectuion, and on the Pata-Cluj Facebook page. The Europ’Raid team will visit Cluj to meet the teenagers of Pata Rât The employment team, alongside a group of teenagers from the community, will attend a meeting with the French teenagers from the Europ’Raid programme on August 13th. Europ’Raid is a unique raid, an adventurous, cultural and charitable one, with 42 participants, grouped in 14 teams, who strive to travel 10.000 kilometers, passing through 19 countries, in 23 days. Their aim is to discover Europe and to donate two tonnes of educational furniture to the local communities that they visit along their journey. You can find more details about the French teenagers’ initiative by accessing the Europ’Raid website, their Facebook page, or their Tweeter account. Three teenagers, accompanied by a project member, will participate in the Tengu Martial Arts Center’s summer camp, at Lake Saint Ana Three teenagers from the Coastei community, who enlisted in boxing and martial arts training courses in the spring, will participate in the Tengu self defence and martial arts summer camp, accompanied by a member of the project. The camp will take place between
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| 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015
July 2015 06_NEWSLETTER August 10th-16th 2015, at Lake Saint Ana, Covasna county, and it has a complex programme of sports activities. Their participation in the summer camp was made possible by the grants offered by the FAPTE Association, which covers the participation and accommodation taxes. You can find more information on the summer camp’s programme, and its previous editions, on the Tengu Center’s Facebook page.
Announcements for the community Monthly photo sessions for identity documents On the last Monday of each month photo sessions for identity documents for members of the Pata Rât community are held during the working schedule of the social documents team. The session starts at 12 a.m. at the Mobile Unit. Exceptionally, the photos session was held in July on the 20th (and not on the last Monday as usual) to accommodate summer holiday of the involved employees. The change of the schedule was announced in the community to each family with flyers. There were approximately 30 people present at the photo session, and that ensures us of a successful action. In August, the session with be held on the 31st. To find the dates for the next sessions, please check the Mobile Unit’s activities calendar posted on the project’s website http://www.patacluj.ro/calendar/. Applications for the “Second chance” education programme are still open Applications are still open for the “Second chance” educational programme, which was launched in the first half of July. Those who never enrolled in school, or did not finish primary or seconday school cycles, up to grade 10, can apply for it at the Mobile Unit. Meanwhile, the people enlisted in the programme, both adults and children, are carrying out educational activities so as to evaluate their preparation level and accordingly assign them to the formal education grades that will start in October. The “Second chance” programme is aimed for people (both children and adults) who did not attend school for the last 4 years and wish to complete their formal education by finishing the primary cycle (8 grades) or the secondary cycle (10 grades). The programme also offers them the possibility to attend training courses for different jobs after they finish grade 10.
Pata-Cluj project fully named ‘Social interventions for the de-segregation and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Cluj Metropolitan Area, including the disadvantaged Roma’ is implemented by the Cluj Metropolitan Area Intercommunity Development Association, in partnership with Community Association of Roma from Coastei, Habitat for Humanity Cluj and AltArt Foundation. With a total budget of 2.079.500 Euro the project is financed through the ‘Poverty Alleviation Program’, by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014.
Biroul MecanismulFinanciar Str Joseph II 12-16 (adresa poștală) Bd du Régent 47-48 (adresa fizică) B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org
sau www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA și Granturile Norvegiene, Biroul Mecanismului Financiar, 2015
NORWAY GRANTS | 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015
*** On the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (Norway Grants) Through the Norway Grants and EEA Grants, Norway contributes to reducing social and economic disparities and to strengthening bilateral relations with the beneficiary countries in Europe. Norway cooperates closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). For the period 2009-14, Norway’s contribution is €1.7 billion. Grants are available for NGOs, research and academic institutions, and the public and private sectors in the 12 newest EU member states, Greece, Portugal and Spain. There is broad cooperation with Norwegian entities, and activities may be implemented until 2016. Key areas of support are environmental protection and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health and children, gender equality, justice and cultural heritage.
The content of this material does not necessarily presents the official position of Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014. Camelia Badea Communications coordinator for the Pata-Cluj project Tel.: 0786/375825 E-mail: camelia@patacluj.ro patacluj@gmail.com Website: www.patacluj.ro Facebook: www.facebook.com/PatadinCluj/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQVqLC QJ4ozYqZtRtTlcAnQ
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| 06_NEWSLETTER • July 2015