Better Together Programme
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Looking back Collaboration between the 2 international aid organizations Outreach Moldova (ORM) – Ireland & Wide Horizons for Children WHFC – USA began in June 2012 in an attempt to address the educational and emotional needs of children with disability at Hincesti Orphanage in the Republic of Moldova.
It was the first collaboration of it’s kind between these two aid organizations who together have over 20 years experience in providing services in Moldova. Children living in institutions in Moldova were formally excluded from formal education and little was done to encourage a child to reach their potential in any sphere. These two organizations worked together to ensure that not only are their human rights being addressed & met but that each child in the programme would have an opportunity to actively explore areas such as education, arts & crafts, music & dance & take part in team building sporting activities. The total budget being allocated to the Better Together programme was €24, 012. WHFC provided €5,948 towards the project with the remaining budget €18,064 being provided by ORM.
It was initially envisaged to provide 3 special needs teachers for the programme; this was expanded to include 7 special needs teachers, one in each of the following areas: 1. Dance & Music 2. Sport 3. Education 4. Arts & Crafts
5. Sewing and dressmaking 6. Cooking 7. Food Art
Each child at Hincesti orphanage was assessed and then allocated to one or more of the above areas. The programme was run by Dana Perciun (ORM). Activity reports were provided on a weekly basis, management review occured on a monthly basis and there was biannual reporting between partners. The USA partners made an on site visit to the programme to see where their investment had impacted on the children's lives.
Finances Annex 1: Educational items
Outreach Moldova (ORM) received â‚Ź5,948.97 ($8,000) on the 12th of July 2013 from Wide Horizons for Children (WHFC), which was exclusivly used for the Education programme.
provided by WHFC in 2013 - 2014
Education
A huge part of their enjoyment was derived from Arts & Crafts and Home Economics which was added to these programmes to enhance a real development. It was envisioned that this school program would allow 100 children and young adults to actively participate in an adapted national school curriculum that would be run over the period of 12 months. There were the recommended periods of rest during the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks. Each child has been evaluated and allocated to a particular class according to the pretesting evaluations. Each child initially completed 1 hour of arithmetic and 1 hour of Romanian (national language) per day, every day, for 5 days; Monday to Friday. They were taught literacy and numeracy
skills and given all the assistance required as per their special need. For too long residents in State orphanages have been denied their basic human rights to a formal education, unfortunately those with special needs becoming the most neglected. This is not only a high priority but a vital program in assisting the children reach their potential. Activities include: c) Social sciences a) Language b) Mathematics d) Arts and crafts The Better Together programme has had such a positive impact on so many lives since it's inception in 2012 that this year we expanded it to include even more children. We renovated the entire bacement in block B to become the Education area and moved in all the new classrooms allowing much more children participate in dedicated, brighter spaces.
Health and Wellbeing ORM applied for sponsorship from WHFC to engage our beneficiaries in active movement and sporting activities. Unfortunately the State provides no such services and the daily routine at these institutions include children sitting passively, exhibiting repetitive rocking motion and becoming generally more introvert. The cumulative outcome following multiple years of such neglect has such a damaging effect on the psychological wellbeing of the children from which they rarely recover leading to a lifetime of institutionalisation. In an attempt to counteract such negative stressors from the child’s lives, we proposed a wellness program that actively engaged each child in regular group activities and team sports, stimulating body and mind, promoting self esteem and impacting directly on health. Activities included: 1) Team sports 2) Gymnastics 3) Movement to music 4) Dance & expression 5) Cooking 6) Sport 7) Food Art 8) Home economics
Activity plan = 12 months, 5 days per week, 2 hours a day.
Activity plan = 12 months, 5 days per week, each child involved in 2 hours per week (1) + (2) and 1 hour a day (3) & (4) Both projects engaged with the beneficiaries for a period of 12 months from start date and were run by the project team manager Dana Perciun, specialist manager in social work under the direct supervisions of the head doctor and Moldova field manager.
Meet the teachers who made the difference
School Teacher Eugenia Agachi
Sewing Teacher Maria Brinzeanu
Art & Crafts Teacher Natalia Popescu
Having assessed each child at the orphanage we have the following programmes running at present: School: 40 Children Sewing and dressmaking: 45 Children Arts & Crafts: 100 Children Cooking: 12 Children
Cooking Teacher Maria Perciun
Food Art: 30 Children Sport: 90 Children Dance & Music: 13 Children
Desserts Teacher Liuda Cojocaru
Sport Teacher Elena Margarint Programme Manager Dana Perciun
Sport Teacher Gheorghe Gheorghiu
Successes: The total number of educational hours that were invested in this programme over the period 01/06/2013 - 31/05/2014:
Difficulties:
1) Education - 1764 hrs 2) Sewing & Dressmaking - 2016 hrs 3) Art & Crafts - 2016 hrs 4) Cooking - 1008 hrs 5) Food Art - 1764 hrs 6) Sport - 2016 hrs 7) Dance & Music - 1764 hrs
The difficulties we encountered continue to be the cultural attitude towards children in care or children with special needs. There is a deep rooted belief that these children should not participate in mainstream schooling or join the wider public.
The overall global development within the children themselves was extraordinary; there was a notable global increase in selfesteem and satisfaction when they participated at national level in concerts and exhibitions. One child fulfilled her life long dream of singing live on national T.V. at the Opera & Ballet house. The routine provided by daily structured activities impacted greatly on the overall behaviour and psychological well being of the children with a reduction in challenging behaviours
In conclusion
It was a very successful year in colaboration with Wide Horizons for Children (WHFC). Much progress has been made in the children's lives and we look forward to future collaboration. Deep respect, ORM team
For more details please contact us at: Tel: +353 – 1 – 219 0268 e-mail: info@outreachmoldova.org web: www.outreachmoldova.org Suite 104, DMG House, Deansgrange Business Park, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin, Ireland Charity Number: CHY 14229 Company Number: 336502