Participation at the “Exchange of Best Practices on Non-Formal Education Activities” webinar on 2nd of October 2024
Alba Eglesia Foundation has participated on 2nd of October, 2024, at the “Exchange of Best Practices on Non-Formal Education Activities – Fostering and promoting the six core EU values” webinar. The webinar was conducted by YouthProAktiv, an NGO based in Brussels.
YouthProAktiv promotes a culture of pro-activity and entrepreneurship in education and policy. As part of their advocacy efforts, they have organised a webinar to connect various NGOs and to promote their best practices in non-formal education.
The NGOs that took part in the webinar were: AMICOS Association, Youth LED Alegeria, PADIL Association, União das Mutualidades Portuguesas, Plan Impact, Balkan Agency for Sustainable Development (BASD) and our organisation.
These organisations presented some of the practices they use in their current activities and projects. Alba Eglesia Foundation presented its practice entitled “Children-youth exchange within volunteering initiatives”.
What is “Children-youth exchange within volunteering initiatives”?
Children-youth exchange within volunteering initiatives involves the collaboration between young people coming to the village of Viscri, a UNESCO Rural Site in Romania and the children from the village.
Children-youth exchange entails non-formal activities that the young people do with the children in heritage education and education in general (like reading and tutoring sessions, creative workshops, trips, etc.). As of today, October 2024, between 10-20 children have been involved in this practice and interacted with the young volunteers. Most of them are of Roma ethnicity.
Young people get to know the village, its children, the local context, the story of this UNESCO Site and they learn practical skills in the field, while children learn from these young people, about their perspectives, they get help in tutoring, their learn how to socialise, and that there is also a new world outside their village and that they can access knowledge from the people who come and work with them.
That is why we called it “exchange” – as both parties gain from each other.
Education, including non-formal education, is one fundamental human right and involvement in educational activities is important to gain knowledge and practical skills needed for the future life as an adult. Children coming from the Roma minority are often neglected by the national system and in some cases, they lack access to both formal and informal education.
Providing them with access to these informal activities, in which they collaborate with young people from Romania and abroad, is part of ensuring respect for their rights as a minority and integrating them into community life.
Target groups of this best practice
The target groups are:
- Children – groups of children aged 7-16 from vulnerable families with learning difficulties, that live in Viscri (rural area), that take part in the activities of the Educational Centre in Viscri: educational activities, extracurricular activities, recreational activities and complementary projects of our partners (gardening, horse riding, biking), most of them are of Roma ethnicity, but there are also Romanian children who participate at our informal activities.
- Youth – groups of young people aged 18-32 who come from Romania and from other countries in volunteering initiatives in Viscri, interested in education, cultural and natural heritage, rural areas, community development, etc., who usually have tertiary studies (or at least, graduated highschool) and have willingness to work with children from vulnerable backgrounds, most of them come from urban areas.
What is our approach?
Our approach is about understanding the characteristics of each group and designing activities based on these characteristics – psychological and emotional.
The age gap between children and young people is not that high, and children can get familiar with working with young people faster than it would take them to work with an adult.
Young people are more open-minded, willing to try, to experiment and to involve themselves in creative endeavours with children. Children can find it easier to collaborate with young persons who have less preconceived notions than adults, especially when it comes to ethnicity and race. Young people tend to have more empathy when working with children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Considering these characteristics, our approach was to allow young people to work voluntarily with children from the village who come to the Educational Centre in Viscri in non-formal educational activities that help children improve their school grades, learn social skills, learn new things about cultural and natural heritage, learn to express their ideas and opinions, prepare DIY materials, etc.
In exchange, young people can gain valuable skills while collaborating with children: learn about the local context, time estimation management, coordination of activities, problem-solving, commitment, understand children’s behaviour, be creative and come up with exercises, games and activities that appeal to children, etc.
Results brought by this practice
Children tell us that they like working with the young volunteers, they feel comfortable sharing their stories, opinions, ideas, suggestions, they can express themselves freely without the worry of being punished or judged, etc. They are able to create and to be fully engaged into activities and they also learn to socialise.
Young people report to us that they learn life lessons from these children who come after all from deprived backgrounds. They test their abilities of time management, problem-solving and flexibility since working with children requires, on many occasions, adaptation to their needs, faster decisions and understanding one’s personal perspectives. As this is something relatively recent, we hope that in the near future we can get more insights from both parties so that we can improve.
This practice creates a friendly environment where children can express themselves and learn new things from the young people. Young people used DIY materials in teaching children and this was very beneficial for children who were interested in showing their creativity and their ideas. Young people, especially those who study pedagogy at their university, also have the opportunity to test and implement their ideas in educating children.
The “Children-youth exchange” practice has recently made us rethink the relationship between the young generation and community development. This is because the work that these young people do and can do in the future has an impact on the local community of Viscri.
The young people can bring new ideas to improve the situation of the local community while the local people can teach these people valuable life lessons. Therefore, it is in our best interest to understand how this practice can be implemented in the long term with wider benefits for the local community.
We want to thank YouthProAktiv for inviting us to this webinar and we look forward to collaborating with them for future opportunities.