The SCOPH Exchange Project- The Romania-Orphanage Intiative

Orphanage Initiative Romania

Join our efforts in creating a better future for the children!
 
In Romania there are over 70.000 institutionalized children. These institutions can be considered insufficient prepared to assure a proper environment for child development in accordance with the principles of social reintegration. Because of the low number of the employees, some children might not get the full attention of a grown up throughout the day. That is why our mission is to fill the emotional gap of the children living in orphanages and to turn them into socially adapted members of the community.
Our goals are to develop the relational capacity of the children, to develop the team spirit and the fair-play, to stimulate the children’s creativity and to give the children a proper hygiene and healthy alimentation education. We think that through a constant interaction with medical students, these children can gain confidence in themselves by having new friends that are supportive and committed.

The Orphanage Exchange Program takes place during the summer holiday for three weeks. In this period, medical students from all over the world are invited to volunteer in the project and help the Romanian volunteers, in actions consisting in playing games with the children, helping with homework, paint, draw, play sports, dance and any other activity that will be fun and stimulating for the kids. This is a very important part of our project as foreign volunteers bring more stimulation and incitement for the children, due to the new culture they meet and also due to the language barriers they will have to cross upon. This is also a very good opportunity for the children to learn to speak English, but it is also a challenge of finding new ways of communication, other than the usual one.

It is important for the children that they feel like a part of the community and they have results which they can be proud of. For that reason, for every activity that we make we give out diplomas and certificates of participation. We always encourage them in learning and enhancing their performance at school and in different activities. We hope that through our efforts we can build a better future for them or at least give them a better start in life, like all the children should have.
 
Brief Project Description

The project consists in offering care and affection to the children raised in state institutions in Romania. We try to lower their lack of love by being there for them everyday, by teaching them useful things that will ease their grownup life. With well-planed games and activities we want to stimulate both their team-working and individual working skills. We also try to teach them to dream and to smile, because every child needs it!

By bringing foreign students to them during the summer we want to enlarge their view about the world and show them different cultures and different people that might be a challenge for them to adapt to. We want to improve their English.

Duration

Three weeks (Sometimes students can come a few days earlier or later but they have to say it in time)

Special Requirements

A good English knowledge and careing about children

Detailed Project Description, Mission and Goals of the Project

Our Mission is:

  A good social integration of the orphan and abandoned children living in state institutions in Romania.

Our main Objectives:

Offering the children the affection they need.

Developing the relational capacity of the children.

Developing the team spirit and the fair-play.

Giving the children a proper hygiene and healthy eating education.

Enlarge the children’s vocabulary (both Romanian and English).

The continuous education of the medical students.

Motivating the institution’s staff by the help we give in the children education.

The project is under international coordination of IFMSA Norway and a national coordination  of FASMR.

 The target groups are children from 3 to 18 years, living in state institutions.

The project’s activity splits in two main periods: during the university school year and during the summer holiday.

 During the school year, Romanian medical students have weekly activities with the children in one or two institutions in their city. The activities are chosen by the local coordinator for each institution and they try to meet the children’s specific needs. Generally, there are activities that stimulate the creativity of the children trough games or workshops with specific themes, but alternated with educational discussions about hygiene, alcohol or drugs. 

 In this 1st period we have also thematic parties for children and special events as Easter, Christmas, End of school party or The International Child’s Day – which is also the Orphanage Initiative’s Day.

The second part of the project’s activity is going on during the summer holiday. During the summer, students from all over the world are invited to volunteer in the project and help the romanian volunteers. The foreign volunteers bring more stimulation for the children, due to the new culture they meet and also due to the language barriers they will have to cross upon.

This is also a very good opportunity for the children to learn to speak English, but it is also a challenge of finding new ways of communication, other than the usual one.

With all these activities we want to help the orphan or abandoned children to develop properly, both physical and psychical and become more social adapted teenagers and grownups and also better integrated.

The work schedule varies with the city you will be working in and with the children program. Usually we work in the morning, starting at 9 or 10 a.m. and ending at 13 p.m. In some cities they go twice a day, also in the afternoon. The exact time schedule will be established at your arrival.

Daily activities:

You will work with the children from 2 to 5 hours/day, depending on the city you will go. Usually students go to the orphanage from Monday to Friday, leaving the weekend for trips. At evenings we go around the city, visiting museums or having a drink on a nice terrace. 

The Romanian volunteers will work together with you in the orphanage and they will help with the weekend trips.

The specific activities you will have to do here are:

-planning and playing games with the children

-take them out, in the city, at the botanical garden, to the ZOO, to museums

-organizing trips to the countryside for the children (only in some of the cities is possible)

-teach the children English words

-play basketball, football together with them,

-tell the children about your country

-draw and paint with them

Country

Romania

State/Province

Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Iasi, Oradea, Sibiu

Duration

Three weeks 



                                                   Who can apply?
-Most of the volunteers are medical students from all over the world , but other students are also invited to join;
What do you need?
-Application Form
-CV
-Letter of Motivation
Send this information to the international coordinators of Orphanage Initiative.
Where& when you can participate in the Orphanage Exchange Program?
   
                                 DURATION AND LOCATIONS
 
1st rotation: 11th of July – 31st of July 2011
 
  Available cities
 1. Bucharest
 2. Oradea

2nd rotation: 1st of August – 22th August 2011 – only in Iasi
3rd rotation: 5th of September- 26th September 2011- only in Craiova
Deadline for applications: 1st of June

Special Requirements

A good English knowledge and caring about children

Project specific Costs

The participation fee is 100 euro that includes accommodation and the cost of the materials used for the games.

The food is not included and the prices vary with the city. Usually they won’t spend more than 10 euros per day for food.  In most of the hostels they have the possibility to cook for yourself. Sometimes we organize cooking evenings when everyone cooks something traditional from their country.

Accomodation

The participants will stay in student’s hostels, usually in a double room, sharing the toilet and the kitchen. It may be that they will be hosted in a triple room or in a room without bathroom. We make our best to offer good accommodation conditions.

We don’t provide glasses, plates or pans for cooking!

Leisure Activities

We organize trips to the most beautiful areas of Romania. We can also go hiking, swimming, play volleyball, football or other sports. If you are working in Bucharest or Craiova you can go to the seaside easily because is no far away. If you are working in the western part of the country we can’t organize trips to the seaside because of the big distance, but they can go see the Carpathian mountains easily or visit the medieval cities in Transylvania.

Further remarks:

The climate here is temperate, it can be really hot in the summer, but it can also rain a lot. You should bring a raincoat. We don’t have problems with the mosquitoes and there is a lot of food available! You don’t have to worry about it.

Students have to take some medical test before coming to Romania in order to be allowed in the orphanages. A list of this medical test is provided at the application time.

                                                        Contacts:
                                               International Coordinators:
Ida Åmo (Norway)
Email: idaaamo@yahoo.no
Tel: +4790154181


Popa Ecaterina Diana (Romania)
Email: popaecaterinadiana@gmail.com
Tel: +40749252836