Apr 09,2020

Project "Young peacekeepers for a life without violence"

Apr 09,2020

Project "Young peacekeepers for a life without violence"

We are bringing to an end the three-year project to help children from alternative care in Zagreb. After conducting the last online workshops with children from the House of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac in Brezovica in August, we are bringing the project "Young peacekeepers for a life without violence" to an end. Our Mejrema, through the ONLINE application ZOOM, held workshops on Nonviolent Communication, Mediation and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution, Be my role model and Volunteering and activism. Despite the fact that the corona pandemic prevented us from conducting workshops directly, we still enjoyed and learned a lot. Through the project, the task of the Association and our volunteers was to encourage users of alternative care to be active and participate in many activities of their Center, where they will become happier and spend their free time more fulfilled. All activities and workshops were coordinated in agreement with the partner institution and are tailored to the special needs of their users. The project "Young peacekeepers for a society without violence" was implemented by the Association Kolajna ljubavi in ​​cooperation with partners Caritas of the Zagreb Archdiocese, the Center for Education Tuškanac and the Center for Education of Children and Youth Zagreb. In the last 3 years, the association has had an average of 45 volunteers a year through the project, the Association has implemented 5 volunteer courses, distributed 46 diplomas and certificates of volunteer competencies, and with the help of educated volunteers conducted 40 workshops in children's homes. We have successfully implemented all this with the Institutional support of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development. Social engagement and activism is an alternative that we have brought closer to children from institutional care with examples of positive practice, and with our mentorship we have motivated users to concrete volunteer actions, helping others, humanitarian flea market. We often hung out with museum visits, skating, and writing homework.