Training of key persons within the project Alpha 16+
11 - 13 July 2007, Sofia, Bulgaria
The training within the project Alpha 16+ gathered 12 participants – key persons working closely with illiterate young Roma people (16-25 years’ old). These consultants will be responsible for bringing the young Roma back to the educational system showing them the proper educational and vocational opportunities.
On the first day the participants tested the role play Toledo, based on historical Toledo, known as the city of tolerance, where Christians, Muslims and Jewish were living together in harmony in the 13th century. Every participant had to internalize one of the selected characters and to try to act according to his/her philosophy. The aim of the role play is to enable the participants to experience different situations through the eyes of the others and thus better understand different attitudes and behavior. As a whole, the consultants in the training didn’t find it difficult to put themselves into the positions of the characters they got and to solve the dilemma that their city faced. In addition, they emphasized that they are used to solve similar conflicts in their communities by similar means and agreed, that the role play is a very useful method for improving the understanding and acceptance in a multiethnic and multicultural society.
On the second day the participants had the opportunity discussed about the “Education – the way to the integration” by using a specific method called Future Creating Workshop. In the first phase the participants focused on the question: What are the biggest obstacles for improving the motivation of the young illiterate people? The most essential conclusions were:
- The lack of interest on the part of the parents that are often illiterate or law educated themselves.
- The low social status of the parents.
- The discrimination in the school.
- The lack of communication between Bulgarian and Roma children, as well as between teachers, parents and students
- Lack of motivation on the part of the teachers
After these statements the consultants went on to the dream phase where the one group was the winner of the European Award for best practices in motivating young illiterate people and the other group was celebrating the birthday the 80 years’ old grandpa where each of his children and grandchildren had a special gift for him – his/her personal story about the biggest success in his/her life. After presenting their results, the participant came back to the reality and tried to identify the first and most important step in order to achieve their long term goal: better education and social integration of the young Roma.
Two project ideas were the final outcome: “Through punishment to better education” with special focus on the parents and the teachers and “Against the discrimination in the school” through joint initiatives of Roma and Bulgarian students in the cultural, sport and other fields, as well as through forums, discussions and trainings for better intercultural communication.
Facilitators of the FCW training were Vanya Ivanova and Anelia Miteva from DVV International.
