Aid and Training to the Roma Gypsy Community
Healing Hearts
Completion of Healing Hearts’ Character-Building Project in Kosovo and Serbia
What better reward could anyone want than to see the smiling face on a thankful child? This was the overwhelming emotion we felt throughout the implementation of our latest Healing Hearts Balkans book distribution project.
When discussing how we could best serve this needy area of Kosovo and Serbia where we have lived since 1999, it became obvious that helping to build the character of future generations would have the greatest impact on a country that has suffered through political turmoil and war for over 20 years.
Music and Clown Therapy – Keys to Recovery
Upon arriving in the former Yugoslavia in the summer of 1995, we immediately began working in the numerous centers for refugees that were located throughout Slovenia. Families had been ripped away from everything they knew, and were now being housed in temporary, often bleak conditions in abandoned warehouses, wooden barracks, student dormitories, and run-down hotels.
Initiative for the Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005 – 2015
In solidarity with the political commitment by European governments to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma, Healing Hearts Balkans continues to do its part through the teaching and training of Roma children. Our original character-building material is used regularly in kindergartens for Roma children, and our music therapy and animation activities teach and inspire Roma children in the villages of Vojvodina (northern Serbia).
Services to the handicapped and those with special needs
Since our arrival in the former Yugoslavia in 1995, besides helping in the post-war recovery, one of the areas that we identified as being very needy and one that we wanted to focus our attention on was that of helping the handicapped and those with special needs.
Training of Roma Children
As is common in all areas with a large Roma population, in Serbia and Kosovo there is a glaring lack of training amongst Roma children in basic courtesy, manners, and what could be summarized as “character”. Poor or no school attendance has long been recognized as a huge problem amongst Roma children, but what about “character-building”.
Youth Counseling at EXIT 2012
The EXIT rock music festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, was originally designed in 2000 to be a way of escape or “exit” for Serbian youth from the then existing system of old Yugoslavia under Slobodan Milosevic. We had our first experience counseling youth at the EXIT festival after moving from Kosovo to Novi Sad in 2004. From its humble beginnings, EXIT fest has gained much popularity across Europe and has since become one of the most popular summer festival destinations for tens of thousands of European youth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_(festival)
Reactions from teachers and parents to our “Bonton za Decu” (Chararter-building for Children) curriculum
From the director of a kindergarten in the Serbian part of eastern Bosnia:
I have looked over your beautiful “Bonton za Decu” character-building books along with the teachers, and we all agree that they are very well done indeed. The illustrations are beautiful, and the stories, which are tailored perfectly for children represent an excellent didactic tool for the socio – emotional aspects of child development. We thank you for your concern to support early-learning and development of the pre-school children here in our city.
Completion of Healing Hearts’ Character-Building Project in Kosovo and Serbia, 2012
What better reward could anyone want than to see the smiling face on a thankful child? This was the overwhelming emotion we felt throughout the implementation of our latest Healing Hearts Balkans book distribution project.
Living in a war-torn part of the world, surrounded by poverty, suffering, and people with little or no hope, one can sometimes be hit with the thought “Am I doing enough?” The oft-used adage “Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life” encouraged us to press in to the production and free distribution of our Bonton za Decu (“Building Children’s Character”) character-building curriculum for children ages KG – 2nd Grade
Continuation of Healing Hearts’ Character-Building Project in Kosovo and Serbia
Since 1999 the Serbian population in Kosovo has felt very neglected by the international community and also the Serbian government in Belgrade. It is for that reason they are extremely thankful for any sort of aid that is brought to them. During our previous project where we distributed our Prvi Korak (“First Step”) curriculum, it was incredible to see the thankfulness of the teachers and directors of the schools and kindergartens that we visited.