The media trip in the south has been a 3-days foray of 9 journalists and bloggers in the land considered to be one of the poorest in Romania, which turned out to be rich in diligent people.

Cristian Munteanu took snapshots, while Anca Vancu (Adevarul), Claudiu Constantin (blog.claudiuconstantin.ro), Andreea Dogar (GreatNews), Dana Gont (danagont.ro) and Raisa Beicu (raisabeicu.ro) used their best words to tell the story of these people of modest condition, but with a remarkable character.

It’s your turn to venture in a tour of the south. Click on the images down-below and discover with each item a new perspective on a changing world. You’ll see, it’s changing for the better.

Between the 5^th and 7^th of August 2016, 9 journalists and bloggers ventured into one of the poorest regions of Romania, the South. Yet, as they soon found out, conditions been improving in 12 communities from Gorj, Dolj and Olt counties, since 2013 when 7 partners begun implementing the zefiR project and improved Roma people’s access to education, health and housing.

There are a lot of basic needs to cover, and local people have tried their best to get involved and create new opportunities in their home communities. The media trip in the South enabled the 9 journalists and bloggers to meet with these actors of change and to hear their story. Staff from Tdh and the PACT Foundation accompanied their guests, together with friends from who narrated the local history, legends and traditions.

The first stop was at Baia de Fier, in Gorj county, where mediators, teachers and facilitators told us how the health-care center supports mothers in the community, and how the intercultural education program and social-inclusion events support children to fulfil their potential. Part of their story can be found.

The next day, after a brief stop at Amarastii de Jos, we reached Ocolna, in Dolj County. Members of the local initiative group told us how they had opened a health center in the community, to spare people from long distance travels – up to 12 kilometers – to access basic health services.

Here we learned how after-school programs for children help them to break the circle of social exclusion, and increase their chances to complete their education. https://goldessayclub.com/. More details about local people in Ocolna and their initiatives can be found.

In Piatra Olt, in Olt county, we visited homes that had been renovated, together with members from the community. We met with the local initiative group and talked about community needs and future interventions. Their story is.

The last stop on our trip was Slatina. The community center for social-medical assistance opened in 2014 for the Roma community. It supports 3,000 people who receive guidance and are helped to improve their long-term health.

Through the media trip in the South, we found that education and community development were basic needs for many, just as important as electricity or access to health care. At grassroots level, people in the South often take initiative to make change themselves and overcome shortcomings. The experience of touring in the South is best summarized in the words of Ramona Surlea, community facilitator in Piatra Olt: “The best thing about visiting a village for the first time is to discover  that there are people you can rely on”.

33 million children and youth are currently on the move around the world. Their number grows every day with new migration flows. Forced to move, exposed to risks, marginalized, children and young people in situations of migration need to be welcomed with empathy and to have their rights defended.

With the occasion of International Day of Refugees, Terre des hommes representatives went to two schools in Bucharest – School no. 73 “Barbu Delavrancea” and Technology High School “Dimitrie Gusti” – where they held an interactive class regarding the non-discrimination of migrant children and rights defense.

During the activities, children in secondary school and young people in high school watched the video of the “Destination Unknown” campaign, promoted internationally by the Federation Terre des hommes, they read media articles to understand the implications of war conflicts on children, they participated in role plays and wrote messages of support for refugee children.

Find out what Romanian children and youngsters had to say to their counterparts affected by migration. Read their messages here:

It’s your turn to support children affected by migration! Understand the amplitude of the situations affecting them, follow “Destination Unknown” campaign and participate when you are needed!

Terre des hommes Foundation ‘Lausanne’ in Hungary is requesting proposals for

Lead designer and motion graphic artist team

for the RIGHT(S) COURT FOR CHILDREN project.

Project description, schedule, requirements are available in the ToR document. Bidders wishing to submit proposals are requested to submit their proposal in this format.

More information is available on: http://terredeshommes.hu/vacancies

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Children’s Rights Court is a project funded by the European Commission (JUST / 2014 / Action Grants), gathering six partners at transnational level – Terre des Hommes Lausanne Hungary (applicant), National Network for Children in Bulgaria, Brave Phone Croatia, Terre des hommes Italy, Terre des hommes Romania and Victim Support UK – who aim to develop an online simulation game, informing children and youth about their rights during various civil, administrative and criminal legal proceedings. The game will be conceptualized and adapted to the specific context of each partner country, benefiting from the expertise of national experts, and will empower the future  young  users to fulfill their rights and obligations in order to avoid risky situations.

Wednesday, June 22nd, in Bucharest, 13 young people from Technology High School “Dimitrie Gusti” and Secondary School “George Calinescu” consulted 18 “living books” that were available to them as part of a “living library” workshop, organized by Terre des hommes Romania  within the Right(s) Court for Children (RCC) project.

Whereas the young people participate in RCC mainly to develop an online simulation game that promotes child-friendly judicial and prevention procedures, they also wanted to understand how they can protect themselves from becoming victims and what are their rights in relation to the law –  an expectation which was easily fulfilled in the framework of Tdh’s workshop, organized at Impact Hub Bucharest for this very purpose.

“Human Library” is a non-formal learning method, operating in a way that’s very similar to the every-day library: readers borrow “books” (experts in child protection services) for a limited period of time and they “read it” by asking different questions in their area of interest.

The “living books” opened by youngsters throughout the workshop were of the finest: Ms. Laura Andrei, president of the Bucharest Tribunal; Ms. Gratiela Vaduva, chief commissioner at Capital Police; Mrs. Helen Sipos, chief commissioner at Institute for Research and Crime Prevention/IGPR; Mr. Gabriel Mihalcea, IGPR; Mrs. Ioana Nedelcu, senior advisor to ANPDCA; Mrs. Sorina Chivoiu, chief at  Pinocchio Complex of Social Services, DGASPC, sector 1; Ms Cristina Moldoveanu, special inspector DGASPC, sector 2; Mrs. Irina Succession, senior inspector, DGASPC 6; Mrs. Megdonia Paunescu, adviser to Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research; Mrs. Alexandra Lancranjan, prosecutor DPP; Soriana Mrs. Constantinescu, mediator at Global Mediator; Ms. Mihaela Olaru, Bucharest Bar; Ms. Tamara Manatu, civic education teacher at Secondary School Nr. 148; Mrs. Ioana Marin, lawyer at Association for Justice Romania; Faur Mrs. Andreea, Bucharest Probation Service; Mrs. Ionela Visan, school counselor at “Dimitri Gusti” Technology High School; Mrs. Claudia Stefan, school counselor at Secondary School “George Calinescu”; Mrs. Carmen Fiscuci, Babes Bolyai University.

Being very happy to have had this opportunity, the young readers have actively participated in the dialogue, often surprising their “books” with the questions they’ve address to them. For example, the youngsters wanted to know: “Why isn’t there a family lawyer, as there are family doctors?”, “What is the difference between theft and robbery?”, “What happens when two children play and one of them is hit severely?”, “What if I want to be assigned to another parent?”.

All answered questions were recorded on a lecture form and then debated in plenary to allow a common reflection on the findings. Towards the end of the workshop, young people and experts discussed the types of situations that should be included in the game, how game scenarios can be constructed, as well as how to promote the final product.
“Readers” and “living books” alike have agreed that the game should be organized by level of difficulty, giving players the opportunity to opt out from conflict situations, while showing them the potential consequences of each decision. Everyone acclaimed the suggestion that, at the very last level of the game, children would have the opportunity to experience the role of experts, thereby becoming defenders of the law and advocates for children’s rights.
Particularly rich in ideas, the workshop organized by Tdh in June 22 allowed all participants – young people, experts, project team – to clarify their vision of their common purpose and to open new pathways for its enactment.
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Right(s) Court for Children is a project funded by the European Commission (JUST / 2014 / Action Grants), in which six transnational partners – Terre des Hommes Lausanne Hungary (project promoter), the National Network for Children in Bulgaria, Brave Phone Croatia, Terre des hommes Italy, Terre des hommes Romania and Victim Support UK – aim to create an online game simulation that will enable children and young people to be better informed of their rights during various legal proceedings in civil, administrative and criminal cases. The game will be conceptualized and adapted to the specificities of each partner country, benefiting from expertise of national specialists and will support young future users to become aware of their rights and obligations, empowering them to use this know-how against riskfull situations.