This week our project was featured in the Romanian newspaper Actualități Arad, giving visibility to the PeaceJam programme and the activities of our Romanian project partner “Ofensiva Tinerilor” Association.
Adrian Hristescu, kindly translated the article into English to share with you:
“In the 2019 – 2020 school year, twenty students of the “Sabin Manuilă” Gymnasium School of Sambateni had the opportunity to be part of the “PEACEJAM: Nobel Peace Prize Laureates mentoring youth to build an inclusive Europe” project, coordinated by European Peer Training Organisation from Belgium, co-financed by the European Commission and implemented as a pilot project in Romania-Arad County by the Youth Offensive organisation.
Through the educational program “Compassion in Action”, the twenty students, from grades V-VII had access to the wisdom, courage and determination of 14 laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize who are part of the PeaceJam community.
The PeaceJam Foundation program is designed to create inclusive communities through the positive development of young people.The program is aimed at students between the ages of 12 and 18 and aims to combat the discrimination, bullying and exclusion that our communities face.Through a methodology adapted and used successfully in activities that involved over 1 million young people from all continents of the world, the program develops their basic skills such as: altruism, compassion, social involvement. In addition, it helps students create inclusive communities in their schools and communities.
The program was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received the “Man of Peace” award and the “Outstanding Service-Learning” award for this innovative approach to involving young people as change factors.The students of the school enthusiastically participated in the proposed activities proving their creativity and desire to become part of a better society, to the change of which they can contribute themselves.Through this program they became aware of the need for their own commitment to community development and developed emotional and social skills such as self-awareness, social awareness and responsibility in decision making.
Before the establishment of the national state of emergency, the topics of empathy-compassion, identity-difference, community building, inclusion-alliance, overcoming stereotypes were covered and research was conducted on the school climate.
The “Peace Projects” are to be finalized with activities coordinated and carried out by the students, under the guidance of the teacher, which aim to solve some problems identified in the community of which they are part.The program was implemented in the “Sabin Manuilă” School of Sambateni by the school counselor teacher Otilia Ardelean from the Arad County Center for Resources and Educational Assistance, who was also the one who coordinated the activities with the students. Within the school, the students were also guided by Mrs. Cornelia Foster and teacher Daniela Herbei.”