Symposium about teenage mothers

Our symposium about teenage mothers went really good. Speaking in front of a group of about seventy professionals is quite thrilling, but a great experience.

Evereybody was pleased. And now our work in Romania was done, which meant that it was time to party. The employees of the CCF, our friends, organised a nice party by a lake for us. For that and for everything they have done for us we cannot thank them enough.

Working hard.

On monday, we did a lot of hard work together with the people of the CCF and the Romanian students.
This to make sure that our symposium would be perfect. But of course, all work and no play makes life dull. So after our hard work, we went into the city to have a drink and a nice evening.

An afternoon full of games.

Saterday afternoon, after our workshops, we organised a fun afternoon full of games for the children of a school in Bata.
It was a lot of fun, as well for us as for the children! What made it extra
good, was that we did it together with the people of the CCF.

Free time

Singing, dancing, drinking Palinca, playing games, having good talks, etc...
We worked hard, but there was time for amusement too.

Teambuilding

Sunday=teambuildingday=fun!
We made some games for the people of the CCF. It was an interesting way to get to know each other even better.

de workshops

When we first met the people of the CCF, we were a littlebit nervous.
But after playing a game to get to know each other, we really enjoyed the rest of the night.... Maybe the many bottles of palinca had something to do with it...

After a short night of sleep, we had to present the workshops about intake and supportplan. Once again, we were all nervous, but everything turned out ok. The people of the CCF were very enthousiastic about it!

Romania: the departure.

3.30 in the morning, time to go...









We are all still a little bit sleepy, but very excited.
After putting all our luggage in the van, we were ready to say goodbay to our loved ones.
Althought it was really early and we hadn't had to much sleep, we were to excited to close our eyes to sleep.
We talked a lot, played some games and sang some songs.
The hours drifted away...

Week 5

Almost there…

Monday, we had a try-out for an other group. Everybody was nervous for that. With the feedback that this group gave us, we could make the nessecary adjustments to our symposium. The rest of the week, we had to arrange all the practical things like:
- Did we make all the art work?
- Do we have all the material we need?
- Are the workshops ok?
- Did we print everything that we need?
- Are all the documents (powerpoint, movies, audio fragments...) on our computer?

-...

We are all excited to get on the road!
We hope to post some more messages from Romania.

Goodby!!!

Week 4.

Luckily, it wasn’t so shiny and hot anymore this week!On Monday, we worked hard to get everything ready for the meeting with Patrick and Lutgarde on Wednesday. We made some final adjustments to our symposium.

Monday and Tuesday were very stressful days, because we wanted to prove that we had already done a lot of work. Wednesday was the big day for the meeting. Before dinner, we explained everything that we wanted to do during the whole trip. We showed the movies, the pictures, the observation rapports, the audio fragments, the games for the children, …We had to change some of our information, but in general Patrick and Lutgarde were quite pleased about it.

Week three

On Monday we started full of good intentions. However, by the end of the day we lost our courage. We didn't know which direction we wanted to go with our seminar. Fortunately, on Tuesday and Wednesday we found new inspiration.

After having tried some group activities we came back to our classroom to organise the weekend at Bata.

On Wednesday we visited 'de Merode', which is a CIG (this is a centre for integral family care) that especially with teenage mothers. We learned a lot about methods of working with teenage mothers and networking. A very interesting visit!

Thursday was another exiting day. The workshops about intake and support plan had to be finished that day because we had a try-out in the evening. Stress, for it was a lot more work than planned. Fortunately we could end this evening with a good glass and an even better conversation.

The last day of the week we spent on the seminar. We now really know what we want.

Week four will be intensive!

Week two

It was an exciting second week, because we saw Patrick and lutgarde for the first time. We were all a little nervous for this first encounter. A lot of questions were running true our heads: 'Who are Patrick and Lutgarde?', 'How would they react to our concept?', 'Would we make a good first impression?'...


Wednesday was D-day. After having worked and thought hard for the last couple of days to develop a good concept for the seminar about teenage mothers we were finally eye to eye with Patrick and Lutgarde. It was a very pleasant meeting. Patrick told us a lot about Romania and the work of vzw Oradea. We also discussed the contract, the workshops about intake and suport plan, and we gave a powerpoint presentation about the seminar and other activities we have planned. Patrick proposed to give activities for the children of the school in Bata. And that proposal was commonly accepted.

A small summary of what we have done this week:

• Brainstorming about our seminar and other activities
• adjusting workshops about intake and support plan
• Practical affairs, like the press contacts, visits in belgium... were arranged
  
• ...

Up to week three!

Who are we?

Hello, I am Femke Debal. I am 20 years old. I like talking to people and observing things. If I am in the mood, I can be very creative. I love watching movies and listening to music. In my time off I like to go shopping, chatting with friends, going to the sea, … Over weekends, I work in a tearoom to get some pocket money. When I was younger, I was in a youth club. During my work experience, I worked in a home for teenage girls in a problematic home situation. I have also worked with people with a disability. I am very happy that I can go to Romania. It is a unique experience to discover Romanian culture.

I'm Tom, 27 years young. I'm married to Sofie, who is 31. Together we have a five months old baby, called Mare. I had a work placement in a home for children who have a difficult home situation and a work placement with parents who have young children. I also have experience as a volunteer with people with autism.

My name is Nele Deslyper and I am 23 years old. I love to draw pictures and write poems. In my training periods I have worked with people with mental disability’s and youngsters. I also love to travel and love to meet other cultures, that’s why I’m really looking forward to go to Romania.

I am Eef Flo, I will be 23 next August. In the small amount of free time I have, I like to go swimming, dancing, read a book, or just being lazy and watch a movie in a comfortable chair. I already have a variety of different work experiences. Such as: children and adults with mental, social or physical disabilities, people with autism, elderly people, homeless people, a home for abused woman and children, maternal care, kindergarten, … My motivation to join this project is very simple. I would like to broaden my horizon by working in foreign countries after I graduate.

My name is Andy Moerman and I’m 21. In my spare time I try to play the guitar and I really like to play soccer. My work experience involves working with people with learning disabilities, children with psychotic problems and children with autism.

My name is Mieke Santy and I'm 22 years old. My hobbies are: listening to and playing music, I also like dancing and watching movies. My motivation to go to Romania: it's good to meet new people, learn about family support in different country’s and getting to know a new culture.

Hello, my name is Nele Lisabeth and I’m 22. I love to play theatre and I enjoy to watch it. I like to read books, listen to music, work in the pet shop, baby-sit and play with my dog, Athena. During my work experience, I worked in a home for children in a problematic home situation.
I also worked in a kindergarten and a maternal care and I have some experience with children with autism. Did I tell you that I love to travel to meet other cultures? It’s my passion to discover the world and that’s why I am so motivated for this project.

Week one

When we heard our mission for the first time, we where quite overwhelmed. Organising two workshops (one about intake and one about support plan) AND a seminar about teenage mothers isn't an easy job to do. Especially when you only have four weeks to do it.

That is why we had a slow start. The greater part of our first day was spent on getting to know one another and learning some facts about Roumania, CCF Poplii fara soti and vzw Oradea.

(Later on, we will post some information about ourselves, so that the partners in Roumania, Lier or any other place can get to know us too.)

The rest of the week was spent searching information. We visited a CKG (wich is quite similar to a CCF) and learned a lot about intake and support plans. We also started searching literature about teenage mothers. We are now trying to sort all of the information that we found.

The first week has been really chaotic, but we are starting to see where we are heading for. All of the pieces of the puzzle are falling into their place, but we still have lots to do. On the agenda for next week is:

1. a brainstorm about the seminar


2. research about teenage mothers
   


3. making a first draft of the seminar


4. a brainstorm about the workshops


5. lots of practical things like preparing the budget, a contract meeting with Patrick Bellinck, adjusting the workshops, preparing some visits...

The Oradea-team

Our mission

Our mission exists out of two parts: organising and giving workshops, and organising a seminar about teenage mothers.

Workshops

Last year a group of students from Kortrijk organised two workshops. One about intake and one about support plans. The intrest for these workshops - that were eventually given at Oradea - was considerable.

We will make some adjustment to these workshops and then organise them for the staff of CCF Poplii fara soti. It is not our intention to teach, but to interact.

Seminar about teenage mothers

The seminar about teenage mothers is something new. It is our intention to organise this seminar together with the staff of CCF Oradea. We will prepare as much as possible in belgium during the next couple of weeks. With our work we will then sit together with the staff of the CCF and see if there are questions or comments about our work. Then we can work together to improve the seminar.

The seminar will take place on friday may 25. We will invite as much people as possible who work with teenage mothers, or are confronted with teenage mothers at they're work, or elsewhere.

The Oradea-team

Some facts about the CCF

The organisational structure of CCF Plopii Fara Soti wasn't quite clear to us, but Patrick Bellinck (project manager of project Oradea) was so kind to explain it to us by mail.

A CCF is a 'Complex of services for Child protection and Family support', This is quite similar to a CKG (Centrum voor Kinderzorg en Gezinsondersteuning) in Belgium.

The authorised Roumanian authority is the General Direction for Social Assistance and Child Protection Bihor (D.G.A.S.P.C.B). General Director is Mrs. Vadnai Zita Koncseck.

The D.G.A.S.P.C.B. itself is being subsidised for running costs by County council Bihor. County president is Alexandru Kiss.

Lets go back to CCF Polpii Fara soti.

A CCF is an organised network for child protection and family support, existing out of 4 services:

1. Service for parents' counseling
2. Service for emergency reception of abused and neglected children
3. transit centre
4. Maternal centre

The symbolical name of the CCF in Oradea is 'Poplii fara soti'. Translated in Dutch that means 'espen of populieren zonder echtgenoot'. In English that becomes 'The lonely poplars'. That name refers to single mothers, one of the most important target groups of the CCF.

The General Manager of the CCF is Alexandru Tiba, who is a psychologist.


Internal co-ordination counselor is Judit Makai, who is a social worker.

Internal co-ordination ERC + maernal centre is Ildiko Ferencz, who is a social worker.

Supervision: vzw-Oradea; project manager is Patrick Bellinck, who is represented locally by Szabi Herman.

The Oradea-team

Our project

We are a group of students at 'Katho hogeschool departement IPSOC'. At the moment we are working on project Oradea.

The next couple of weeks we will post about our progress regurarely.

the oradea-team