7 Oct 2011 • Trafficking and exploitation Romania

Romania: Step into the Magic Circle

- Published by Darcissac, Marion

From the Tdh European Child protection website

The blazing September sun serves as a joyful reminder of the hot summer 900 children spent with Terre des hommes in 22 multi-ethnic communities from Dolj County, in the South-Western region of Romania.

To celebrate all the beautiful moments that children experienced during the Holiday in my community programme and also to offer them the possibility to meet each other, to exchange thoughts and impressions, Tdh invited children to a Fairplay Football Tournament organised in a park in Craiova, on the 17th of September. This event was organized under the auspices of MOVE project and with financial support from UEFA, the French Embassy and was supported with logistics, materials and guidance offered by Tdh, the General Direction of Social Assistance and Child Protection and the County Center of Educational Resources and Assistance.

Over 100 children from 9 municipalities, accompanied by parents, teachers and animators, played all together and helped adults visualize somewhat abstract concepts such as cooperation, respect, fair play, working as a team. All children were rewarded, congratulated and received medals from Tdh and from the partners invited to the event: representatives of local authorities, the General Direction of Social Assistance and Child Protection Dolj, the County Center of Educational Resources and Assistance, the County Direction of Youth and Sport from Dolj.

Don’t be mistaken: multiethnic communities does not mean that Roma and non-Roma children easily mix. Segregation and divisions that are prevalent amongst adults affect the children as well. The goal is to engage in a gradual process of social inclusion so that the new generations accept each other better than their parents and grandparents did.

One of the games was the Magic Circle. It is an enjoyable, integrative, mobilizing and funny game. Players stand in a circle and hold hands. Its objective is to pass a circle from one player to another without hands off. This requires a strategy to make the body move with agility through the circle and pass it to the next player, quickly and harmoniously. During the game, there is a positive interdependence; children know that they need each other to achieve a goal; they accept the others without labeling them; there is an individual responsibility but also a collective commitment. In psychosocial terms, this short game develops cooperation and respect for others, generating enthusiasm. In physical terms, it develops coordination, agility and speed of movement.

As part of this social inclusion process, Terre des hommes Foundation provided training to 44 animators who, using the innovative methodology known as Psychosocial development of children through movement, games and sport, organized summer activities for the children.

The aim of the summer activities was to help children improve their relation with their peer groups (social inclusion), to develop their personal and social capacities and strengthen the learning ones and last but not least, to promote children’s access to recreation and leisure activities during the summer holiday.

This year, in Bailesti, the animators had the pleasure of initiating and undergoing an overwhelming and challenging task, working in a more inclusive environment. The activities took place at Teodora Educational Center, where children learned about adapting to diversity and respecting children with disabilities such as Down syndrome. The animators and the personnel from the center were impressed, considering it a rewarding experience. They were happy to watch all the children playing together, becoming friends, helping each other, having a good time during the summer holiday, combating discrimination through interaction, socialization and communication.

Parents can give their children the best they have by helping them acquire habits and character traits that they can rely on in their own lives. They want their children to learn to be responsible, respect and show compassion for others, develop self-control in acting. This happened also as a positive result of the summer activities and parents’ perspective about their children’s well-being, needs and feelings is significant in this respect. Here are some of the comments we heard from parents: My child felt good participating in these activities. I guess that, during the program, he developed some of his abilities (Capinaru Dana, from Afumati); My child felt so happy and pleased during the activities. We would like these activities to continue in the future, in partnership with the school, said Popa Sandica.

Equally important were the outcomes for children who discovered the importance of playing together and making new friends: During the summer I played a game called The Postman; these kind of games made me believe and trust more in friendship …thank you for making these games possible for us during summertime (Butaliu Luminita from Bistret).

They learned about cooperation and being a team: I liked that during the games we cooperated, I felt happy and peaceful and it was good that there was no competition (Mixt Alexandru from Gangiova); the games organized during this summer were special. They were based on: collaboration, respect, trusting each other, speed (Stavarache Stefania from Bistret); I enjoyed a lot these activities; we have learned what teamwork means. We gathered in the schoolyard every day eager to find out what new games will be presented to us. In the beginning, children were a bit selfish but, along the way, we learned to cooperate (Andreea from Bistret).

Children experienced also the spirit of joy and happiness found within the games: I felt more confident, stronger and very happy (Iliescu Alexandru from Afumati); they improved their self-esteem and became more aware of it: I felt beautiful, strong and intelligent (Bana Nina-Iuliana from Afumati).

By organizing these activities, implementers intend to raise the interest of the stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations working at the local level, who are involved in improving the situation of vulnerable children, in their attempt to put in practice new protective and socializing measures for children whose guardians cannot meet their legitimate needs, do not respect their rights, ignore them or, even worse, knowingly violate them. (Tdh team in Romania)