Regional education and training centres – Forikolo, Sierra Leone

Regional education and training centres – Forikolo, Sierra Leone

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REGIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTRES – FORIKOLO, SIERRA LEONE

Project initiator:

Forikolo e.V., Leipzig

For 16 years now, Forikolo e.V. has been building schools and bakeries, realizing farming and agricultural projects and supporting a clinic in Sierra Leone.

By supporting education, for example by building and maintaining schools, the organisation aims to give children and young people access to a proper school education and to a well-founded vocational qualification.

Since the lack of secondary schools, in particular, prevents children and young people from accessing vocational training, a training centre is being built in Mathen, Sierra Leone. The centre will provide primary and secondary education, as well as a vocational training centre. Solid vocational training and the opportunities for regular work it gives a person can secure a living for an entire family.

Project description:

A project coordinator with a background in construction and engineering – and specialising in water projects – uses their specialist expertise to regularly support and evaluate the construction project on location in Sierra Leone.

The work focuses on construction of a training centre in Mathen, with a primary and secondary school, as well as a vocational training centre. Realization of the construction project using sustainable building materials creates an innovative model project for the region. (The education centre will be built exclusively from materials that are available in the region, so that it can be realized without expensive imported materials).

 

Forikolo e.V. is a non-political, non-denominational, not-for-profit organisation.

It is entirely geared up to alleviating poverty and hardship among children and young people in Sierra Leone. This also includes support for the parents of these children, with the aim of helping them to help themselves.

Forikolo e.V. aims to tackle poverty and hardship among people in Sierra Leone by providing lasting support in the areas of training, education, upbringing, health and agriculture.

Mission statement

Project aims:

The vocational school gives young people opportunities to learn to do a job that they can then do in the region. For example, training plans for the jobs of farmer, joiner, electrician and solar installer, as well as hydraulic engineer, are to be developed for the training centre in Mathen, in cooperation with German vocational schools.

Established training standards should expand specialist knowledge on location in the long term. Qualified training broadens students’ knowledge and, at the same time, teaches important practical skills. These skills improve students’ chances on the difficult job market in Sierra Leone, but also in other countries.

Project location:

Mathen, Sierra Leone

Project start:

2018

Project target group(s):

The project’s target groups in Mathen are primarily children and young people (young adults, especially of secondary school age) from the Loko Masama Chiefdom.

Aim of the funding:

Training on site should be possible along the entire educational pathway – from primary school to successful vocational training. The focus is therefore on professional support and support in terms of staffing for the organisation. Support will be provided to enable the organisation to grow further and to realize other projects that can offer prospects to people in Sierra Leone.

Type of funding:

Staffing costs

Duration of funding:

Since November 2018

Successes/awards:

Awarded the Sächsische Bürgerpreis 2019 in the category „think globally – act locally“

Contact details of the project initiator:

Forikolo e.V.
Erich-Zeigner-Haus
Zschoschersche Straße 21
04229 Leipzig
Telephone: +49 (0)341 49243870
Fax: +49 (0)322 26814997
Email: info@forikolo.de
www.forikolo.de

Pestalozzi – Systemic work with parents

Pestalozzi – Systemic work with parents

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SYSTEMIC WORK WITH PARENTS IN PESTALOZZI KINDER- UND JUGENDDORF WAHLWIES

Project initiator:

Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf Wahlwies e.V.

Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf Wahlwies youth village provides a place for children and young people who are experiencing serious social difficulties. They will find people here who are devoted to them. The independent, supra-denominational youth welfare institution on Lake Constance focuses on providing care in a setting that resembles life in a family. The provision of care is completed by a school providing support with learning and nine businesses where young people can train.

Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf is a village community that offers children a positive space for development. Children and young people are nurtured individually and get an education that benefits their „head, heart and hands“ from kindergarten, through school, to training.

The systemic work with parents in Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf builds a bridge between the educational specialists in the village and the children’s biological parents. Parents are involved as much as possible in admission, educational planning and day-to-day work, in line with the needs and resources of the families of origin. The looked-after children and young people are given help to have the closest and most harmonious possible contact with their parents, just like any family would want.

Project description:

The offer of „Intensive Systemic Work with Parents and Families“ was introduced in 2016 and aims to support cooperation between youth village families and biological parents and to relieve the strain on them. The aim is to support and empower parents in their responsibility and their relationship to their children.

Successful contact with parents increases the children’s opportunities for personal growth and therefore also the possibility that they will be able to return to their families. Children and young people can only develop positively in the residential groups with their parents’ approval. To tackle resistance and reservations, a support worker provides parents with a kind of independent support and acts as an interface between families of origin and families providing care.

The systemic work with the family of origin focuses on introducing relaxation into the family system and building up a trusting educational partnership. Clarification of roles and viewpoints in the work aims to strengthen and expand parenting skills. Possible return of children to their families is facilitated through targeted and individual support.

„Your parents will always be your parents.“

Children who are looked after in Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf do live apart from their parents and grow up in family-like communities, but their heart and soul will always be connected to their family of origin.

We need parents because we know that they were, are and always will be key people in their children’s lives who provide them with an identity.

Children and young people need somebody they can turn to and emulate as a role model. Somebody who respects their parents and doesn’t judge them, who wants to understand their parent’s situation in life and to involve them in parental responsibility in accordance with their abilities.

Mission statement

Project aims:

The project focuses on improving the relationship between biological parents and children, in order to improve parenting skills, to provide help with reflecting on the reasons why the children are accommodated in the village, and to aim for children to return to their family of origin if things go well.

Project location:

Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg

Project start:

2016

Project target group(s):

Children, young people and biological parents who have come into contact with the youth village due to serious difficulties in the family, as well as families who are currently using the youth village.

Aim of the funding:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG wants to secure the offer of „Intensive Systemic Work with Parents and Families“ and enable further expansion in order to contribute to lasting improvement of the relationship between children and biological parents.

Type of funding:

Funding of staffing costs

Duration of funding:

Since Dezember 2018

Contact details of the project initiator:

Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf Wahlwies e.V.
Pestalozzi-Kinderdorf 1
78333 Stockach-Wahlwies
Telephone: +49 (0)7771 8003123
Fax: +49 (0)7771 800320
Email: m.schneider@pestalozzi-kinderdorf.de
www.pestalozzi-kinderdorf.de

wellcome – Retaining volunteers in Baden-Württemberg

wellcome – Retaining volunteers in Baden-Württemberg

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WELLCOME – RETAINING VOLUNTEERS IN BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG

Project initiator:

wellcome gGmbH

wellcome is a social enterprise operating throughout Germany. It supports, advises and networks parents so that their children can grow up healthy.

The core offer of wellcome is “practical help after birth”, a support offer for parents by volunteers. It offers families relief in the first year after the birth of their child, regardless of income, marital status, nationality or a verifiable social or medical indication.

Project description:

40 teams of wellcome gGmbH with around 730 volunteers support young families in Baden-Württemberg during the challenging time after the birth and provide help that relieves the burden of everyday life – just as family, friends or neighbours normally do. They ensure that parents can get some well-deserved rest, devote themselves to their siblings or take a little time out for themselves.

Due to the Corona pandemic, volunteer work came to a complete standstill. The pilot project “Digital implementation of appreciative measures to retain volunteers in Baden-Württemberg” aims to develop and test digitalised measures for accompanying communication between the site coordinators and the volunteers.

 

Children do well when parents do well.

Mission statement

Project aims:

Development and testing of digitalized measures for the accompanying communication of site coordinators and volunteers for the purpose of retaining volunteers in Baden-Württemberg in pandemic times.

Project location:

Baden-Württemberg, state coordination office of wellcome

Project start:

February 2021

Project target group(s):

Site coordinators and volunteers of wellcome gGmbH at the Baden-Württemberg site.

Aim of the funding:

Implementation of the pilot. The results of the pilot project are to be made available to the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG and can provide valuable impulses for other project partners.

Type of funding:

Funding the digital implementation of volunteer retention measures.

Duration of funding:

February 2021 – January 2022

Contact details of the project initiator:

wellcome gGmbH
Hoheluftchaussee 95
20253 Hamburg
Email: info@wellcome-online.de
www.wellcome-online.de

Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe

Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe

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WELTMEISTERSCHAFT DER BERUFE

Project initiator:

WorldSkills Germany e.V.

WorldSkills Germany is a network partner that supports young people to become the best in their field in their vocational training.

Talented young people experience support and help from a strong network that enables them to become outstanding specialists by participating in professional competitions (such as the Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe or „world championship of professions“) and special projects – as part of their combined work/training scheme in a business.

Project description:

The „Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe“ is an international competition where journeymen and apprentices can put themselves to the test in their specialist disciplines against an excellent field.

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG awards scholarships that enable talented people to take part in the competition.

A strong network! WorldSkills works; in Germany – and in the world!

Mission statement

Project aims:

Taking part in the competition should help ambitious and hard-working young people to become professional role models. „Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe“ is an internationally renowned competition. It aims to contribute to giving combined work/training schemes a high status in society. Last but not least, taking part in an international competition gives young people an insight into other cultures and broadens their horizons.

Project location:

Most recently Kazan, Russia. In future depending on the venue for the Weltmeisterschaft.

Project start:

1953

Project target group(s):

High-achieving journeymen and apprentices who are just about to complete their training, in currently 40 disciplines in Germany.

Aim of the funding:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG scholarships help young people, who have made their mark in their training through special achievements, to take part in an international competition.

Type of funding:

Assumption of the costs for preparing for and taking part in the „Weltmeisterschaft der Berufe“ for competition entrants aged 22 or under who have achieved good to very good results during their training / for completion of their training. The entrants are chosen in a multi-stage selection process.

Duration of funding:

Since 2019

Contact details of the project initiator:

WorldSkills Germany e.V.
Krefelder Straße 32
70376 Stuttgart
Telephone: +49 (0)711 47988022
www.worldskillsgermany.com

zis Study trips

zis Study trips

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ZIS STUDY TRIPS

Project initiator:

zis – Stiftung für Studienreisen

zis – Stiftung für Studienreisen offers financial support to young people who wish to travel following their own plans that do not involve mass tourism. zis scholarships have already been awarded to around 2,000 young people.

Prospective scholarship recipients apply with a unique idea and research into a societal, social or artistic topic in a specific country. The scholarship is awarded solely on the basis of this travel idea. Scholarship recipients have the unique opportunity to experience adventure, broaden their cultural horizons and contribute to international understanding.

Project description:

zis study trips give young people the chance to realize their own travel plans. The social and cultural background of the young people is not taken into consideration in the selection. The only thing that counts is the travel idea. There are a few criteria that need to be met: Travellers must travel alone, the journey must not be made by plane (getting there is supposed to be part of the experience), travellers must stick to the travel budget of 600 Euros while travelling for at least four weeks, and a travel report must be submitted after the trip.

Forge your own path – choose your own way

Mission statement

Project aims:

The aim of zis trips is to help young people with a thirst for adventure explore the world on their own initiative and responsibility. zis trips do not involve mass tourism since organising yourself on a tight budget not only requires advance planning but also offers a completely different perspective on the country visited. The young people travel alone to facilitate contact with as many other people as possible.

Project location:

Worldwide

Project start:

2012

Project target group(s):

50 to 60 young people from the whole of Germany, chosen through a selection process, who are between 16 and 20 years old when they start their trip.

Aim of the funding:

In the spirit of international understanding, scholarship recipients are given support to approach people they do not know, to accept help and to gain new experiences and impressions. As an antidote to consumer society, it is an opportunity both to broaden their horizons and to receive support to independently complete their own project with limited resources.

Type of funding:

15 scholarships financed every year

Duration of funding:

Since 2012; annually

Contact details of the project initiator:

zis – Stiftung für Studienreisen
c/o Schule Schloss Salem
Spetzgart 1
88662 Überlingen
www.zis-reisen.de