PASSAGE: a project for young people aged 14-18
Being a teenager is difficult under normal circumstances. Growing up in wartime is an extremely difficult experience.
According to a report prepared by the Centre for Civic Education at the beginning of 2023, only 24% of Ukrainian refugee youth (aged 15-18) attend Polish schools. The remainder study in the Ukrainian online education system. However, there is no accurate data on how many of them actually attend any school.
The HumanDoc Foundation and CARE International in Poland implemented a project to support the return of young Ukrainians to study in Poland or online in the Ukrainian system. Education is, after all, not only an opportunity to acquire knowledge but a sense of normality, security, and belonging.
The aims of the project CARE Edu:
Club “PASSAGE”
Our flagship activity is the opening of a youth daycare center in Opole. It is a space where teenagers can both learn and socialize.
Special learning stations and teaching aids can be used here to facilitate homework or remote learning. Language courses and tutoring are also organized in the club.
In the informal part of the common room, young people can relax, play board games, take part in art therapy activities, or simply meet each other and talk.
EDUCATION
– Polish language courses for children and young people with a focus on key school vocabulary, covering topics such as mathematics, chemistry, biology, and physics.
– Tutoring for young people and after-school meetings where they can do their homework together or prepare for the next day’s classes
– Counselling for young people on their educational path and choice of future profession.
EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
– Counselling and support by counselors and psychologists (1-on-1 therapies) for young people and their parents or guardians regarding adaptation and integration stress, problems with peers, etc.
– Stress-reducing activities, including self-therapy groups: singing, dancing, drawing/painting, film, theatre, or blog writing workshops
– Support groups for young people, run by psychologists, therapists, and educationalists
– Counselling and other support for children with special learning difficulties attending Polish schools (ADHD, Asperger’s spectrum, speech difficulties, concentration difficulties, including classes with a speech therapist, psychosensory classes, etc.).
INTEGRATION
– Educational and integration activities for Ukrainian and Polish youth, including field games, participation in cultural events, sports events, etc.
SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN COLLECTIVE ACCOMMODATION CENTRES
Numerous collective centers for refugees are not supported, visited, or even monitored by any organizations or local governments. HumanDoc is usually the only service that provides support to refugee teenagers staying in these places.
Meanwhile, this is where self-harm, addiction, depression, and the risk of sexual abuse and violence among adolescents are on the rise.
Our mobile teams get there to be able to deliver all the objectives of the CARE EDU program.
