Building the Vocational Training Center for the recovery of former child soldiers and their mothers
Beneficiaries: Former child soldiers and their mothers
Cities / Regions involved: Batticaloa
Period: august 2011 - march 2013
Sources of funding: Sources of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia; Donations businesses and individuals; Funds raised Concert for Life
Total cost: 24.200,00 euros
Project Status: concluded
Thanks to funds of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, private donations, the fundraising Concert For Life 2011, the project had as its main objective the building of a Education and Training Centre (Vocational Training Centre) with the objective to implement training, vocational, educational and recreational and cultural activities, for young former child soldiers and their mothers, who are in situations of deprivation, vulnerability and social exclusion (education and employment) due to the effects of prolonged ethnic conflict and the absence of interventions aimed at the reconstruction of the villages affected by the conflict and by the absence of socio-economic development ( handicrafts , agro- pastoral and other services). The activities of the Center are aimed at promoting the active participation and supporting the professional development of women by offering them courses and workshops, thus making them active subjects of social change and not passive recipients of external interventions. The activities for children aged 15 to 18 years are educational, recreational, cultural, and other extra-curricular activities that support the mental growth. The activities for persons older than 18 years are aimed at granting vocational and professional. The Centre could be used for different activities and we plan to build more rooms to increase space and number of activities to be carried out. Educational and training activities will be carried out in classes divided by age, in a manner that integrate theoretical and practical approaches and through interactive educational tools that promote active participation and make learning more effective. Other activities to be carried out within the Centre would be the creation of a service of psychosocial health support and the formation of a team of operators who, following an initial training, will be able to continue the activities with greater expertise and be ready to share this expertise in other areas of the territory.
At the end of the activities we expect: greater adaptation by young ex - child soldiers, a better education of mothers, a better reintegration of young people within families, schools, peer groups. Psychological support to families, especially mothers, in the early stages of rehabilitation is needed in order to help the people in the re- construction and construction of social institutions. These institutions are necessary for psychological protection of young people involved in the drama of becoming child soldiers, especially after a harsh and violent conflict. Another important activity to achieve is to set up a multimedia laboratory through which it will be possible in the future to maintain professional contacts. The laboratory can be used by operators in the Center for other commercial and learning purposes (distance learning, computer literacy , video conferencing , etc. ). Direct beneficiaries are the young ex - child soldiers Sinhalese families of origin, particularly mothers and service workers (psychologists , social workers, teachers, educators, trainers). Indirect beneficiaries are the peer group of boys belonging to the target but also the wider circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances of the families involved , with repercussions on the local population through the promotion and dissemination of services, facilities and institutions.
VIDEO
PHOTOGALLERY
The construction
The inauguration
      
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USEFUL LINKS
See the health profect for the recovery of a former girl soldier
See the project: I traumi del post-guerra: una nuova giustizia volta alla riconciliazione