The ninth edition of the Romanian PR Award presented last week the campaigns nominated in the 24 contest sections. The project submitted by Policy Center for Roma and Minorities was among the 72 nominated projects from a total 212 campaigns, which helped PCRM receive an important recognition from an international jury with 38 members from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Holland and Romania.

The public awareness raising campaign REACT (Responsibility, Empowerment, Activism, Citizenship, Transparency) was nominated in the Non-governmental organization / Civil Society category along with well known international NGO’s like Save the Children, World Vision and the UN Information Center. Our campaign was also nominated in the Public Affairs / Advocacy / Lobby section.

REACT is a pilot campaign that focuses on the active participation of Roma and non-Roma citizens in the civic life, which is being developed by three NGOs in Romania, Bulgaria and Albania under the umbrella of the European Roma Grassroots Organization Network (ERGO).

Policy Center for Roma and Minorities and the National Council for Combating Discrimination invite you to the first photo-voice exhibition of the children from the Alternative Education Club. The exhibition „Beyond the ghetto” took place on Friday, October 21, at Casa de Cultură a Studenţilor in Bucharest.

The exhibition will show images from the everyday life of children living in the ghetto area of Ferentari, emphasizing the contrast between the environment in which they live and the activities they take part in at the Alternative Education Club. This space of non-formal education, created by Policy Center for Roma and Minorities at the 136 Elementary School in Ferentari, is a creative and innovative place that offers children the chance to develop their talents – from music to dance, from theatre, photography, movie making, drawing and financial education to football, basketball, volleyball and boxing – to improve their school performance through permanent support from the foundation’s staff and volunteers. The exhibition is part of the “Days of non-formal education” event, organized by LEAP Association.

On the 6^th of October PCRM celebrated one year since the opening of the Alternative Education Club at School no.136 in the Ferentari neighbourhood. The event took place at the school’s gym and it was a good occasion to demonstrate what is accomplished in the year that passed and how alternative education has improved the lives of over 120 children that came to us in these first 12 months of activity.

The Alternative Education Club is a safe, open, creative and challenging new space for children that live in the ghetto in Ferentari. A year ago, we started out with lots of enthusiasm and now we are trying to build a professional practice that could be replicated at the national and international level and address the very complex issues around education and active citizenship for communities that live in ghettoes.