Films,
\ntheater shows, round tables and even camps for teenagers were some of the
\nactions undertaken as part a project about sound choices. The project called ‘I
\nchoose to choose’ was organized by the Beneva Association and funded by the
\nRomanian Government through the Interior Ministry’s National Anti-drug Agency.
\nIt was part of a program of national interest focusing on prevention and
\nmedical, psychological and social assistance for drug addicts running in the
\nperiod 2015-2018. The project is about people and their experiences. Florentina
\nCioc\u0103nea-Petrariu, with the Beneva Association, explained the name of the
\nproject:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It is about choice, our choice to get involved in the community and the education
\nprocess. The project started from the needs we identified among teenagers, who
\nmost the time feel invisible and pressured by society. They learn, they go to
\nschool, which is a good thing, but there is this pressure that they should get
\nhigh grades and learn whatever subject matters the school imposes, quite
\nfrequently ignoring their real passions. This is what prompted us to try to
\nopen their eyes and show them that there are people who followed their dream
\nand turned it into a profession.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It was
\na motivational project meant to answer a need indentified by its very
\ninitiators, as Iulian V\u0103c\u0103rean, the president of the Beneva Association told
\nus:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We noticed that, in a rapidly-changing
\neducation system, what matters for pupils and stays with them throughout their
\nlives is their choice to live and make their dreams and passions come true.
\nThis is what we tried to encourage as part of this project. Because these
\npassions, which they discover in their teenage years, will stay with them all
\ntheir lives, no matter the domain of their passion: theater, music or sports.
\nAnd, by the way, sport keeps them healthy and able to carry on with their
\ndreams.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Next Paula
\nFr\u0103sinoiu, a police commissioner, will tell us more about the important activities
\nundertaken under the project addressing secondary and high school students, a
\nproject meant to prevent drug consumption:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
All activities were important, but what
\ndrew our attention, as funders of the project, was the theater play made by our
\npartners with the Beneva Association as well as the other activities held
\nduring school camps such as informing and raising awareness in the sense of
\npromoting a healthy life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Also as
\npart of the project, a film was made, which many high schools requested to
\nscreen for their students. Here is Iulian V\u0103c\u0103rean, the president of the Beneva
\nAssociation with details: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The film starts from the idea of a high
\nschool kid, Cristian Robe, meeting people who become his inspiration. And these
\npeople are genuine models for today’s generations of young people, namely musicians,
\nactors and athletes. Besides following one’s passion, one needs models to guide
\none’s behavior, to be able to obtain success. Success is not necessarily a goal
\nin itself for each and every one of us, but we all want to live in a beautiful
\nworld and it’s the beautiful people who inspire us to build a beautiful world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Next Iulian
\nV\u0103c\u0103rean will tell us about the most important effect of the project:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When a 7th grader comes to
\nyou and tells you: look, I trust you and I want to tell you what’s going on in
\nmy life right now, WELL, this is, to me, an extraordinary effect. A high school
\nstudent came to us and said: ‘God, you have brought the light in our school;
\nyou have brought examples to which we have not had access so far!’ Some kids
\ncried, others giggled when we told them good or bad stories about what could
\nhappen to them, but, I guess, children’s happy faces were the project’s biggest
\nachievement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Mihaela
\nBebu, a social worker with the Service on reducing drug supply, believes the
\nproject was necessary:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The level of drug consumption reported
\nin Romania corresponds to the average level within the EU. We are all doing
\nsomething, the public institutions as well as civil society, because, together,
\nwe can do much more than what we could achieve individually. We intend to
\ncontinue and develop this partnership.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nefficiency of such a project is based on the fact that, the impact you have on
\na child today will reach the Internet and other media, increasing its effect
\nexponentially. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by L. Simion & E. Nasta)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A program run by the National Anti-drug Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43162,43160,43158,43159,43157,43161],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-beneva-association","tag-career-choices","tag-community-life","tag-life-long-education","tag-national-anti-drug-agency","tag-social-assistance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n