Citizen’s Association for the promotion of education of Roma “Otaharin”

Our projects/activities are following our strategic objectives:
1. We have activities focused on empowerment of Roma youth – “Peer to peer education”, project financed by Porticus and SHL foundation; duration: 24 months; budget: 90.000 €. The project aims at both, educating youngster on certain subjects they face in their everyday life such as sexually transmitted diseases, violence, discrimination etc, and mobilizing them to become proactive members of the society. The project is based on the principle of creating a space for joint action of young Roma and Non-Roma, aiming at breaking existing prejudices and consequently promoting social inclusion of the Roma minority through peer education. The emphasis of the project is a peer education program that incorporates the “Join in circuit”  methodology. The peer education program consists of a capacity training session for 20 young Roma and Non-Roma, in which they gain knowledge and practical skills to become facilitators of the “Join in circuit” methodology.  After they have become experts and certified peer educators we will organize peer education workshops, in which youngsters will transfer their knowledge to their peers. Educational workshops will educate school students in primary and secondary schools, because peer violence is mostly present in these two school forms.
Also, we are promoting volunteerism and cooperate with Local voluntary service in Bijeljina and by supporting community actions of volunteers.
2. Activities focused on safety and wellbeing of children and youth – project “Safety for children in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, financed by GIZ; duration 7 months; budget: 1.500€. Main activities are focused on informal education of children beggars and their parents and to support of Working group for protection of child’s safety and promotion of the Protocol of cooperation. Working group concept is a multidisciplinary approach which
3. Otaharin’s new/different approach of supporting the integration of Roma through education is visible in project “Integration of Roma children in education system from all Roma communities in Bijeljina and Živinice”, financed by Roma Education Fund, duration: 24 months; budget: 39.635€, and project “Quality education – quality life”, financed by United Nations Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNDP), duration: 9 months, budget: 21.320 €. Main activities of these projects are additional classes from Serbian language and Mathematics for Roma pupils in primary schools. On these classes pupils are provided with: special program adjusted for their level of knowledge, individual work, school material, food, Roma assistant. Teachers on additional classes are following closely improvement of knowledge and keep monthly records for every pupil (following their absence, grades, behaviour, knowledge...).  Also, the most important aspects of our work are field work and meetings with parents, where our Roma mediator and field workers are constantly present in the Roma communities and with conversation are trying to overcome numerous problems which cause irregular school attendance. We formed a Mobile Intervention Team which consists of representatives of schools, City administration, Social Welfare Centre and Day care centre. Role of this team is to visit families of pupils who are not coming to school regularly every month. This approach showed good results. REF project is also focused on preschool and secondary education, so we are enrolling children in kindergartens and support them to enrol to secondary school and faculties. In 2015 first Roma enrolled to faculty in Bijeljina and Otaharin supported her from primary school.
Our activities include programs for parents: workshops for positive parenthood and workshops of literacy.
4. Otaharin supported founding of association of Roma women in Bijeljina and these women have meetings on a weekly basis, with topics they identify as interesting and useful (literacy, meetings with representatives of Social Welfare Centre, Police, Health Centre – to talk about family violence, social protection, discrimination, sexually transmitted diseases, workshops about entrepreneurs...). We employed two single Roma women/mothers.