Roma Education Fund organized two emergency programs for children living in Konik Camp, Montenegro in order to support residents living in extremely poor living conditions, following the devastating fire in the camp.
The fire left about 150 families, 800 people homeless, who currently live in tents.
Roma Education Fund organized two emergency programs for children living in Konik Camp, Montenegro in order to support residents living in extremely poor living conditions, following the devastating fire in the camp.
The fire left about 150 families, 800 people homeless, who currently live in tents.
Firstly, REF organized activities for children aged 3 to 5 in a quality state run Kindergarten “Djina Vrbica” that was very close to the Camp. The preparatory phase began in August. 90 kids receive 2.5 hours of kindergarten each day thorough the summer, aiming to give them quality education at the earliest age, despite the very poor circumstances.
Two preschool teachers will work with the children and they will have a Roma Assistant helping them overcome language barriers, and motivating the family. After the end of emergency support program (which lasts 2 month), REF will evaluate community satisfaction and impact achieved and based on results gathered REF will decide if there is a need to continue this kind of support for residents of the camp.
In elementary school “Bozidar Vukovic Podgoricanin”, REF organized activities (sports activities, art workshops, dance classes etc.) and provided snacks and refreshments for 80 children of the Konik camp. Two teachers works with the children three times a week.
At the very beginning of the school year, REF will provide school books for children of the camp enrolling in 4th grade; MNE government is providing free text books only for 1st to 3rd grade pupils and we, after consultations with representatives of Ministry of Education MNE and representatives of civil society, recognized need for this kind of support. Furthermore, under this additional support we will donate funds to buy school supplies for all children from the Camp attending school.
During the visit to the Konik camp after the fire, in August, REF team had numerous meetings with representatives of MNE government Crisis Center, Ministry of Education and Sport, Preschool institutions of Podgorica city, schools representatives which most of the children from camp are attending, representatives of civil society. Acknowledging the situation on the support needed, REF decided to concentrate on children’s needs.
