Alka supported fifty young women, 12th grade students, from several villages in Ialomița during the 2021-2022 school year. Our friends from the World Vision Romania Foundation helped us in implementing this program, who provided a main coordinator for managing the activities and who constantly maintained contact with the young women, assigned psychologists and other volunteers for specific actions.
Throughout the program, the Foundation kept us constantly informed about the activities and developments of the young women, and on May 27, 2022, we had the opportunity to meet them personally during a visit to the factory in Ploiești. In addition to visiting the factory, we also had some discussion sessions with them and it was absolutely impressive to find out how much this program has changed their lives. Most of the young women beneficiaries of the program come from vulnerable backgrounds with different family situations that put even greater pressure on the young girls at the beginning of their journey to adulthood. If at the beginning of the program, some of them even refused the idea of participating in psychological therapy sessions, along the way, the discussions with psychologists managed not only to stabilize them emotionally but also to make them stronger and more confident in their own strength.
The 50 young women, beneficiaries of the project, participated in educational counseling sessions facilitated by the project’s coordinating psychologist. During these sessions, the needs of the students in the project were reassessed and they were guided to different counseling sessions according to their needs.
The foundation’s volunteers facilitated individual vocational counseling sessions, in addition to the activities in which they were involved in the past. In March, the vocational evaluation process began, which was based on the Holland Test as a psychological assessment tool for professional interests. Following the evaluation, the objectives of the individual vocational counseling process were established;
The individual psychological counseling process operated throughout the program, and the therapy sessions were conducted according to the needs of each of the young women.
Several meditation sessions were organized in order to prepare for the baccalaureate exam in several subjects. The girls’ academic results have improved considerably and this was evident in their grades at school, with some of them even going to the Olympiads.
Below are some testimonials from the girls and their tutors:
“I really like the tutor. She explains things very well and is warm with us. I have covered all the logic material and now we are just starting to work on the tests for the Baccalaureate, I think I will get a high grade for the Baccalaureate.” – Miruna, 18
“The Romanian language teacher is super cool, I really like her, because she explains things very well, I understood a lot with her and she actually corrects us on the spot, like for the Baccalaureate and that helps me a lot.” – Diana, 18
“The two girls, Miruna and Flori, have stuck with me, they are very open and hardworking. I really think they will have great results for the Baccalaureate.” – Mausi Visan – Tescaru, logic teacher
In addition to these individual sessions aimed at working on the personal development of each of the young beneficiaries of the program, various activities and workshops were organized to contribute to their preparation for life, to a balanced development and to the acquisition of healthy principles of life.
Violence in its various forms was a topic intensely debated with the young women – from the evaluation sessions with them it emerged that it is one of the problems they face in their daily lives.
Group sessions were organized that were facilitated by the project’s coordinating psychologist and took place in a physical format. During these sessions, the students learned information about the types of violence and its psychological implications. Information and ways were also presented to avoid falling prey to violence, how not to react with violence in turn, and how to cope with or manage such attempts.
The group sessions with special guests were also extremely useful for the young women. One of the sessions was also attended by a representative of the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons, Sorina Costea, a specialist officer and sociologist at the Victim Monitoring, Evaluation and Coordination Service. This session took place online on the zoom platform and during it the students learned about what human trafficking entails, what the profile of the trafficker and the victim is. The students were also presented with case studies and what they can do to combat human trafficking.
The personal development activities contributed greatly to the development of the young women in the program. The activities were managed by the World Vision program coordinator, Elena Sava, who played an essential role in this entire plurivalent development plan and the girls’ development was significant.
“I love when we have sessions with Elena and when she tells us that she is there for us. She encourages us to go to her every time we need to talk to someone. I liked that she came to us with individual sessions to talk about what we need and how we can be supported within the project” – Melania, 18 years old
“I am a different person. Actually, since I have been doing counseling, I have changed a lot as a person, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for encouraging me to do counseling and for explaining to me several times what it means and for recommending that I do therapy. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be like this now. You and Cristina, my psychologist, trusted me, that I could succeed and look at me now, I am almost at the end of the process and I am a different person, I am not so explosive anymore, thank you very much!” – Ionela, 18 years old
