HOPS – Healthy Life Options Association Skopje
Total budget: MKD 1.671.110
Timeframe: 01.06.2019 – 31.07.2020
Partner
PETKAMEN association – Centre for Social Communication Development Skopje
Constituents
People using or having used drugs, children and youth at social risk, local self-government, general public.
On the Project Supported by Civica Mobilitas
Creative Action for Social Change: Civic Engagement of People at Social Risk
Background for the Action
In the absence of supporting environment, the people using or having used drugs avoid stepping out publicly and in accordance with the constitutionally and legally guaranteed rights and measures improve their situation in their environment. The children and youth on the streets or in institutions face many more life challenges than their peers living with heir families. Part of these children and youth have parents who use or have used drugs or are sex workers, and part of them use drugs themselves or are in an increased risk of starting to use drugs. In the course of its work, HOPS has established contacts with more than 100 children and young people using drugs on the street or in institutions. This is one of the reasons why HOPS started to implement activities for healthy living habits and development of life skills in the children homes in Skopje. There is a noticeable need to increase the scope of contents in the area of informal education that will prepare the children and youth to make healthy choices for themselves and the community, now and when they are adults.
GOALS AND RESULTS
Goal: Social integration and socio-economic empowerment of the people at social risk in Skopje by their active involvement in activities based on creative-artistic activism and by promoting heir work in the local community.
Objective: Strengthening the capacities for the social contribution of the people from socially marginalized communities and increasing the content for entertainment and informal education in the local communities, especially when it comes to the children and youth.
Results
- Re-socialization, reintegration, social inclusion and developing work habits and skills with the people using drugs, by their active involvement in the creation of creative-artistic spatial installations;
- Social inclusion and development of life skills for increasing the self-confidence with the children at social risk, by their active involvement in the development of ideas and creating the creative-artistic spatial installations;
- Visibility of the contribution of the people at social risk in the active life of the local communities, sensitizing the local and broader community and providing sustainability of the activities.
Activities
- Identification and selection of five people that use/have used drugs, creating individual work plans and introducing them into work responsibilities;
- Design and creation of three creative-artistic spatial installations;
- Presenting an installation at D-Festival to encourage the youth activism and de-stigmatization of the people at social risk;
- Identification of appropriate locations to set the creative-artistic spatial installations in cooperation with local self-governments of the municipalities or the City of Skopje;
- Putting two installations in the public areas of Skopje and their solemn presentation to the media and the public;
- Holding 25 creative-educational workshops with children at social risk, five in each of identified homes;
- Preparation of five creative-artistic spatial installations;
- Placing the installations on the selected space in the homes for children;
- Informing the media and the public on the conducted activities;
- Preparing a documentary video on the complete activity;
- Preparing three videos with experiences of the participants in the action;
- Preparing a promotional video to attract funds for self-sustainability of the action.