Support groups for teenagers

An extremely important activity in the project is the work of the team from the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work with adolescents from the disadvantaged community. In bureaucratese, the activity code is A10, and its name is “Support groups for adolescents from families benefiting from the social housing relocation program”. In common language, it is about offering children from Pata Rât activities that for the rest of the young people in the city are natural, but for them are inaccessible because of marginalisation.

Turda Gorge hike / Foto: George Maier

In this respect, in the second part of last year, 22 activities were carried out for the beneficiary adolescents, each lasting more than three hours, benefiting a total of 35 young people. The theme of the activities was varied, sometimes built around international days, (e.g. Weird Music Day) in order to develop knowledge about relevant topics, to emphasise the importance of their attitude and behavior, and to mobilise young people to be active and involved.

The young people from the program also participated in a trip to Gheorgheni Sports Base, a cinema movie projection and a hike in Turda Gorge. The latter also aimed to disconnect them from technology, as they did not have a signal in the gorge. Other times, the activities were carried out on the topic proposed by them, or by exploring questions that concerned them. Through weekly activities, we have succeeded in forming an inclusive group, where young people feel safe. On a few occasions, they were the ones who asked for extra activity on the same week.