SZABOLCSI FIATALOK A VIDEKERT EGYESULET

description of organisation

Our association operates in Nyírgyulaj and Nyíregyháza, found in the eastern part of Hungary, in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county. The region is one of the poverty-stricken parts of the country, home to a large gypsy minority.
Our mission: to represent the interests of the population living in the villages of the county, especially in the Nyírbátor and Mátészalka regions, with a special focus on disadvantaged individuals and families.
Our goal: to spread volunteering, to promote social responsibility. We would like to contribute to young people taking up voluntary work at an increased number, so that they acquire competencies that will enable them to enter the labor market, and thus help the settlements to catch up and make the community more cohesive.
Our main activities:
1, Educational facility
Venue open from Monday to Saturday, the main functions of which are:
- support for primary and secondary education
- organization and implementation of free time and extracurricular community programs
Our direct target group is young people between the ages of 6 and 18, living and studying in Nyírgyulaj, who are struggling with financial, learning, integration and social difficulties. The Roma children involved receive special attention, since in their case, in addition to the disadvantage, they also have to deal with prejudice.
Each day we organize classes on 2-3 topics - e.g.: gamer occasions, arts and crafts activities. There are plenty of individual programs as well. An international volunteer could help a lot by organizing various programs (eg.: self-awareness classes, tea houses, excursions).
Currently approximately 60 people will be involved - 70% of whom are disadvantaged
2, “Steady Start” Children’s house
Our target group is children aged 0-3 and their families (currently 14 children) living in Nyírgyulaj, to help the children develop healthy physical, mental and social skills. We provide bathing facilities, activities, community programs, health assessment, development (eg parenting principles, healthy lifestyle education, farming, home economics) and meals for disadvantaged, in many cases very young, under-educated mothers and their children, who in many cases come from public care.
3, Youth Club
- We opened the SZAFI House in Nyíregyháza in 2020, which provides multiple services to young people. It is currently open four days a week. So far, we have involved 40 volunteers, numerous leisure programs have been set up, and international activities are planned to be shaped in the near future.
- There is also a youth club operating in Nyírgyulaj 3 days a week. We are trying to run a permanent club, but we are in a much more difficult situation here, as there is no high school - the young people are only at home during the weekends.
4, We have been operating a campsite since 2014, where we can accommodate 150 people at a time. As we are cooperating with an institution that coordinates around 200 schools in the area, we operate the campsite with a full house from spring to autumn. We are primarily expecting disadvantaged young people here as well
5, Since 2020, we have been a member of the Hungarian Food Bank Association, which collects and hands out donations to the people in need. As part of the partnership, we have been able to help those in need with donations on several occasions.
6, We have a number of other activities that international volunteers are welcome to organize. Some examples:
- we have created a “Fairy Garden” where more than 100 trees have been planted so far by local young people, and adopted by them as well. This location is an excellent starting point for a planned environmental protection program.
- A greenhouse is under construction, in which with a process called aquaponia, using water filtered from a fish pond, we will grow organic vegetables.
- we are in contact with several national organizations (e.g. Hungarian Teachers' Association, National Cultural Institute), as well as with acclaimed Hungarian youth organizations, with which we have implemented several successful programs.
- Near Nyírgyulaj, we established a educational facilities in two other villages, where we also carry out community activities (Hodász, Kántorjánosi). These settlements also have a large number of segregated people in very difficult conditions.
- We also have experience in international activities: so far we have participated in 2 youth exchanges and the implementation of 4 twinning programs.
As shown above, we could involve volunteers in a number of activities, the selection of which also depends on their interests. We are currently thinking about the following activities:
- organization and management of fine arts clubs
- organization and management of movement (dance, sports) clubs
- environmental protection programs
- animatoral activities in camps
- participation in domestic and international donation organizing activities
- foreign language clubs
- organization of international programs