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INSPIRING YOU TO CARE ABOUT PEOPLE AND ENVIRONMENT 1|Page
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Tutorials were individual and group sessions (one session = 45 minutes) twice per week. Group sessions included 3 – 5 children of similar knowledge level. During a six month period, project involved a total of 47 children who were tutored by a total of 15 students.
Nektarina Non Profit was founded in August 2009 in Zagreb, Croatia as an international non-profit organization dedicated to educating, connecting and inspiring people to care about their communities and their environment.
CARING ABOUT PEOPLE Being located in a region so often volatile due to its complex demographics – numerous nations and religions – it was only natural for Nektarina Non Profit to get involved in issues concerning people, with a special focus on issues concerning children, women and minorities. The projects and campaigns we do vary in their nature – some are awareness raising campaigns, others are on-the-field projects.
THE WORLD IS MINE We launched “The World Is Mine” project in September 2009. During six months we have worked with three state homes for children without parental care, providing them with free extracurricular activities – foreign language tutorials for French, English, German and Italian. Tutorials were provided by senior year students from the University of Zagreb / Dept of Linguistics / Dept of Germanic Languages / Dept of Romanic Languages.
This project benefited its primary target group – children without parental care – but it also had quite a positive impact on graduate year students. “I learned to appreciate my family more” and “I was so humbled by these young strong children that are all alone in the world and do not complain about anything” were the two most used phrases when we asked students to describe their tutoring experience and impressions.
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Tutorials had a positive impact on all children involved. Some started learning a new language, and other improved foreign language skills, whether it was conversation, writing or spelling. Tutorials also created room for peer-to-peer education, as children were often helping one another with homework. Their confidence grew as they were constantly supported by students and our staff. Each completed homework, or a good spelling score, gave them a sense of accomplishment and positive self-esteem, something that many of these children lack so often.
WOMEN ARE WONDERFUL Launched in October 2010 in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, campaign “Women Are Wonderful” targeted all women and girls alike aiming to help them improve their self-esteem in what is mostly a conservative and patriarchal rural surroundings. In urban (and more modern) settings we aimed at creating the environment where women can appreciate themselves without feeling guilty that they are actually taking some time to themselves. The initial phase (October, November & December 2009) included raising awareness and interaction (women and girls were invited to send photos capturing moments when they felt strong, loved, appreciated, free, happy – photos were used to create different posters that were then used to inspire more women to join debates and workshops we organized each month. Both workshops and debates included speakers who overcame their fears and frustrations, experienced strong abuse, whether physical or emotional, experienced loss of a child or a spouse, survived a serious illness (or is living with a serious health condition). Speakers included both public figures (writers, artists) and unknown women – all strongly inspirational motivated the audience to take a positive turn in their lives.
A total of six workshops / debates were organized in Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Vukovar (Croatia) and Zagreb (Croatia), and each event had an average of 40 attendees. We had a great help in terms of monitoring and consultancy from the faculty of Dept of Sociology , University in Zagreb. Their help in preparing and carrying out workshops was extensive, and without them the evaluation of final feedbacks we have received wouldn’t have been possible. In the following phase of the campaign/project , based on the feedback and results we received from all women included in the initial phase, we invited women and girls to express themselves creatively through activities that make them feel strong, loved, appreciated, free, happy – and to share both their creative works and their experiences and impressions.
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These are just some of the creative inputs we have received from women from Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia during a three month period of the second phase of the Women Are Wonderful / Connect Through Art project. The oldest participant was 62 years old, and the youngest was only 7. Once again, women and girls proved that the inspiration, the energy and the creativity have nothing to do with age, but with the state of mind and their our own life philosophy!
Some of the most inspiring entries we have received by mail or in electronic format were presented online, like a permanent online exhibition http://nektarinaconnectthroughart.blogspot.com/ and the others were presented in an open air one-day exhibit we held in Zagreb in May 2010. 4|Page
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ROMA INTEGRATION (this campaign / project is ongoing)
We set two objectives for ourselves – raising awareness about the need to integrate Roma people into communities (and not isolate them and thus create even bigger issue) and to help Roma children and women get (at least) basic information.
The Romani (also Romany, Romanies, Romanis, Roma or Roms; eponyms: Gypsy; Romani: Romane or Rromane, depending on the dialect) are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent. The Romani are widely dispersed, with their largest concentrated populations in Europe, especially the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe and Anatolia, followed by the Iberian Kale in Southwestern Europe and Southern France. Deported to Brazil by Portugal during the colonial era and via more recent migrations, some people have gone to the Americas and, to a lesser extent, other parts of the world. There are an estimated four million Romani people in Europe although some high estimates by Romani organizations give numbers as high as 14 million. Aligned with the Decade of Roma Integration (2005 – 2015) Nektarina Non Profit launched its Roma Integration Programme in September 2009, focusing on Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Turkey.
During 2009 and 2010 we reached over 20 Roma settlements, distributed over 2,000 sets of books, notebooks and other supplies needed for school, organized seven forums on Roma Integration and helped raise awareness about a constant neglect, discrimination and lack of understanding from the official administrations when it comes to Romani people. We are continuously raising awareness about the Roma issue, and the need for them to be fully integrated into societies, without prejudice and without discrimination. “Michael Caine has Roma blood, for crying out loud, I cannot believe a modern society cannot accept these people as equals, I cannot believe we do not have one vision about this issue.” – those were the words of Ms Sandra Antonovic, Nektarina Non Profit’s CEO, on the campaign launch event in 2009. 5|Page
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In 2010 we started working on a script for a documentary about Romani culture and music (working title “The Carnival of Light”). The production will start in 2011, and we hope to have the film completed in 2013 (postproduction included).
Early 2010, when we were already developing a storyline, we invited students of art and design schools to join in with their creative inputs. We are so lucky to be working now with some of the participants of this contest.
LIVE AND LEARN (this campaign / project is ongoing) Live & Learn campaign was officially launched in October 2009, and our objective is to promote and raise awareness on lifelong education, regardless whether that education is formal or informal Thus far Live & Learn has focused on several areas: Providing working women with opportunities to continue their education on various levels (foreign languages, computer skills, specific soft skills they need for work) Providing third-age generation with opportunities to connect with peers through different educational workshops and courses – gardening, arts and crafts, painting, ceramics, creative writing, hiking, and similar Raising awareness among pre-schoolers, schoolers and students on the importance of learning, exploring, experiencing and sharing knowledge During 2010 Nektarina Non Profit organized over 40 different workshops and courses for different age groups, providing thus new learning experiences for over 400 participants in 20 towns and municipalities. Workshops and courses lasted between 5 and 25 days, helping participants not only learn new skills, but also experience peer-to-peer education, improve their selfesteem, enrich their social life and improve their social skills. In 2011 we continue focusing on the third-generation demographics, with our first workshops and courses starting in April 2011. With the raising trend of third-age generation joining social networks, Live & Learn will certainly work through social media and other platforms as well.
All entries will be presented during a series of documentary pre-launch events.
Additionally, in 2011 we will have a series of summer events and workshops dedicated to women-at-work and youth.
In 2011 we are continuing with our “Integrate, don’t isolate” awareness raising campaign and we are continuing to provide books and other schools supplies to Roma children.
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CARING ABOUT ENVIRONMENT Sometimes people ask “So, you have projects focusing on people, and then you have projects forcusing on the environment. Don’t you find that a bit confusing?” Actually, no. We all live in some kind of environment. We are all dependant on natural resources, on the weather, the sun, the wind, and most importantly – the water. How can we not focus on environment? We at Nektarina Non Profit focus on involving wide demographics in issues concearning the environment – through debates, online campaigns, on-the-field workshops and through creative collaborations and initiatives.
BEING PRESENT ONLINE Much more present online with our enviromental projects, we like to explore different platforms, different forms of communication and expressions, targetting different age groups and aiming to inspire people to do the same – to engage, to get active, to make small positive changes in their lives – if enough of us change a bit, the overall positive impact can be amazing. Being present online gave us a great opportunity to reach people in different countries, to spread further, to move to different regions and different continents. Climate change was certainly one of the issues we addressed early on, right after Nektarina Non Profit was founded. In October 2009 we blogged about climate change – how we saw it and what were our concerns, and that was only the start of many things we did online.
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JOINING THE 350.ORG
We joined 350.org as did hundreds of other NGOs, associations, organizations and individuals in a one-day event – A Global Day of Climate Action (October 24th 2009) with one goal in mind – raise awareness on the carbon footprint issue and on the importance of reducing the level of CO2 in the atmosphere.
For Nektarina Non Profit, this was a great opportunity to partner with Croatian Railways and help promote train travelling as a low carbon travel option (photos from Global Climate Action week in 2009, Central Train Station, Zagreb, Croatia).
We have been working with Croatian Railways ever since, on different projects and campaigns, always promoting train travel as a great way to reduce carbon emissions.
Nektarina Non Profit continued to participate in other events organized by a US based 350.org.
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PARTNERING INTERNATIONALY
In November 2009 we became partners with Global Campaign for Climate Action (www.gc-ca.org) and their derivative TCKTCKTCK (http://tcktcktck.org), and we are one of many NGOs that signed An Open Letter to World Leaders (published in IHT and FT just before and during the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.
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The objectives of our visual essay project were:
INSPIRING CREATIVE EXPRESSION Engaging youth into learning about specific topic important for the community Acquiring visual research skills in gathering references from life, photographs, found objects, imagination, and memory Expressing thoughts in creative visual style that should be a learning tool for others Learning and applying the stages of visual thinking/problem solving/research/thumbnails/roughs/comprehensives Analyzing illustrations in terms of colour interpretation, the use of typography, layout and composition.
In January 2010 we launched “Nektarina Visual Essay Contest” asking young people to join us and creatively express themselves on recycling, environment, climate change. We received entries from 12 different countries (including India), and we presented them online http://nektarinavisualessay.blogspot.com/ (Entry from Bosnia & Herzegovina / Ernad Ihtijarevic)
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EVERGREEN (this is an ongoing campaign)
What are we doing in 2011? This year Nektarina Non Profit we are publishing several e-books on different topics covered so far by the Ever Green campaign, and we are also continuing with our extracurricular programmes for schools.
Launched in December 2009, our Ever Green campaign continued throughout 2010, and is now continuing in 2011. Focused on base-line education on climate change, recycling, renewable energies and reducing carbon footprint, our Ever Green campaign targets wide children and youth as a primary target group, but also total universe (in terms of demographics) as a secondary target group. EverGreen campaign provides also extracurricular programmes and projects for elementary schools and high schools, as well as for kindergartens. Activities include workshops and other similar educational activities where children can learn about climate change, recycling processes, renewable energies and carbon footprint through interactive games, peer-to-peer education, creative expression and practical work. In 2010 we facilitated extracurricular activities in 70 schools, in six countries of SouthEast Europe, reaching thus over 1,000 children age 7 – 17 , helping them learn about climate change and inspiring them to take positive action – start recycling, saving energy, planting trees and similar. Presented here is the first one (created in December 2009) of many posters we created and distributed in schools and public libraries.
Photo Galleries available on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240040&id=184600878746 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240051&id=184600878746 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240056&id=184600878746
Each poster shows three simple steps – recycling, saving energy and protecting the environment – in different situations (depending on the season, the location – town, country, home, work, vacation , etc) 12 | P a g e
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10:10 HUB (ongoing)
Working with 10:10 Global (www.1010global.org) has been an amazing experience for us. Nektarina Non Profit became an official 10:10 hub in June 2010 (all papers were signed late May). We coordinate 10:10 activities in 24 countries divided into four regions:
Balkan & Adriatic Region (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro) Mediterranean Region (Malta, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Turkey) Central & Eastern Europe Region (Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) Russia
10:10 campaigns works targets four main clusters – individuals, businesses, schools and organizations inspiring and helping them take positive action towards reducing their carbon footprint by 10% during a period of 12 months.
You can get all the details about our work as 10:10 Hub by visiting these links: http://www.issuu.com/nektarinanonprofit (for 2010 newsletters, different presentations, visuals etc) http://www.flickr.com/photos/nektarina (for photo galleries from 10:10 events) http://1010hubnews.posterous.com/ (for 2011 newsletters)
and most importantly by visiting www.1010global.org and clicking on the flag of any of the countries we coordinate
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(From a Hub launch event in Fojnica, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
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In 2011 we launched 10:10 Teen Project (exclusively created for 10:10 campaign). Here is an excerpt from the Press Release giving more information about the project: INSPIRING youth to take positive action in reducing carbon footprint – 10:10 TEEN PROJECT goes live on social networks. February 2011 / Worldwide – Using social networks to inspire and engage youth towards positive action in reducing carbon footprint, 10:10 Teen Project creates a new way for young people to interact, express themselves and be creative – all with a joint goal of reducing carbon emissions. 10:10 Teen Project targets teenagers, but is equally open to all who'd like to get involved. Participants are challenged with simple, yet educational bi-weekly tasks related to carbon reduction. 10:10 global campaign, already well established for its fun and positive approach in engaging people to take active part in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, gets even more positive with newly launched 10:10 Teen Project. The project was created and launched by a regional 10:10 hub operating in countries of Central, Eastern and SouthEast Europe, Russia and Mediterranean. Benefiting from the reach provided by social networks, 10:10 Teen Project also gained participants (and endorsements) from Netherlands, Canada and the US. 10:10 Teen Project, that officially kicked off February 9th on Facebook, Twitter and Posterous, sets bi-weekly tasks allowing participants to choose the type of task they want to “resolve” - a creative task asks them to visually present carbon reduction processes , a calculus task asks them to calculate forecasted or actual CO2 reduction, and the setup tasks asks them to make something that would facilitate reducing their carbon footprint. New tasks will be posted every two weeks, ensuring the continuous engagement of participants. 10:10 Teen Project Team also ensured many great prizes for all involved. “We wanted to give teenagers more incentive to participate in the project and to work together towards CO2 reduction”, says team leader. 10:10 Teen Project received endorsement from a Canadian artist and climate change activist Franke James, famous for her hip visual essays on climate change, and 15 | P a g e
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the project team is already working very closely with Goethe Instituts, British Councils and other similar organizations throughout the region. All interested can visit 10:10 Teen Posterous page http://1010teen.posterous.com or join 10:10 Teen Project Facebook page www.facebook.com/1010teen , both have details about rules, tasks, prizes and more; or they can follow the project on www.twitter.com/1010hub for first hand updates.
(one of the entries for 10:10 Teen Projects / Fun and Educational Recycling)
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GET IN TOUCH for more information on specific projects / campaigns please contact us via email nektarinanonprofit@gmail.com
www.nektarinanonprofit.com
Facebook.com/nektarinanonprofit Twitter.com/nektarina
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