Youth 4 Youth: Building Skills, Transforming Lives

Dear friends,

With the festive season just around the corner, we would like to wish all our supporters happy holidays and all the best in 2015. On behalf of all the young people from “Youth 4 Youth” project, we send our warmest thanks (or Diakuiu, as we say in Ukraine) for your generosity and continuous support of this project. Your donations helped us to reach 50% funding threshold and to achieve incredible results which we are proud to report you on.

First of all, at the start of the new school year in September 2014 the project transferred into the second phase: preparation of the young people for a peer-to-peer work in the communities. To facilitate this process, 5-module workbooks and training manuals have been developed both for youth trainers and their peers. The aim was to help and to guide young people in learning and interaction with their peers, nurturing leadership skills and potential. Written in a friendly language with bright illustrations and design, the handouts have been piloted in the regions during peer-to-peer sessions in the summer and received a very positive feedback.   

Secondly, to utilise the best European practice of raising youth awareness on social rights that would suit the needs of Ukrainian youth, we have outsourced and will adapt an interactive game on social rights "Enter Dignityland" that was developed and freely distributed by the Council of Europe (CoE). In November 2014, active young people with alternative care experience participated in additional workshop within “Youth 4 Youth” Project conducted by the Youth Department representative, Council of Europe. In that way, project participants who wish to support peers in fulfilling social and human rights received a deeper insight into the subject, existing policies and advocacy fundamentals.

To support training efforts, a Facebook group have been created as a platform for conversation and sharing experience. Based across 13 different regions of Ukraine, youth participants have actively joined the members-only group and initiated multifaceted discussions on the issues that matter. Introducing social media into achieving project results has helped towards constant, accessible and efficient communication and interaction.

Finally, we would like to hear your feedback: what inspires you to support us? Do you, like us, believe that inspired youth aspire changes? If the answer is yes, why not like our cause on Facebook and spread the word why it matters to support young people without parental care in their transition into independent, successful life.

Their future selves will thank you immensely.

With best wishes for 2015,

Vasylyna Dybaylo, Project Leader

Links:

• On peer work in the field (in Ukrainian)