Udruzenje Prijateljice obrazovanja Amica EDUCA

Association Friends of education - Amica EDUCA

Mrs.Selma Alicic
Klosterska 13
Tuzla 75000
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel: +387 35 248 910
Fax: +387 35 248 911
e-mail: educa@bih.net.ba;
www: amica-educa.com.ba

History

Association Prijateljice obrazovanja Amica EDUCA is registered in January, 26 1996. as a local nongovernmental organization but was founded in September 1996 as foreign nongovernmental organization Amica SCHWEIZ when it started its activities.

Main act

At present Amica EDUCA realizes its activities through structural projects, of which majority is financially supported by Switzerland donors. Some activities are implemented on voluntary basis.
Work of the organization is focuses on the following:

Education (seminars)
Amica EDUCA pays a lot of attention to implementation of new educational methods, not very known in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its spreading in the various field: pedagogue, psychology, medicine, social work, and economy. Seminars are organized in cooperation with the professionals from abroad and local professionals educated in our house. Some seminars are lead by staff of organization.
Amica EDUCA enables professionals to experience the learning process on themselves and that improves their competences and professionalism in the work with people.
Education of adults has been organized by Amica EDUCA since 1996 continuously.

Support to individuals and families
Amica EDUCA has been implementing the project of support to the individuals and families through various group activities, including the SOS project activities, continuously from the beginning of its work. Adults are enabled to improve their own personality by developing their social competences and to associate with others in different group activities. Women and children, victims of violence are provided with counseling, psychological support and occasionally with the legal support.

The Lifelong Learning Festival in B&H
In order to motivate the citizens to continuous improving their own capacities and vocational education, to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning in society development and to influence the establishment of adult education law in Bosnia and Herzegovina Amica EDUCA has been organizing the Lifelong Learning Festival in B&H since 2000. Project activities promote various educational activities; introduce the importance and various forms of lifelong learning to the citizens through different manifestations. The Festival is result of the joint activities of the network of organizations. Networking of the organizations in B&H is initiated by Amica EDUCA in 2001. Amica EDUCA is also initiator and organizer of the project on the state level, conveys the experience to the members of nonformal network, gives support and monitors them. The patrons are Ministries and media on the state level, thus it covers the territory of B&H in whole.

In addition:
We are active in work groups of the network Referentna grupa that include 69 organizations in B&H;
We have established the cooperation with the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation of Tuzla University in the project of training of students in creative methods of group work.
We have proposed the establishment of Adult Education Law in Tuzla Canton. Our intention is to follow the work of the Government of Tuzla Canton concerning this law.
Amica EDUCA is a member of the working group for preparation of creation of adult education law in B&H that was formed by OSCE
Amica EDUCA is a member of the working group within Gender project of UNDP in B&H;
We are implementing the project with the Primary school G.Rahic, Brcko District. Amica EDUCA provides financial and professional support to the school to open the painting studio for pupils. Three of the teachers were trained in our seminars for the work with the pupils in the painting studio.

Cp projects

Mrs.Selma Alicic

Intenational projects

1. Project Educational program (Educational support to the citizens of Tuzla Canton)

The objective is to contribute to introduction of innovative approaches, knowledge and skills to psychosocial work through education of multipliers.

Seminars, workshops are implemented in the house of Amica EDUCA and participants are professionals from municipalities of Tuzla Canton. This project has been organized every year from beginning of the work of Amica EDUCA. Some of the general results of the project are:
-Approximately 25 to 35 seminars/workshops have been organized every year
-The professional competences of beneficiaries are improved and burnout is prevented
-The multiplier effects in local community are confirmed and the number of potential educators is increased
-Local educator started to lead workshops and seminars;
-Seminars have been organized in different regions of B&H (including the Republika Srpska) -The beneficiaries are more competitive on the job market (young people initiated new projects and gained employment faster)
-Employees of the governmental organization are also beneficiaries of the Amica EDUCA program;
-Pedagogical Center signs certificates of our seminars together with Amica EDUCA;
-The continuity of the project is provided
-Amica EDUCA is a leader of this project. Managing the activities, animation of the participants, organization of the seminars and workshops, monitoring, evaluation, following and the participants needs are completely in responsibility of Amica EDUCA. Some of the seminars are lead by personnel of Amica EDUCA, some by foreign and local trainers.
-Amica Educa has recently become certified on European level for Personal Business Skills seminars.

Considering that these seminars are non-formal type of education they are sketched as:
1. organized process with educational objectives
2. participatory and participants-oriented
3. preparation for and contribution to active citizenship
4. established on individual as well as collective learning with the collective approach
5. integral and process-oriented approach
6. based on experience and work and focused on participants´ needs.


These seminars include following topics:
• Nonviolent communication
• Creative expressive painting
• Family dynamic
• Dances of universal peace
• Art-therapy
• Positive Discipline
• PBS (Personal Business Skills)
By complementing each other, formal, nonformal and informal education jointly strengthen the elements of lifelong learning process. Amica Educa organizes these seminars and they are well known and recognized as skilled education by Pedagogical Institute Tuzla.


2. Project Psychosocial program: Support to individuals and families though group and individual work

The objective of the project is to support individuals and families (especially families with disturbed structure and relationships) who are in social need through providing the services of counseling, psychosocial support and therapy with the application of the innovative and alternative methods.
The realization of the project is located to the region of Northeast B&H. Some of the activities are implemented in Amica EDUCA house and some in other parts of the region.

Some of the results of the project are:
-Within this program 14-16 groups of participants (total 300-350 persons) convene every year.
-Persons joining the groups have improved their social competencies, regularly preventing stress,
-Beneficiaries recognized effects of continuous group work, regularly joining groups animating other beneficiaries.
-Beneficiaries of psycho-social support, particularly for domestic (family) problems, PTSD and violence address Non-governmental organization sector and Amica Educa,
-Activity through SOS phone contacts includes beneficiaries from rural areas and motivates them to undertake initiative toward self helping process,
-Specter of problems that make people seeking help has been widening. Women and children, victims of violence more and more use SOS phone contacts as a possibility of getting support.
-Family violence is not a taboo any more. Governmental and non-governmental sectors initiate joint activities which purpose is to prevent violence and to ensure adequate treatment for victims of violence.
-The final beneficiaries, especially women, victims of violence have been taught to take over initiative toward self-helping process or methods.
-Amica EDUCA is leader of this project. Following needs of beneficiaries, instigation of beneficiaries and group forming, organization and workshop performance, this all is entirely within our responsibility

In addition to activities connected to projects, a continuous program of support to individual and family encompasses the following:
1. Individual and group psychotherapy
2. Recreation gymnastics
3. Yoga
4. Reiki
5. Meditation in movement
6. Relaxation massage
7. Neuro-emotional integration (NEI)
8. Workshops for children: Creative expressing


3. The Lifelong Learning Festival in B&H

The Lifelong Learning Festival is manifestation of the network of the governmental and nongovernmental organizations and individuals that supports and develops the awareness about the need for lifelong learning and gives contribution to quality and joy of living by promoting the educational activities.
That is a mission of the Lifelong Learning Festival that has been organized every year since 2000.
Strategic objectives of the project:
1. To promote the idea of lifelong learning and improvement of the quality of life by including the large number of beneficiaries.
2. To initiate the creation of the positive legislative procedures that will improve system of education and create conditions for the lifelong learning
3. To promote the Festival and lifelong learning through media with the aim to gain the support from the local and international community.
4. To form coordination body with the purpose of establishing network structure and mechanisms for continued communication and exchange of information.
5. Strategic strengthening of the network and the competence of certain segments of the organization
Specific objectives are being set every year and are in accordance with the actual situation in the field of education
The purpose of the Festival is to connect relevant actors in education, to support educational reforms in B&H and to activate and include governmental organizations into the struggle for establishing the adult educational law.
Amica EDUCA is a leader of the project (initiator and organizer of the project activities on the B&H level) and coordinated all activities.

Publications

9 brochures Life Long Learning Festival in BiH (first brochure published 2000.)
Brochure- Creative expressive painting of the children with special needs
Brochure- Art therapy techniques of form drawing in work with children who have special needs
Brochure- Creative expression by painting as a method of communication
Brochure- To dance (Dances of Universal Peace)