The Charity Project Group (IWA members with an interest and related experience within the NGO field) did an extensive project during 2008 lead by a professional non-governmental organization (NGO) coordinator, analysing numerous local charity organization and their proposed submitted projects. The objective was to identify local charity organizations and projects to work with on a long-term basis. Based on the outcome of this project the IWA decided to support and fundraise money for the following identified partner charities.
Poraka Negotino
Poraka Negotino is a day center for people with mental disabilities. Poraka (meaning “Message” in Macedonian) provides a safe and engaging environment for special needs children (>5 years old) and adults from Monday to Friday for 8 hours per day. The Director, Gordana Trajkovska started the center when she realized how many children in the community were isolated at home due to their parents’ fear or unwillingness to integrate them into society at large. The center addresses several very important functions in the community, including:
- Raising local awareness of the challenges people with mental disabilities face;
- Providing relief for families struggling economically or emotionally (caretakers can seek other employment or have important time for themselves if provided a regular break); and
- Encouraging the independence and integration of people with special needs as much as possible (center activities include light gardening, cooking, cleaning, arts & crafts, physical exercise).
For more information on Poraka-Negotino, please write to email: negdailycentre@yahoo.com
SOS Children Villages
The SOS Children’s Village in Skopje employs social workers and other professionals to help families at risk. IWA is pleased to partner with this professional and passionate group of people who are intimately acquainted with their community. They have done a stellar job of introducing families in their neighborhood to social services they were not aware of, or taking advantage of.
As an example of their important work, the first project we contributed toward was a group of seminars helping locals to understand and address health and societal issues contributing to a deterioration of their family lives.
SOS Skopje is a “village” overseen by SOS Kinderdorf International, an Austrian social development organization acting for children. More information on the parent company as well as the Skopje village is available at www.sos-childrensvillages.org.