Dringend gesucht: Helfer_Innen für Ethnopoly 2016

Sport – The Bridge organisiert Ethnopoly dieses Jahr bereits zum vierten Mal und sucht für den Spieltag am Freitag, 29. April 2016, noch dringend ein paar HelferInnen zur Unterstützung des Organisationskomitees.

Ethnopoly ist ein interkulturelles Begegnungsspiel für SchülerInnen und MigrantInnen, bei dem die emotionale Erfahrung im Mittelpunkt steht. Diese positiven Emotionen helfen Berührungsängste abzubauen, Vorurteile zu überdenken und senken die Hemmschwelle zur Kontaktaufnahme mit Menschen aus anderen Lebenswelten.

 

Der Ethnopoly Spieltag findet am Freitag, 29. April 2016 in Bern statt!

 

Rund 200 Schülerinnen und Schüler der 5. bis 7. Klasse besuchen in klassendurchmischten Vierergruppen Menschen zu Hause oder an deren Arbeitsplätzen. Diverse “Posten” werden von Institutionen zur Verfügung gestellt, die im Migrationsbereich tätig sind.

Zur Unterstützung am Spieltag selber aber auch für kleine Vorbereitungsarbeiten in den Tagen vor dem Spieltag suchen wir zahlreiche weitere Helfer und Helferinnen, u,a. als Begleitpersonen für die Schülergruppen.

Für folgende Arbeiten benötigen wir zusätzliche Unterstützung:

  • Begleitpersonen für die Spielergruppen (jeweils 4 Kinder)
  • Betreuung der Quartierposten – Schülerinnen und Schülern kleine Aufträge erteilen, Kontrolle der Aufgaben etc.
  • Öffentlichkeitsarbeit – Passanten und Passantinnen das Projekt erklären, Flyer verteilen, Leute ansprechen etc.
  • Start und Ziel – Material verteilen, Gruppen betreuen/informieren, Anwesenheits-Kontrolle, etc.
  • Aufbau und/oder Abbau – Zelte und Tische auf/abbauen etc.
  • Foto-Team – mit eigener Kamera gute und aussagekräftige Bilder der Posten, Kinder etc. machen

Falls du Teil dieses aussergewöhnlichen Projekts sein möchtest, freuen wir uns über deine Anmeldung unter folgendem Link: http://goo.gl/forms/HfqxWuEGbN

Mehr Infos zu Ethnopoly unter: http://www.ethnopoly.ch/index.php?id=547

 

Wir freuen uns auf dich!

Ethnopoly’16 Team

 

« Fotbal pro rozvoj » – New visions for youth work in Czech Republic

Swiss Sport – The Bridge members Samuel Bieri and Thierry Graf currently participate in a 3-day workshop on football for development in the Czech Republic. Organized by INEX-SDA, the workshop is part of a partnership programme set up between both organisations and funded by the Swiss-Czech Cooperation Programme. [25. February, Thierry Graf, Chotěboř, CZ]

The Czech association for voluntary activities INEX-SDA leads an annual one-month summer campaign together with Kenyan NGO Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), where they organize football tournaments and other football for development activities in different regions of the Czech Republic. Starting in 2017 these activities should be expanded on several months during the year. Thus, a new concept has to be found.

In order to develop new concepts and concrete measures leading to the expansion of football for development activities, INEX-SDA initiated the partnership with Sport – The Bridge. It consists of three workshops happening between November 2015 and June 2016. Sport – The Bridge’s role is to transfer specific know-how on how to use football for tackling social issues (KRAFT model) as well as giving inputs on the implementation of the new expanded program (Laureus Street Soccer by infoklick.ch).

Workshop participants include project responsibles and volunteers from INEX-SDA, social workers from different regions of the Czech Republic as well as experts from both countries. In short, three main goals are on the agenda. First, provide social workers with a sport-pedagogical tool for their needs in the daily work with clients. Second, plan and implement a nation-wide street football league for youth at risk. Third, strengthen the cooperation between beneficiaries, young leaders, the Czech « low-threshold clubs » (similar to youth centres), INEX-SDA as well as international partners.

Štěpán Kyncl, project coordinator at INEX-SDA for «Fotbal pro rozvoj» (Football for Development) says: «I think the process is going well. Having the Swiss experts here is something new and unique for us and our partners. I feel that there is a lot of contribution and plenty of inspiration, as they have a lot of know-how and experience. They are also helpful in mirroring our thoughts assisting us to gain a critical view on our ambitions. The main principle of this partnership is to further develop football for development activities. From this point of view, I am happy that also our Swiss partner takes some inspiration back home. This all constitutes the big added value of this partnership. »

Interesting enough, the 2012 Eurocamp in Poland organized by streetfootballworld laid the ground for this Czech-Swiss partnership as volunteers from both organisations were involved there. Three years later, this friendship lead to launch a fruitful partnership. Moreover, it turned out that both organizations were indirectly linked through their ties with East African Sport and Development programmes. Sport – The Bridge runs a long-term programme for street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and INEX-SDA has a strong partnership with MYSA, one of the biggest sport association worldwide working with youths. As both African organisations work together in the East African streetfootballworld network, it became time for their European counterparts to strive for a direct partnership.

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STB-Stamm

Auch im neuen Jahr treffen wir uns wieder zum gemeinsamen Stamm, um zu plaudern, zu lachen und Neuigkeiten von Sport – The Bridge auszutauschen.

Der Stamm ist jeden zweiten Monat am ersten Mittwoch des Monats, konkret an folgenden Daten:

3.2./6.4./1.6./3.8./5.10. und 7.12.

Wir treffen uns jeweils ab 19.00 Uhr im Lehrerzimmer in Bern: www.lehrerzimmer.be

Alle sind herzlich willkommen!

STB Neujahrsessen, 7. Januar 2016

Liebe Mitglieder und Interessierte von Sport – The Bridge

Diesen Donnerstag findet, wie jedes Jahr zur äthiopisch-orthodoxen Weihnachten am 7. Januar, das Weihnachtsessen von Sport – The Bridge im Restaurant Injera statt. Wer Zeit und Lust hat, spontan mit dabei zu sein, kann sich bis kommenden Mittwoch, 6. Januar 2016, bei info@sportthebridge.ch anmelden.

Wir treffen uns ab 18.30 Uhr im Restaurant Injera, an der Gesellschaftsstrasse 38, in Bern.

Wir freuen uns über alle, die spontan Zeit finden, mit uns in den Genuss von äthiopischen Köstlichkeiten zu kommen!

 

Herzliche Neujahrsgrüsse

Vorstand Sport – The Bridge

 

Weihnachtliche Bastelarbeiten aus dem Malatelier in Addis Abeba

Tigist, die Kunsttherapeutin von STB in Äthiopien, hat mit den Strassenkindern in unserem 1. Jahresprogramm einmalige Unikate erstellt. Dekorieren Sie Ihre Wohnung, Ihren Weihnachtsbaum oder Ihre Geschenke damit!

Zögern Sie nicht und richten Sie Ihre Bestellung unter Angabe des gewünschten Artikels, Anzahl und Lieferadresse an: shop@sportthebridge.ch

 

Weihnachtsdekoration

 

Grosse Weihnachtskugeln / bunt, diverse Einzelstücke / 4 Stk. = Fr. 20.00

Grosse Weihnachtskugeln / bunt, diverse Einzelstücke / 4 Stk. = Fr. 20.00

Kleine Weihnachtskugeln / uni, bunt, teilweise mit Glas / 7 Stk.  = Fr. 25.00

Kleine Weihnachtskugeln / uni, bunt, teilweise mit Glas / 7 Stk. = Fr. 25.00

 

 

Weihnachtsdeko_2

 

 

Weihnachtskarten

Melaku, Yohannes und weitere Kinder haben zudem schöne Weihnachtskarten gemalt. Auf  www.petiteposte.com können Sie diese direkt online und per Post verschicken oder zum Selberschreiben nach Hause bestellen.

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Geschenkurkunden

Erfreuen Sie jemanden mit einer solidarischen Geste: Unterstützen Sie ein Strassenkind ganz konkret mit einer Spende in deren Namen. Als symbolisches Geschenk überreichen Sie der beschenkten Person eine Geschenkurkunde mit deren Namen drauf.

 

Gesundheit 1 Jahr lang Zugang zu persönlicher Hygiene und medizinischer Versorgung (Fr. 50.-)
Bildung 1 Jahr lang täglich Unterricht in Schreiben und Lesen (Fr. 80.-)
Sport 1 Jahr lang täglich sportpädagogisches Training zum Wiedererlenen von sozialen Werten und Normen (Fr. 120.-)
Familie 1 Jahr lang Begleitung und Coaching der Familie eines Strassenkindes (Fr. 200.-)
Ernährung 1 Jahr lang täglich zwei Mahlzeiten (Fr. 300.-)

 

Bestelladresse: shop@sportthebridge.ch

Bitte Namen der beschenkten Person angeben!

 

Cooltour 2015

Beitrag von Thierry Graf

Ende Juli 2015 fand auf dem Campingplatz Eichholz in Bern bereits die siebte Durchführung des speziellen Sommerlagers „Cooltour“ statt. Cooltour wurde 2009 als Partnerprojekt durch den Verein Blindspot initiiert und Sport – The Bridge beteiligte sich auch 2015 an der Durchführung.

Cooltour 2015, Copyright by Blindspot

Cooltour 2015 (Copyright by Blindspot)

Die 76 Kinder und Jugendlichen mit und ohne Behinderung verbrachten eine spannende und intensive Ferienwoche mit selbst ausgewählten und trendigen Workshops, die sie aus einer Vielzahl von Angeboten auswählen konnten. Die in diesem Jahr erreichte nationale Medienaufmerksamkeit bestätigt den nachhaltigen Erfolg des Lagers und motiviert uns, weiter im gesellschaftlich wichtigen Bereich der Inklusion von Menschen mit und ohne Behinderung engagiert zu sein.

Die Foto-Gallerie mit Impressionen vom diesjährigen Cooltour-Lager finden Sie unter folgendem Link: Cooltour 2015

Mehr Informationen zum Lager und zu Blindsport finden Sie auch hier:

NFC 2015

STB organisierte zusammen mit dem Swiss African Forum das interkulturelle Fussballfest “Nations & Football – The Cup” (NFC) zum ersten Mal als Grümpelturnier.

Am 25. Juli 2015 spielten Menschen aus unterschiedlichen Lebenswelten in sieben Mannschaften nicht nur um den Sieg, sondern sie spielten und begegneten sich auch, um gegenseitiges Verständnis und friedliches Zusammenleben zu fördern. Das „Team Algeria“ bezwang im Final – nach sechs technisch hochstehenden Vorspielen – die „Afghan Boys Bern“ und wurde als erster NFC-Grümpelturniersieger von zahlreichen Zuschauern bejubelt.

Unterstützt wurde dieser einzigartige Integrationsanlass durch den Anne Frank Fonds, die Reformierten Kirchen Bern-Jura-Solothurn, die Aids-Hilfe Bern, Otto’s Warenposten und die Migros. Präventionsarbeit vor Ort leisteten das “GGG-Fon – Aktion gegen Gewalt und Rassismus”. Herzlichen Dank an alle, die diesen Anlass finanziell, materiell oder mit ihrer Teilnahme unterstützten!

Team "Afghan Boys Bern"

Team “Afghan Boys Bern” (2. Rang)

Team "Algeria"

Siegerteam “Algeria”

The story about Melaku*, his process and the daily work in Sport – The Bridge

Beitrag von Céline Nadine Michel

I would like to visualize the work with street children, the difficulties, challenges, the future of them and the satisfaction of the work from the employees. All presents it by a biographic story from our street child Melaku who had been well reintegrated to his family in February 2015.

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Some personal dates about Melaku

Age: 13 years old

Family: Parents are alive, 2 brothers and 2 sisters

Place of residence: Harar

Duration of stay in Addis: Since 2012

Melaku lived three years alone on the street of Addis Abeba, he travelled to the city by mini bus, without any knowledge about Addis Abeba. He imagined a better life in the city than in his countryside region. Unfortunately the challenges started as soon as he arrived: no living place, any support from adults, just him-self and the street. So, he started to get in touch with other street children and he made some contacts, as well he got some bad influences from them. Melaku started Glue sniffing to protect himself from the coldness of the nights and to forget everything.

Two years ago his life changed, a Sport – The Bridge Staff worker picked Melaku up on the street and he started to join the project from Sport The Bridge.

Some statements from the Staff workers about the beginning challenges with Melaku

“Attention deficient, as a result of drug intoxication. Resistance in the form of being absent, coming late to the counseling sessions.” (Health Department Psychologist Lastawusih)

“Melaku did Glue sniffing throw the night so he did not sleep, the consequences on the Compound were, that he slept the whole day long. Especially on Monday he could not participate our hygiene program, for example when we negotiate him to wash his own clothes, he started to sleep on it.” (Health Department Nurse Sister Aselefech)

“To settle a goal with Melaku was very difficult, he did not attend our appointments and he could not express how his future could look like.” (Family Department Daniel)

General difficulties of the work with streetchildren from different aspects and Department workers

“The biggest challenge to work with street children is to get their trust and so that they don’t drop out from our Project after some days. Our main goal on the sportsfield is to teach them the KRAFT Module, we expect from our children a lot of concentration when we have our discussion times, for every child it is at the beginning very difficult to pay attention, to stay calm and as well to teach how important the positive behaviors are. The last difficulty after the reintegration to their family is, that they follow their families rules and not going back to the street of Addis again.” (Sport Department Teacher Girmay)

“Sometimes it is a challenge to cook for street children because you never know how many are coming to the Compound, we need to calculate everyday for how many people we should cook. There are the staff workers who are eating on the Compound, the street children, the street kids who are sick and need food for the evening and as well we are sometimes giving food out for our follow up children.” (Nutrition Department Elsa)

How Melakus process changed into a positive way

At the beginning of the work with Melaku it took everybody of the Staff workers a lot of energy, to get in touch with him, to get his trust and to show him better possibilities of life. The duration to reach the point of the reintegration was almost two years. A big process happened when Melaku came one day to the Compound with a hematoma on his head. Somebody on the street hit him by a stone. So there was a need to handle and Melaku had been treaten by medication. The decision from Sister was to put Melaku to the Shelter (a place away from the street where the sick child can recover). From now on, Melaku took everyday his medicine and he was away from the Glue, his physical and psychological health condition changed immediately. He started to follow the schedule of the Compound, he did not sleep anymore during Compound time and he could follow the program.

“One of Melakus strengths: He had a relatively strong perceived self-efficacy.” (Health Department Psychologist Lastawusih)

“He started to look strong for playing, he started to participate on daily hygiene program, his face looked happy, he could smile for some whiles, as well he went to eat without any disturbing.” (Health Departement Sister Aselefech)

“At eating time suddenly Melaku`s behavior for disturbing changed, he ate in a silent way and enjoyed his food. When he took Glue I could observe he had no interest for food even no appetite.” (Nutrition Department Elsa)

“I observed a physical process from Melaku on the Sport field as soon as he was clean from Glue and he slept in the Shelter, he started to be active and very strong on the sports field he was able to follow our sport activities”. (Sport Department Teacher Girmay)

“Melaku was suddenly interested in joining the meetings we had together and we could start to settle a goal for his future.” (Family Department Daniel)

February 2015, Melaku expressed the wish for going home

So, there is now the last step to do for the Staff workers, the Family Department workers planned the trip to Harar, Harar is 250 km away from Addis Abeba, for bringing Melaku back home to his mother, to his family and his social network.

Melakus Feedbacks about the Sport – The Bridge Project

“The reason for me to stop Glue sniffing is: I know now the side effects from it. My favorite lesions in the Sport – The Bridge project were Karate and painting. I can say, I learned from the sportsfield a lot about acceptance. For me the Shelter was a place to recover and have time for myself and at the end to get away from Glue. I am excited for going home, to see my siblings and family. “

About the reintegration in the view from the Family Department workers

“The reintegration with Melaku was good but also challenging, the kid was joining our project two years long, we could observe many behavioral problems and he was not able to tell us properly his family situation as well we did not know his address. There was no other option for us than to go to Harar and check the situation. When we arrived we were not able to find his mother, but as soon as we found her, we recognized that she was living with some other individuals and also she does not have any job, she lead her life by begging on the street. Then we were fried to convince the owner of a home to give them the chance to start a new life with their own home. Because in this situation, the mother was living as well on the street there was no possibility to reintegrate Melaku. Our solution was, to take them to the Kebele (which is the government office), there we have been told as soon as they get an identification card, they can rent a home. But without starting capital there is no hope, many phone calls we needed to help them and at the end we covered their rent for the next 6months and we bought for them some necessary materials like blankets, mattress, dishes and so on. For the future we were tried to advise his mother to start working to support her child and also herself. At the end the government gave us a positive response and they will help them for the future even for the rent as well for starting a little business.“ (Family Department Daniel and Syatayehu)

My wishes for Melaku

“Many things which are positive are all my wishes. For the short term: I wish to him to regain the strong positive relations with his family members and being able to stable at his home. I wish also his strengthen against rejection to the substance abuse. For the long term: I wish him to join formal school and enjoyed with the fruit of wisdom and knowledge, a competent and moderate person for others.“ (Health Department, Psychologist Lastawusih)

My satisfaction in my daily work

“I feel very happy if I see our street children with a smiling face and they are playing together and they can forget for some moments their challenges and their problems.“ (Health Department, Sister Aselefech).

“Since 14 years I am working for Sport The Bridge, I like and I choose the right profession for me, because the people are appreciate my cook, we do our best for a high quality, quantity and hygiene.“ (Nutrition Department, Elsa)

“When the children are feeling happy, we can support them to solve some problems, if they are satisfied with our service, that makes me satisfied and happy in my job.“ (Sport Department Girmay).

“The story about Melaku made us very happy, this is our daily work and this is one of the good examples which gave us mental satisfaction.“ (Family Department Daniel and Syatayehu)

Melaku

 

Challenges and solutions in providing counseling services in Sport –The Bridge Ethiopia

In the last article of mine under the title – aim of counseling; I promised to come back with some actual experiences. In that article I tried to discuss the aim of counseling from the perspective of Sport – The Bridge (STB). Here I would like to highlight on the major challenges I have been facing and the actual solutions I am using to deal those challenges in the provision of counseling services to the street children and their parents
It is obvious that in any activities challenge are inevitable to happen. Hence if to face a challenge is not a surprise, the main point is how to solve these challenge could be a major agenda. In my counseling service provision experiences for my clients, I have been facing so many challenges and got stress how to solve it accordingly. Here after I would like to point out some of the challenges I have been facing and the prospective solutions I have been following so as to deal it in the case of STB.
Dear readers, let you know that if you have any comment, please I appreciate to accept it. In addition to introducing my activities, the main objective of this article is to get some ideas which I couldn’t see yet; hence feel free to share your ideas.

The very infant nature of the profession of psychology in general and counseling service in particular
Psychology in general and counseling service in particular is an infant but a growing profession and service in Ethiopia. The significance of the counseling services is not as much known and with misconceptions by the general population as comparing to other professions and services. This reality was also becoming true in Sport – The Bridge’s collaborators (such as Family integration workers) and beneficiaries; especially at the beginning of my work experiences in the organization. Hence, easily accessing the counseling service has been a major challenge for the beneficiaries and collaborators. By realizing this challenge, I designed two important strategies so as to attract and sufficiently providing the service of counseling to my potential clients and achieving the main goal of counseling in Sport – The bridge.
The first one was to assess the level of understanding of the staff on psychology in general and counseling psychology in particular. Hence based on my assessment result, I have been prepared a continual training sessions so as to minimize the misconceptions and boost their awareness to the service and easily understanding the psychological concerns of the children. Based on these consecutive sessions, I found a sound result which I really want to achieve. The number of clients who are coming through referral system by the collaborators to the counseling service has been increasing from time to time; which could be my evidence that I could be successful from this strategy.
The second strategy was creating awareness both for the children and their parents as they could understand the service. After the children are selected and got stability in Sport- The Bridge, I always try to explain who I am, my profession and my services in the organization. I also have an opportunity in the tutorial class (1)  to promote and explain all my services to them. Hence just like the first strategy, I found also an encouraging results; the number of clients who are coming based on their will to the service increasing from time to time.
Drop out and/ absenteeism
Drop out and absenteeism is the major challenge both for the program of STB in general and my service provision in particular. Even though we do have a lot of experience to work with street children, it is still difficult for us to forecast that one child could stable until he/she maintain his/her and the organization’s goals. Suddenly in the middle of his/her stay in STB, he/she may drop out from the program b/s of many reasons. On the other hand, they may also be able to not follow the actual schedule for counseling when they are absent from the compound for a short while.
So, for the children who are absent in the compound, I try to continue my service provisions by rescheduling, as a compensation session for the actual schedule, while they are actually presenting again. The compensation sessions could be rescheduled after we had a discussion and common consent for it.
Resistance
Resistance in a professional way means an assumption that both a dispositional trait and an in-counseling state of oppositional, angry, irritable, and suspicious behaviors as a reflection of a client’s unwillingness to change and grow within counseling. So, in my experience with street children, most of the time, I have been facing resistance in the form of deliberately absent from the counseling session, unable to talk and suspiciousness to the growing counseling processes. Such kind behavioral manifestations are mostly observed by children who are ordered or referred by a third party to enter to counseling. Since they are not there of their own will, these clients are often reluctant to be there and can show very obvious resistance to the process. Hence to resolve this challenge I aware the collaborators on the necessary requirements before they are sending the children to the counseling. Based on their established relationship, the collaborators are aware of how to reach a common agreement with the children on the importance to go to the counseling services. Hence, the resistance is relatively loosened after the referral body wins the client’s consent to go to the service.
On the other ways my clients also show some sort of resistance to the emotional pain that change demands. Clients such as children with substance use problems can be unwilling and opposed to change even if it is what they desire, as change can be difficult, emotionally painful, or scary.
Lack of supportive environment
Because my clients lack supportive social and physical environment on the street, they may get little out come from the counseling service provision. Hence, to resolve this challenge, I always try to provide very clear and applicable techniques as a home work to be done outside of the counseling sessions. And as I recognized their source of social network is emanating from their friends on the street, I always searching ways from it. I use also STB’s shelter as an immediate solution for the rehabilitation purpose from their problems such as drug use problem and psychological trauma which they may face on the street.
Inappropriate physical setting for counseling service provision
Sport- The Bridge is running in a very crowded compound. So the counseling room is not situated far from the outside disturbances, which challenge the service to be accessed for a longer hours per a day. Hence to reduce this problem, I tried to recognize a calming time when I could provide the counseling service such as at the tutorial class (1)  time.

Dear reader, I hope now you got some kind of impression on challenges and the prospective measures taken in the provision of counseling service in the case of STB Ethiopia. I believe I will return back with other story in the near future. For the time being let me end up here. Thank u!!

 

By: Lastawusih Takele (counseling psychologist)

 

 

Tutorial Class (1) : The informal teaching and learning program which is running in every afternoon (from Monday to Friday) for the first year children of STB.