On Thursday, 29.09.2022, at the Star of Hope Center in Dimăcheni (Botoşani) and at the Star of Hope Valea Seacă Center (Bacău), the closing event of the “Active Social Inclusion through Local Development” project took place simultaneously with the financial support of Active Citizen Fund Romania, program financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014-2021.
The event was attended by representatives of local authorities, teachers, volunteers, students and other members of the two communities. At the conference in Dimăcheni, we were honored with the presence of Tiberiu Manolache (sub-prefect Botoşani), Doina Nacu Manole (director of DGASPC Botosani), Valentin Alexandru Colbu (deputy director), Marinel Moruzi Marinel ((mayor of Dimăcheni), Maria Pintea (vice-mayor of Dimăcheni) , Dumitriţa Bidalac (educational adviser), Aurora Vatamaniuc (executive president of Star of Hope Romania Foundation), while in Valea Seacă were present Ion Pravăț (mayor of Valea Seacă commune), Daniela Rău (principal of Secondary School no. 1 Valea Seacă), Ion Lepșa (vice-mayor of Valea Seacă commune), Gabriela Răducanu (Star of Hope Romania Foundation program director and project coordinator) and last but not least Elena Motaș (representative of Iași Prefecture and President of the Ursari Roma Association from Dagâța).

The atmosphere was really festive and not boring at all. The guests had surprises prepared both by the mothers (who happily showed the carpets woven by their own hands in the project) and by the children, who amazed the participants with a surprising and original dance (Umbrella Dance). It was the way in which the children and mothers chose to thank honestly for all the benefits they had by participating in the activities within the project.
The aim of this project was to increase the capacity of vulnerable groups, including Roma citizens and young people, from the inter-ethnic and underserved communes: Valea Seacă (Bacău) and Dimăcheni (Botoşani) – in order to minimize exclusion and social injustice and develop integration skills.

The project helped 170 people (of which 15 will be young people and 50 Roma) at risk of poverty or social exclusion to participate in actions to increase capacity and integration skills. It provided social services through education and skills training activities to a number of 77 vulnerable adults (of which 28 young people and 53 Roma). 80 children (of whom 50 Roma) in risk situations benefited from social services by providing educational activities – “School after School”.
2 Community Consultative Committees were established and 10 community actions were carried out. Also, equally important is the online platform https://dezvoltarelocala.ro/ developed within this project and which is updated automatically, ensuring simple access for anyone.
It should also be added that, during the 20 months of project implementation, the children benefited from “School after School” education services, and the adults – from support for education and training, support for increasing capacity and skills of integration. Tailoring workshops were organized to develop the professional skills of adults, and the ladies of the two communities showed great interest in learning a trade and making useful things for their own households.
The establishment of the Community Consultative Committees led to an increase in the self-confidence of the people of the two communities. Later, the problems of the locals in Valea Seacă and Dimăcheni were analyzed and debated with a view to solving them within some community actions, 5 actions in the community of Valea Seacă and another 5 actions in Dimăcheni. Also, the representatives of the advisory committees participated in the meetings of the City Council and represented the voice of the community presenting their needs and the problems they have.

The project is implemented by Star of Hope Romania Foundation in partnership with Association of Roma Bears from Dagata with the financial support of the Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014-2021.