Of course, we were afraid. We had been walking in the
forest for three days, we had nothing to eat or drink, and
there were animals. I was looking after my cousin all the
time, making sure he was OK. I was afraid myself.
13-year-old boy from Pakistan
are developed with the participation of family
members with the goal of helping them to
become self-reliant. However, the full imple-
mentation of such plans is often impossible, as
families often move to other countries.
To support successful participation in formal
education, the programme offers a number
of informal educational activities including
language courses and tutoring and organises
recreational activities for children and young
people. A number of targeted interventions
were developed to empower parents as primary
caregivers, including child-friendly spaces, fam-
ily rooms and mother and baby corners as well
as support groups and individual counselling
for parents. Support group meetings are held
by educators and psychologists and focus on
different parenting topics such as child develop-
ment, everyday challenges, cultural differences
and creative activities. Support group meetings
for men and women are held separately. Family
rooms are designed to ensure a proper environ-
ment for joint activities for all family members.
The needs of children are considered and
addressed in individual and family care plans.
96
In addition, the programme works in the
following areas:
• Youth corners offer creative and educational
activities as well as psychological workshops
for adolescents aged 13 to 18 and young people
aged 19 to 30. The goal of such spaces is to
increase self-reliance and improve social and
practical skills.
• ICT corners inside reception and asylum
centres offer IT workshops and enable people
to maintain contact with friends and family.
• The “Super Bus” mobile team offers recrea-
tional activities for children to develop their
motor, social, cognitive and emotional skills.
Psychosocial and pedagogical interventions
and learning through play activities help
to give children a sense of normality and to
reduce stress.
The services are provided by 96 specialists
across 12 locations in Serbia. Staff members
receive group and individual psychological
supervision on a monthly basis, as well as
additional training. SOS Children’s Villages
Serbia regularly monitors the programme’s
activities, including through communication
with programme participants.
The programme is funded by SOS Children’s
Villages International and UNICEF and relies
on cooperation with key stakeholders such as
state authorities and local and international
organisations.