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NGO reaches out to students abroad

Group looks to improve social work education

By Hela Balínová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 27th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Jakub Dvořáček, Caritas's program director, is working on an education project in Mongolia.
Talk about learning by doing. A project launched recently by a Czech nongovernmental organization is giving university students in Mongolia a chance to gain firsthand experience in Central Asia’s social and healthcare service scene.  
Caritas Czech Republic — or Charita Česká republika — is one of the country’s largest NGOs that focuses on social and healthcare services. The organization first began its operations in Mongolia in 2006 when it submitted a bid on a four-year internship project for students of social work and for workers of NGOs.
The main goal of this 12 million Kč project is to improve the quality of education for future social workers but, at the same time, to organize regular training for employees of different Mongolian NGOs.
“Within this program, we want to create the methodology of internships for student,” explains Jakub Dvořáček, Caritas program director, who first visited Mongolia as a university student back in 1999. “Social work has been taught at Mongolian universities for 10 years or so but still represents something very new and unusual, and it is missing its identity and own literature.”
Caritas partnered with Ulaanbaatar University, in the country’s capital city. Last February, the Czech NGO opened the Caritas Centre, a quiet 150-square-meter space near the campus dormitories with six computers and nearly 1,000 reference books, in an effort to give students the resources they need to improve their studies.
“The dormitories are in horrifying shape, with rooms that must have only six square meters, and there are four to five people living there, sharing one table.” says Dvořáček, who thinks that almost all students attending social work programs visit the center regularly to study from foreign books and find online sources. Caritas hopes to use this space also for various lectures and discussions.
In addition to the work space, Caritas is helping students land two-month internships with one of the 19 local NGOs cooperating with the program, including the National AIDS Foundation, the National Center Against Violence or Center for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.  
“We currently have 30 students with internships, and we are hoping to extend this number.” Dvořáček says.
Students receive a small stipend from Caritas when they sign up for internships. Participating NGOs also receive financial support, Dvořáček notes.  
“The amount should cover the wage cost of an employee who is guiding our student,” Dvořáček explains.
In their final report, students specify and describe in detail what they accomplished during the internship. They are also encouraged to point out what works well in that particular organization and what could be improved. The best reports are often published, Dvořáček says.  
“We are trying to create a background for literature related to social work written by local experts in Mongolian, because so far, they just have to use foreign literature, “ Dvořáček adds. “But this is a completely different culture and mentality, and you just can’t take some methods from the Czech Republic or somewhere else and apply them here. It just doesn’t work like that.”
The project is supposed to run until 2010, but Dvořáček suspects Caritas will ask the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry to extend funding for the project. Mongolia belongs to a group of eight countries the Czech government had targeted for long-term development cooperation. Thousands of Mongolians studied in Czechoslovakia before 1989, and it is estimated that some 12,000 Mongolians speak Czech. Officials at the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry say they are hoping projects like the one Caritas is overseeing will help maintain relations between the two countries. In addition to Mongolia, Caritas has also done humanitarian outreach in Georgia, Sudan, Ukraine and Sri Lanka.
Started in 1918 as Czech Catholic Charity, the organization’s efforts were restricted to the publication of religious literature and caring for old nuns and clergy following the 1948 communist coup. The group started gaining momentum after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, eventually rising to become the country’s largest NGO with a focus on humanitarian aid at home and abroad. In 2007, its name officially changed to Caritas Czech Republic.
Dvořáček says he is hoping this latest Caritas effort with Ulaanbaatar University will one day be run solely by local Mongolian agencies.
“Mongolians are a very proud nation. They are aware of problems, and they try hard to improve the current state of things.” Dvořáček says.
In addition to resource development, Dvořáček says Caritas is hoping to establish a Web magazine with Ulaanbaatar University students. The first issue would focus on psychology and social work in Ulaanbaatar. Its print version is expected to appear on news stands at the beginning of next year, Dvořáček says.  
The magazine will not only enable students and social workers to publish their work, reports and findings, but it will also provide a space for promoting social work studies both at NGOs and universities.
Finally, students will also staff a newly opened Czech Center in Ulaanbaatar where anybody who is interested in working or studying in the Czech Republic can come and ask questions or attend a course in basic Czech. But this is definitely not the last project Caritas will run in Mongolia, Dvořáček promises.   
“The people there like Czechs and, for us, it is a great opportunity to show the world what Czechs are capable of; that we really can help people in need,” he says.
Jan Oulík, a spokesman for Caritas, says his organization is always looking for help. Applicants or volunteers, he adds, should be courageous, committed and have good managerial skills. They should speak also speak multiple languages — other than English. And it is preferred if those who are interested in helping to promote Caritas’ goals have some previous experiences with humanitarian work or studied humanitarian or social work in university. For more information, visit www.charita.cz.  

Hela Balínová can be reached at hbalinova@praguepost.com


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