Great summer is behind us and a new school year in front of us. While BMK members are settling back in to their school routine, Status:M is back in full swing. We visited almost whole of the northern part of Croatia to see BMK groups and to make important meetings for future plans of our Youth organization.
The start of the school year was used to visit members of Be a man club in Gospić, Valpovo, Kuršanec and in Zagreb neighbourhood Kozari putevi.
We also had a chance to meet with Institute for public health for Međimurje and Council for prevention for the city of Bjelovar. Our work in Odgojni zavod Turopolje is continuing from last year. We had a chance to hang out with the BMK group there and to talk with the management of the institution about future plans and cooperation.
Gifts for kindergarten Ceferino Jimenez Malla
At the beginning of last week three packages arrived to the Status:M office. In these packages there were toys and clothes gathered and donated by a group of professors and young people from Germany. They were in Zagreb in April of this year to do a research on a topic of youth in trade schools in Croatia. Research trip for this eight member group was organized by the Society for psychological help from Zagreb and they were the ones who invited Status:M to participate, because of our vast experience on the topic of youth in trade schools. The donation was handed to the staff of kindergarten Ceferino Jimenez Malla in Kozari putevi. A visit to this part of Zagreb was also used to meet up with members of BMK Kozari putevi. The group is looking forward to new activities and workshops that will be organized by Status:M.
Great time in Gospić, Valpovo and Kuršanec
On Thursday, 12th of September, we had a privilege to meet up with a great BMK group from the town of Gospić. We first had a productive meeting with professors Željko Žuvela, Dolores Krem and Andrea Rupčić. They all work at Trade school Gospić. After a meeting with professors we had a great time with BMK group. Young men are still full of stories from the summer camps and many of them said that they would like to have an active role in their BMK team.
The next day, Friday 13th, we went both to the north and to the east of Croatia. To the north we visited Primary school Kuršanec, Family Centre Kuršanec and had a chance to hang out with the members of BMK Kuršanec. Both school and Family centre staff welcomed us full of great experiences from the cooperation in the past school year. The principal of the OŠ Kuršanec, Marija Tapalović summed up her experience like this.
– You are always welcomed here and we hope that we will continue working together in this small community, said principal Tapalović during the meeting in which we reflected on the results of the past cooperation. There was also talk about the future cooperation that could take place in Kuršanec.
At the end of our visit we gathered the BMK Kuršanec group and they were given t-shirts that were printed out just for them in mind. This young group, that is going to high school next year, can’t wait for the new Status:M workshops and activates to begin.
On the same day part of the Status:M team went to the far east of Croatia. In Valopovo we had a chance to talk with the pedagogue of High school Valpovo, Zdenka Lončarić and 23 members of the BMK group. The team we had a chance to talk to was excited to continue working through organizing workshops and spreading the program to primary schools in the area. Pedagogue Lončarić said that she sees a great deal of change in some of the BMK members and that she is really pleased with all the activities and cooperation done so far.
Important meetings in Čakovec and Bjelovar
Beside the privilege to hang out with a great group of young people from different BMK clubs all over Croatia, we also had a chance to go on meetings with some old partners and some new ones, with which we are planning new activities and projects.
In August Status:M went to the town of Čakovec, to have a meeting with the Institute for public health of Međimurje. A very productive meeting was focused around organizing a teachers training in Čakovec. The best way to show how this meeting was productive is the fact that the organization of the teachers training is in the final stage.
Similar meeting was organized on the 4th of September in Bjelovar. Council for prevention in the town of Bjelovar showed great interest in organizing teachers training and preparations for this event are in full swing.
In the end, but not in any way less important, Status:M continued cooperation with Odgojni zavod Turopolje. In the last two weeks a series of meetings was held, all with the goal to continue and improve our cooperation and working together. Status:M team also had a chance to spend some time with the BMK members who are stationed there. We had a chance to see that they are highly motivated to continue working on workshops and other activities organized by Status:M.
Watch out for new news soon so you could see the results of this trips and meetings. Our team is not a closed community so you are very welcomed to join us and contribute to this small but strong team.