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Jewish Communities International Center for Children and JDC Europe Conference Empower Community Professionals with Education and Best PracticesAs part of its mission as a training center, the Jewish Communities International Center for Children and JDC Europe hosted twenty-three child care professionals, coordinators and senior staff. The four day seminar held in Budapest was the first part of a three-part training series focusing on the theme "Addressing Children's Needs in Inclusive Jewish Communities." The participants represented Jewish communities from Hungary, Italy, Latvia, France, Romania, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey and Uzbekistan, as well as Israel. The organizers of the seminars hope that each session will build upon the previous one. At the end of the series, participants are expected to present a paper/project. Ultimately, JDC’s goal is to provide change and innovation in dealing with children in Europe. It should be noted that the International Center for Children, in addition to providing training, also serves as a clearinghouse, an initiator for pilot projects and a Center resource development training. Throughout the four days, participants benefited from interactive sessions with highly regarded academics and professionals in the field of children. They also were exposed to a variety of Jewish perspectives including community building in the 21st century. It was emphasized that a Jewish community is caring, inclusive, democratic and effective and that members play a major role, rather than just created institutions, in shaping the community gestalt. On a more macro level, a Hungarian sociologist and advisor to the Center, outlined the major challenges facing Europe today, including the current state of massive poverty. More specifically, during communist times social, educational and welfare services were free. Currently, rising costs exacerbate the market systems and as a result, children are suffering, in part, because parents have lost their sense of security. Discussions arose related to how the Jewish community could address these challenges. Some solutions bandied about included: Creating community and family based programs which are developed in conjunction with family units. Against the backdrop of major changes sweeping across Europe, the participants, at the close of the seminar, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to convene in such a professional and substantive atmosphere. Overall, the seminar was very well received. In the written evaluations submitted at the close of the seminar, one participant from the FSU wrote, "As a result of this training, I was able to become acquainted with professionals providing services in Italy, Turkey, Romania and Hungary and, in addition, perspectives of European experts. The in-depth discussions with colleagues were informative and our visit to the Jewish school and kindergarten were also quite worthwhile." A participant from Turkey exclaimed, "I found the opportunity of meeting young and senior professionals working together sometimes under very demanding conditions and reaching high standards very rewarding and inspiring." February 2007 |
