23. 9. 2022.

As part of the project "Prevention and Elimination of Child Marriage in Serbia", trips were organized for girls from Vranje and Kragujevac

As part of social inclusion activities for Roma girls from Vranje, a trip to the "Mišić" zoo in Dulan, which is 8 km from Vranje, was organized. Eighteen girls from Vranje and the surrounding area, as many as there were on this trip, have not yet had the opportunity to visit the zoo, nor to attend an event organized like this. The girls were delighted with the horses, zebra, monkeys and other animals, and as they said, until now they had not had a similar opportunity to socialize with each other outside of their community and school and that they would like to have more opportunities like this to visit different places around Vranje. After the tour of the zoo, lunch was organized in the restaurant that is part of the zoo. We owe a special thanks to the collaborator Marina Damjanovski and the association Glas Vranje for the realization of this event.

On the other hand, and on the second day, girls from Kragujevac, who in the past few months participated in socio-educational workshops on the topic of child marriage prevention, spent a wonderful day socializing and enjoying the natural beauty of Zaltibor. In addition to having the opportunity to choose a destination and to invite other girls and friends with whom they want to spend the day, the girls undertook to call a meeting with their parents, present the trip plan and collect the necessary consents from them, thus making a significant contribution to the organization. We owe a special thanks to our longtime collaborator Emina Nikolić and the organization Romanipen from Kragujevac for the realization of this event.

They visited the Stopića cave, which is one of the most decorated caves in Serbia and at the same time a protected natural asset of exceptional importance, the open-air museum Staro selo in the town of Sirogojno, the waterfall in Gostilje, which is one of the highest natural waterfalls in Serbia, and the attractive El Paso City and really interesting ambient units that are located in it. Children have not had the opportunity to visit these facilities until now, so they really enjoyed and gained new experiences and impressions.

The day was spent socializing, talking about plans for the future and opportunities ahead of them in terms of further development, as well as working to strengthen awareness of the importance of education and acquiring skills on the way to their personal and economic independence.

This social inclusion activity was implemented as part of the project "Prevention and Elimination of Child Marriage in Serbia" financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Serbia and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMZ) as part of the German Development Cooperation programme "Inclusion of Roma and other marginalized group in Serbia", in cooperation with the organization Praxis.