IBC General Secretary Anne Babb and IBC Programme Officer Mirjam Schmitz recently visited our member organization and project partner Blue Cross Poland in Bielsko-Biała and Pszczyna. Blue Cross Poland is our partner in a new prevention through Life Skills education programme aimed at teenaged refugees from Ukraine and their local peers in Poland and Romania.
During their visit, Anne gave an intensive practical training for the new Life Skills facilitators. She also met with the Head of Education and Sport of Bielsko-Biała municipality to present the project and learn about the local specifics. Another item on the programme of the visit was a stakeholder consultation, which took place in a very warm and inclusive atmosphere highlighting the strong social integration component of the project. It was attended by a diverse range of local stakeholders, including Polish and Ukrainian organisations, local politicians, parents and youth. During the meeting, the participants discussed local problems and their causes and effects on communities and individuals and mapped risk factors for vulnerable youth as well as positive resources available to them.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the whole Blue Cross Poland team and to Roman Wojnar in particular for the warm welcome in Bielsko-Biała and Pszczyna and the smooth collaboration in this important starting phase of the project!
