Most of the children who are placed in children's homes have their basic needs such as food, accommodation, etc. taken care of to a large extent. What they lack, however, is the possibility of get to know the real world and leave their comfort zones by for example traveling abroad and meeting their peers from other countries.
 
Our aim is to take small groups (max 6 people) of these individuals from different national, religious and ethnic backgrounds and give them the opportunity to build mutual understanding, bond and expand their vision of what they can achieve in their own lives.
 
We believe that by connecting young people who share their ideas and thoughts with each other and participate in common activities, prejudices can be overcome. We believe that through this journey they will discover the things that unite them as human beings. At the same time, with the help of an expert and mentors, during the summer camp, participants will focus on defining their future, talents and skills. Based on the data collected, we will then be able to offer them opportunities that will allow them to improve their prospects for a normal life.
 

The first part of our program is an 8-day development camp for youth from a maximum of 6 homes for children without proper parental care aged 16-21. During the camp, the lecturers, through the use of a wide mix of non-formal education methods, experiential learning, discussions and creative workshops, help the participants create an action plan for their future, identify their talents and abilities. The main themes of the summer camp are a sense of self-worth, stimulating curiosity and opening up opportunities.
 
For the past 2 years, we have successfully organized the first part of our Speechless Reconciliation program in the Czech Republic. Over the past two years, 59 individuals aged 16-21 have successfully completed the first part of the program. Most of them subsequently joined our mentoring program.
 
One of our other successes was the launch of the second part of our program, which is the provision of education in the form of online courses and the offer of various internships and jobs within our network of partners through an online platform.
 
For next year, we plan to expand our program to other countries, including the participation of Czech children's homes in cooperation with the Foundation of Veronika Kašáková. The total number of children from Czech orphanages who will participate in our camps is 18.

Unfortunately, without your help, it is to a great extent difficult for us to fulfill the dream of traveling to another country for these children and to facilitate them meeting their peers from other countries. For most children, participating in our camps will be their first experience when they will have the opportunity to meet children from the same organizations from abroad. This experience will help them improve their future prospects and jump-start their development. 

It has changed the way I think about a lot of things and the way I see things mostly. In the long term before the camp, I was quitting on my goals most of the time and I was blaming it on others. Right now, I am more proactive, and I take responsibility for my own acts.
 
Before the camp I was living from day to day. Now I have a set of goals such as video editing and filming and even though I don’t have all the skills I need now I know that I can learn them with the help of my mentor Andrea whom I met because of the Speechless Reconciliation and who became not just a mentor to me but also a friend.
 
Aleksandar have been offered the opportunity of internship in the Wenable Solutions after the camp. He proved to be really good and talented in video editing and therefore he has been offered a paid job in the C9 International.
 
Anastasija Anastasijevic, participant from Serbia
When I was on the camp, I was very motivated all the time. People there were kind, always inspiring us and had answer on all question. After camp, on the beginning, I was confused. I didn’t know how and where to start.
 
How to plan because when I heard more good things, ways, and steps how I can do things, I still had old mindset and after a week the camp was over, I tried to overcome some bad habits. After camp I realized that I desire a good thing in my life. In the camp I got a lot of energy because all mentors were talking about failures and how it is normal to happen. How all people have bad moments in life and that finally I can stop running from my failure.
 
I’m still putting off making the final plan even though I have it in my head because I’m afraid that maybe I will mess it all up, I can’t hang it in the room, look at it all the time, I’m afraid to talk about it, but now it’s in my head and thanks to the motivation I gained on the camp, I can put it on the paper and into the practice. Before, I would just suppress it.
 
Anastasija stated that she really likes communication and diplomacy is one of her topics that she is really interested in. Therefore, with the help of her mentor. She got an internship offer in the European Academy of Diplomacy, where she will work as a social media manager.
 

Testimonials of our group leaders (social workers, psychologists)
Vykinté Beré, Lithuania
Youngsters in this camp get big motivation from the,,speechless'' leaders. Some of them saw an example of what kind of person they would like to be. The program was really helpful to find the strongest sides of themselves. But the biggest impact youngsters mention as all community, meet new friends from other countries. Also practicing English with each other, spending amazing and beneficial time and taking unforgettable memories for the rest of their life. For me, the most significant impact at camp was seeing the changes in our youngsters, and how self-confident they left. 
 

Based on my evaluation, I consider that the Speechless Reconciliation camp had a very important impact on the views of each participant. Now that almost three months have passed since the end of the camp, in almost every meeting that I have with young people who have been participants, the main topic is the camp experience and memories. They have managed to learn a lot about the cultures of the participating countries, many of them have managed to remove any prejudice they had about any participating country. Also, they continue to keep in virtual contact with other participants even after the end of the camp and having friends in different countries is a great thing. As for me personally, I also saw the whole camp and the activities carried out as a unique experience. I met people from different cultures. I also met colleagues from different countries with whom we shared very valuable experiences in the way of working with children who have similar challenges.
 

More information about the program can be found on our website https://www.speechlessreconciliation.org/.
 
Or on social media
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/speechless-reconciliation/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/speechless_reconciliation/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Speechlessreconciliation

For more information about the program you can directly contact us on hello@speechlessreconciliation.org