"For me, happiness is when someone says a kind word to me",
"If I could give everyone on earth something, I would give them bread",
Like many other moments happened in Archita village located in Mureș county, in the first implementation year of the project "THE BARN: Experiential Laboratory for Inclusive Civic Engagement", run by Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation from January 2021 until December 2023.
The impact of the project is already visible, with children participating and learning many new things at the non-formal education workshops with various themes held with the help of volunteers of the Foundation.
A. held a wooden rabbit that Nea Viorel helped him make at the fretwork.
I. wove a miniature carpet from soft, colorful yarns and M. put on a real karate costume for the first time and learned some kata.
They and other children enjoyed the carousel of experiences that the project brought right to their village: meeting dance troupes, athletes, craftsmen or professionals in different fields, with whom they got involved in games, projects and mini-competitions.
Having access to all these new experiences, working together as a team, they grew up under the eyes of the Foundation members, they got courage to try new things, and all this changed them a lot. And the project team feels that it has strengthened the community of the youngsters in the village, who are now used to working and having fun together, as a family.
The project „THE BARN: Experiential Laboratory for Inclusive Civic Engagement” responds, in an integrated way, to the community’s needs identified during the meetings with the inhabitants of the village in recent years: the need to strengthen the community, the creation of an infrastructure necessary for civic involvement, the organization of extra-curricular activities and socio-cultural inclusion of vulnerable groups. The project includes the development of a non-formal programme of inclusive civic education, the establishment of the Civic Activism Club, „THE BARN” (ȘURA), the facilitation of dialogue between institutions and community members, advocacy exercises and actions, as well as exchanges of experience with civil society organisations in the area. The project rehabilitates and refurbishes a barn in Archita village, with the aim of creating a multifunctional community space that will foster interaction between different social categories and activate the civic involvement of the community. The BARN will therefore be open for community programmes as well as cultural events for locals and tourists. A Civic Activism Club will be set up for children and youth from Archita, who will be encouraged to get involved in educational-civic-creative activities. They will actively participate in the development of a sports field and an interactive themed garden.
Their story. We tell it to you.
Of the silent characters in the village of Archita. They are the former proud village barns, built of stone, with very thick, large walls, unique in Transylvania and Romania. These barns are the emblem of the village and remind us of the former wealth of the inhabitants of the village. Many of them are abandoned and are irreparably deteriorating. The project „THE BARN: Experiential Laboratory for Inclusive Civic Engagement” will save one of these jewels! The project gives young people the chance to practice active citizenship and a place for all the meetings was needed. So, this is how this barn, which has stood the generations for so long, will become a multi-purpose community space in a few months' time. Everything is made with traditional materials and techniques. The barn will be repaired, rebuilt, and refurbished to host community events in a welcoming environment that the community will feel they own in common.
