Children from Caritas visited the editorial office of „Udvarhelyi Hírportál”

Children from Odorheiu Secuiesc, Cristuru Secuiesc and Zetea, participating in Caritas Alba Iulia`s „Rise” project, visited the editorial office of „Udvarhelyi Hírportál”. They were accompanied by youth mentor Zenkő Bekő Fóri and psychologist Dóra Fekete, who work within the framework of the EU-supported „Rise” project to prevent early school dropout among children. Our colleagues strive to make school and long-term learning appealing to the children through creative, educational and entertaining activities, while also presenting possible career paths for them.

Introducing different professions serves as an excellent motivational tool to encourage children to pursue education, as learning is the primary way to achieve the concrete goals inspired by these career options. As part of this career orientation program, the small group visited the editorial office of „Udvarhelyi Hírportál”. The visit is reported below by journalist Előd Gál.

Because what matters depends on who you ask
A story of quiet learning: curiosity can bridge even the widest glacier.

If I had to take just one sentence with me from Wednesday morning’s conversation – when Mária, Anita, Ami, Zenkő and Dóra visited us in our newsroom – perhaps it would be this: what matters depends on who you ask.

The three young girls are participants of the Rise project, an EU initiative, run by Caritas Alba Iulia, aimed at strengthening children’s participation in compulsory education and preventing early school dropout – explains Zenkő Bekő Fóri, the youth mentor working with them. She believes it can be highly motivating for the children to meet professionals from fields they rarely encounter in everyday life. This is why they launched a series of career orientation talks.

„I work with children from the region of Odorheiu Secuiesc: from Zetea, Cristuru Secuiesc and Odorheiu Secuiesc. There are six kids in the group from Odorheiu Secuiesc, but sometimes up to ten attend the afternoon sessions. It’s open to others, too. It just depends on who’s able to make it” – Zenkő explains. She is joined by Dóra Fekete, a psychologist at one of Caritas Alba Iulia`s day care centers. The two programs were combined, as this visit fits perfectly into the summer afternoon schedule of the day care center.

That’s why the girls are here today – although at first, it feels like a glacier stands between us. At least, that’s how it seems to me. I wonder what they’ve heard or experienced about journalists, and I feel a bit tense myself: it’s hard to talk about what I love in my profession when I’m still trying to find my place in it.

The uninhabited island is the solution

At least in breaking the ice, it helps when we all answer the question: what would you take with you to an uninhabited island, and why? In doing so, we introduce the two most important questions a journalist has to answer every single day: what and why.

We also talk about what we like to show about ourselves – and what we’d change in our lives if a good fairy granted us one wish. „That people wouldn’t be so mean” – says one little girl. I can’t help but think of this in the light of their earlier answer –  that they’d like to hide their flaws and only show what they’re good at or what makes them beautiful, like dancing or doing nails.

I think we manage to build a bridge. We show them our work – how we plan a week, how an article is prepared, what our goals are in writing. For example, Emőke shares how one of her articles prompted a hospital to publish its consultation schedule. And by the end of the conversation, I’m reminded why I still love this profession: because no two days are ever the same. Because on Monday I might be learning about blacksmithing, and the next day I could be talking to a space traveler.

Who do they talk to?

During the meeting Mária, Anita and Ami start to open up. We learn about the other places they’re visiting as part of the program – such as the police department, the library, Mini Transylvania Park and the Székelyföld Film Studio – and where they’ve already been. From their visit to the mayor’s office, they recall, for example, that it’s not actually the mayor who is responsible for the roof.

At the end of the discussion, everyone shares what stood out to them most from the morning.

They speak before I do, so I don’t say it out loud, but if I had to take just one sentence with me from Wednesday morning’s conversation  – when Mária, Anita, Ami, Zenkő and Dóra visited us in the newsroom – perhaps it would be this: what matters, depends on who you ask.

Article and photos: Előd Gál
Translation: Karola Bartos-Siposs

The visit was carried out within the framework of the „Rise” project, funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European comission can be held responsible for them.

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