When on one morning last July our staff working at Medgidia shelter found in front of the gate 6 children waiting for them, then we realized that we succeeded.

These children, indeed, were amongst the 1.500 pupils from all the primary schools in town who attended our educational program “Become a responsible owner” and they came to the shelter to get to know some of our dogs, which Alexandra, our teacher, was talking about during the classes. (more…)

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They got involved, excited and learned to love animals.
Starting from last January, 1500 children attending elementary schools in Medgidia followed the educational programme led by Alexandra.

4 hours of lessons to learn respect for all animals in an original way: didactic materials were the prints provided by the Organization WSPA but especially the stuffed animals donated by our supporters, which enabled the children to learn as if they were playing.

And, of course, this experience couldn’t end without a small but important event: a contest to choose the best poetry and the best drawing dedicated to a dog.
The prize-giving ceremony took place on Friday 22nd June in the presence of the teachers, some parents and the children, enthusiastic and amused. The children placed first in the two categories were Andreea and Stefania for the drawing and Costel Alexandru and Claudia for the poetry, but all received a prize. For their engagement, for their niceness, for having involved their families and having brought home the values learnt during our lessons. We are indeed convinced that those who learn to love and respect the weakest are all winners.

And what prizes did our little artists receive? School bags, drawing pen, pencils and stickers, but the most appreciated were the colourful and often giant stuffed animals offered by our Italian supporters! To check all the event’s pictures please visit our gallery.

We firmly believe in this project and think that a positive and lasting change could be carried out only by new generations.
For this reason, if sufficient funds will be available, next year we would repeat this experience extending it to the city of Cernavoda as well.

Please help us to carry forward this important project: to be present in the country. Education in schools is an extremely important project for the Romanian context as well as a due action to complete and to make more effective our work with animals. If you want to give a contribution, please make a donation stating as reason for payment “Educational project”.

bambini · educational project · kigs · Medgidia · progetto di educazione · WSPA

On last January 16th an educational programme aimed at the children attending elementary schools in Medgidia has been launched. Thanks to an Italian foundation’s financial contribution, STD has been able to train and employ a part-time teacher in charge of the lessons. Alexandra (here depicted with her students) took part to a training course organised by the English dog welfare charity Dogs Trust, and then tailored the contents to the specific Romanian framework. The international organization WSPA provided us with a free layout for printed didactic materials, while the stuffed animals that are given the children have been generously offered by the Italian supporters.

The purpose of the programme – which foresees 4 hours of lessons each class within January and June 2012 – is teaching the children to be conscientious masters of their own dogs, recognizing their needs and respecting them as sentient creatures. During the lectures, Alexandra discusses about straying and birth control, animal welfare and STD’s tasks in the country. Several children have succeeded in convincing their parents of sterilizing their own pet, and our trainer is surrounded with enthusiasm. All the schools in Medgidia have joined the initiative except the Muslim school, although we hope to persuade the relevant school principal soon. At the moment the project is financed for 6 months, however we would like to go on involving Cernavoda’s schools. For the summer we have foreseen a range of outdoor activities, such as visiting our mobile clinic, which may be parked in schools’ courtyards, and STD’s sterilization centre.

We strongly believe that among the desks that we involve today there are the volunteers of tomorrow, those who will promote change in these towns which are still culturally backwards but enclose a high potential in future generations. On this potential STD intends to invest its future. To check all the pictures please click here. See below the short reportage (in Romanian) made by local broadcast Alphamedia: 

You can give your contribution to the educational programme by means of the usual terms of payment on STD’s account.

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On the occasion of the European year of the volunteering, elementary and middle schools in Medgidia have decided to go and scout the non-profit organizations in the area.

So, for the first time, the doors of our shelter and spay and neuter center were open to the kids, who – with our veterinary Alina as their special guide – have discovered that there is a voluntary organization that takes care of the animals living in their town. Alina has explained the activities undertaken by STD to prevent the phenomenon of stray animals focusing on the topic of the “responsible owner“, a fundamental concept that will hopefully form the subject matter of a course implemented in the town’s schools.
The children from the primary school Constantin Brancusi and those from the vocational schools Nicolae Titulescu (118 pupils in all) have also collected bags of food for our four-legged friends.

After visiting, some students expressed their wish to become volunteers and began to regularly visit our shelter, walking the dogs awaiting adoption. These are the first Romanian volunteers of STD, nine years since the beginning of our activities.

We hope this is the start of a progressive involvement of the new generations in STD’s projects, in a country where volunteering is in its infancy and has great need to be promoted.

To see all the photos of the meeting with the children of Medgidia, please visit our album on Facebook.

cani · dogs · elementary school · Medgidia · middle school · scuola elementare · scuole medie · student · studenti · VOLUNTARIAT · volunteering