In the reality of the refugee camp, where people and circumstances are often changing, Caritas team of psycho-social support is, among all, taking care of the little ones. Although there is still no official school in the camp the members of the team are trying to teach children through play and also to make them socialize with other peers.

“Children should feel happy and have the will to learn together with us and with each other. Our mission is to engage children to get friends and be accepted for who they are. They all are the same, valuable and they should be treated like this, with respect and kindness. We want children to have the courage to tell their emotions and teach them to be respectful and kind with each other”, said Mimoza Fazliu, psychologist in the Caritas team of psycho-social support in Presevo.

Her work is supported by her colleague – social worker Arta, who regularly completes the careful plan towards the educational and psychological development of children.

“The first six years of a child’s life have e big impact in shaping the human personality. At this age lay the foundations of education at the child’s further life. It’s very important for the child to grow up in an environment full of information and stimulated actions, like simple games, logic games, drawing and learning children’s songs. Children of this age should have diverse experiences, where through the games we can stimulate them towards their emotional development, their social and intellectual maturity”, says Mimoza.

The team is also doing meetings and individual conversations with refugees from the camp, that need their help to overcome their difficulties. Their colleague Arabic translator helps them with those who don’t speak English.

“Our communication with their mothers has been very important. Among them, there were divorced women as well women who lost their husbands during the war. Throughout our experiences in the camp, we have had disabled people, children with Down syndrome, children with mental illnesses, children with Autism, hyperactive children as well as children that had lost parts of their body during the war.

One day, when we were interacting with children, a little boy showed us his 4 wounds from the surgeries, that looked still fresh. This child had not eaten anything for 3 days, and the only thing he asked from us was some food, so we provided food for him and fed him.

We are glad that children are open with us and with other staff members, but on the other hand they are more shy in the interaction with other children, so we also want to focus on their socializing”, said Arta, the Caritas social worker in the Presevo camp.

The work of this team, as well as another one present in Belgrade is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Caritas Germany.