The second performance in the prison – 2021, Romania

Location: Buziaş Educational Center, Buziaş, Florilor street no. 14, Timis County, Romania and Online, through Zoom platform. 

The purpose of this performance was to present to a larger audience the results obtained regarding the development of positive interaction frameworks between Roma young prisoners from Buziaş Educational Center and students from the West University of Timişoara during the six educational and artistic workshops (D3.4) organized between October 2020 and January 2021.

The event was attended by 105 persons in total: beneficiaries of the project (young Roma prisoners and student volunteers), and relevant actors and local stakeholders: employees of Buzias Educational Center, representatives of the Police, of the Probation Service, teachers, Social Work students, and representatives of other private organizations providing educational and support services to the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

The event comprised: a presentation of the project and its philosophy (held by the local coordinator of the project, Assoc. Prof. Lazăr Theofild Andrei), the presentation of the Buzias Educational Center and its beneficiaries (held by the commander in charge, Cpt. Simonneti Valdora Marina), and the presentation of the activities that took place within the program Common Spaces in Prison 2020-2021 (held by Assistant prof. Trancă Loredana, Researcher and trainer). Additionally, the volunteer students involved in the project presented a summary of each workshop and the young Roma prisoners attending the program provided their feedback-about the activities.

The event was also used as a practice model regarding the organizing of educational activities in an on-line format, in order to enhance the perspective of the participants regarding the potential of this format of delivery. In order to stimulate the imagination and involvement of the participants at the event, a replication of a selection of games and exercises (coordinated by Assoc. prof. Baciu Elena-Loreni, Researcher and trainer) used within the 6 workshops took place, involving all participants: description of personal aspects and their symbolization through drawn images; the random wheel of challenges and creating a story in which the authors were the participants themselves.

The event concluded with a Q & A section and the collection of feedback from the participants. Participants were able to express their views or address questions, observations during a special session.