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Your Good Neighbor

Your Good Neighbor: We are where (small) big things happen

Doing things otherwise is not easy because, to be honest, a willingness to understand something we are not used to is a societal quality that we should work on. Every day we learn to push the limits of our courage and do what we believe. There are many determined, courageous people all over Slovakia who deserve attention and support in how their own otherness drives them to do small, big things. You know, that's exactly what we want to build. That is why we stand by them.

Slightly more beautiful Christmas to children’s homes

In balancing that very special year of 2020, we realized how lucky we are. Despite the fact (and maybe that’s why) that year was surprising, emotional and maybe a little scary for all of us, we learned a lot. For example, thinking about others is the right way to bring a little joy to cloudy days.

Many state institutions throughout Slovakia lost their sponsors as a result of the pandemic, who largely helped them to ensure the smooth running of financial donations. Among these facilities were the Children’s Home Nádej in Bernolákovo and the Center for Children and Families in Podunajské Biskupice. It is not an easy situation to be responsible for 70 children and not to know what will happen next. We know we didn’t save the world, but we still wanted to help. Our partners will playfully manage it without Christmas presents and attention because we have decided to invest this money much more sensibly – we have dedicated them where their value will increase a hundredfold.

In Bernolákovo we continue with a common garden for children

In addition to the financial gift, we successfully managed to perform the operation Cleaning the Cabinets and collect a fairly decent amount of clothes and toys from all of us. However, our help does not end here, and we must say that we are probably looking forward to it the most. In Bernolákov, children have a large garden behind the house, which currently resembles a neglected courtyard as a place to spend time meaningfully. That is why we agreed with Mrs. Renáta Fabová to draw a new garden for them.

Architects from our partner studio A3 Architekti, who managed to assemble parts of the yard so that their children of all ages can find it in the fresh air, gave us a helping hand in the design and simple projection of the garden. A small house, a sandpit, swings, and climbing frames will grow in the shade of the trees. The existing gazebo will also get a new breath, and in cooperation with our partners, we will also create a new streetball court. We are looking forward to it!

Rozmanita: Kvalitné vzdelanie v rozmanitej komunite 

We like bold ideas and even better people who are not afraid to make changes – for the better. One such change is the Diversity Project, which aims to build a sustainable future through inclusive education. Behind this idea is the determined Anna Symington-Maar, who is also behind the Rainbow Family project or the Pontis Foundation’s Future Otherwise program.

The best way to prepare humanity for an uncertain future is its own diversity.

Rozmanita je pomerne ambiciózny projekt, ktorý reaguje na súčasnú podobu spoločnosti, kde sa všetci podvedome we follow the socio-economic background and keep our distance from people who “do not fit into our model of normalcy”. The goal of inclusive education is not only at the level of preschool children but also in adulthood to teach us to be more collectively connected, more empathetic, fairer and thus gradually create a more sustainable society. The project is divided into several steps over a period of several years. The first step is to start kindergarten in September this year. According to Anna, the capacity of kindergartens only in Novo Mesto – Bratislava will manage to admit only 50% of 3-6 year old children who enroll in kindergarten and 265 children were not admitted at all.

You can imagine how demanding such a project must be not only financially but also in terms of time or humanity. Find a suitable place for the kindergarten, get teaching staff, set up basic management, not counting the cost of external communication or iron reserve. It simply cannot be done without a helping hand, we are very well aware of that. Therefore, and also for our personal involvement in this part of the city, we decided to help the Diversity project. We want to help you find a suitable space for the needs of a new kindergarten and also design work within the transformation of these spaces. We hope that the circumstances will be favorable to us.