Český západ o.s.

The Civil Association Český západ - Summary

 

Helping Romani Community in Dobra Voda u Touzimi and its surroundings

 

Education, employment, free time activities, social services, involvement in public matters, community work, textile work-shop and charity shop. 

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The mission of Český západ

Our mission is to develop civil society in the area of Touzim. According to the members of our association, civil society means such a society where social exclusion is curtailed, manifestations of xenophobia and ethnic intolerance limited and in which citizens show interest in resolving public issues.

 

About Český západ

The civil association Český západ is active in the socially excluded, mainly Romani community in Dobra Voda u Touzimi in the Karlovy Vary region, where it helps the members of this community to take their life into their own hands and not to depend on help from outside. Český západ strives not only to support individual members of the community but also the local community as a whole. It is active not only in Dobra Voda but also in other localities – Nová Farma, Služetín and Bezděkov, where it offers in field social services.

 

The motto of the association

To take life in ones own hands.

 

The seat of the organization

Český západ o.s.
Dobrá Voda 8
364 01 Toužim
Czech Republic
tel., fax: +420 353 391 132
mobil: +420 724 732 247
e-mail: info@cesky-zapad.cz
web: www.cesky-zapad.cz
IČO: 26550334, DIČ: CZ26550334

Bank details

Bank account number: 0803288319/0800
Česká spořitelna a. s., branch Toužim, nám. Jiřího z Poděbrad 101, 364 01 Toužim 

The history of the association

The establishment of the association Český západ was initiated by the trappist brothers from the nearby monastery at Nový Dvůr in 2001. During the construction of the monastery they have noticed the difficult life in the Romani community in Dobra Voda and they have offered work to some men while building the monastery. The civil association Český západ, which started its activity in Dobra Voda at the beginning of 2002, came into being based on this cooperation. The trappist brothers offer financial, material and spiritual support to the association up to this day. The founding members of Český západ were Jan Duncek – representing the inhabitants of Dobra Voda, Jan Lego and Karel Podsednik – coordinators of the employed Romani men.

 

Target group

Dobra Voda is an administrative part of the municipality of Touzim in the Karlovy Vary region. This area has been artificially repopulated after the World War II by new inhabitants. Out of the total of 95 inhabitants of Dobra Voda 78 are members of the Romani community. The whole relatively numerous community resides in a single panel house consisting of 14 small-scale flats. Some of the flats are inhabited even by three generations of tenants. Until 31st October 2005 the city of Touzim was the owner of the panel house. Starting from 1st November 2005 the civil association Český západ, whose seat is neighboring the panel house, has become the owner of the building for a limited period of time.

 

Activities of Český západ

• We provide social services according to Act no. 108/2006 Coll., which consist mainly in social activation services for families with children and field programs.
• We support self-confidence of socially excluded inhabitants and we encourage them to discover their uniqueness, resourcefulness and possible further growth.
• We organize educational and vocational programs, we offer individual education.
• We create work opportunities and we help people succeed on the labor market.
• We organize free time activities as a prevention of pathologic phenomena.
• We involve socially excluded inhabitants into solving problems of community interest, mainly on municipal level.
• We help to raise the standard of social culture (housing, peaceful civic coexistence, etc.).
• We help to overcome communication barriers between the inhabitants of the panel house in Dobra Voda and the representatives of state authorities.
   

Principles of our work

• While doing our work we believe in the beauty and dignity of every man.
• We believe that diversity is not a threat to us, but on the contrary enrichment.
• We do not wish to do work for others; on the contrary, we wish to enable our clients to solve their problems on their own and thus take their life in their own hands.
• We are aware that our work has to support not only the individual but also the whole community which is a source of substantial creative power. In the course of our work we follow principles of community work which help people to discover their abilities and their power, teach them how to express their opinions and needs, overcome passivity and disbelief and start to develop their potential in society.  
• We are trying to attain permanent social change. We try to motivate inhabitants to a common effort when from ideas real plans arise, which are later carried out. 
• We support the principle of equal treatment of ethnically different population and we also fulfill this principle in our personal practice in the long term and care for its observance. Since 23rd April 2008, we are holders of the label Ethnic Friendly Employer, awarded by the civil association IQ Roma Servis from Brno.

 

The main accomplishments of Český západ

• Lowering the unemployment rate of the members of Romani community of Dobra Voda from 100 % in the year 2000 to 40 % in the year 2008.
• Lowering the percentage of transfer of children to special schools.
• Support of secondary and extracurricular education, acceptance of several members of the community to secondary school studies.
• Prevention of socio-pathological phenomena – criminality, truancy, chicanery, drug addiction.
• Representation of the interests of inhabitants in the municipal council of Touzim through the settlement committee ("osadní výbor") of Dobra Voda which was established in 2006 and consists of Romani and non-Romani inhabitants of the municipality.
• Reparation of a panel building in state of emergency in Dobra Voda.

 

How to help to Český západ

For those who consider our activity important and worth of support, we offer several ways of help. You can support us by means of:

• Membership in the Friends Club
• Financial donation
• Material donation 
• Rendering service
• Propagation of our organization
• Volunteering
• Purchase of a product manufactured in our textile work-shop (flaxy bags, aprons, table cloths, tea-cloths)

We would like to thank you very much all of you for support in the past or in the future.

 

Our sponsors

Photogallery

Contacts

 

Download the more detailed document

Jednotný vizuální styl občanského sdružení byl navržen a zrealizován v rámci projektu „Něco se stane! - pilotní projekt návrh postupů pro rozvoj neziskového sektoru a podporu sociální integrace v Karlovarském kraji“ občanského sdružení PROTEBE live. Tento projekt je spolufinancován Evropskou unií a Karlovarským krajem.