What we do?

SOS Youth facilities Lekenik

SOS Children's Village Lekenik has three Youth Facilities, one in Zagreb and two in Velika Gorica. The first one, in Zagreb, began working about ten years ago.

Youth Facilities provide home for app. 40 youngsters. They move to YFs after the completion of elementary school, in time to start high school. We are proud of our program of semi-independent living, designed for youngsters who have left YF but still need our support. This program can last up to three years. Counselors who look after youngsters in YFs all have background in social sciences and humanities.

Life In The Youth Facility

Youngsters in the YF have more freedom, but also more responsibility in shaping their everyday life.

During their stay in the YF, all youngsters are encouraged to be as self-reliant as possible, to prepare them for independent life once they leave the YF. Youngsters take care of the household tasks themselves, with some help from counselors, they tend to the garden, even cook sometimes. Usually we have two or three youngsters sharing a room, but after study time they like to gather in the living room, which serves as the common room for all the residents. They watch TV together, make pancakes or surf the net.

We also encourage our youngsters to make friends outside the Facility, and to spend some of their free time at the movies and theatre, in clubs, or simply taking a walk with their friends. They are also free to invite their friends to visit. Our youngsters have a wide array of hobbies to fill their free time, such as football, taekwondo, fitness, dancing, drama school, rock academy, volunteering in other relief organizations etc. We organize team workshops on various topics in the Facility – we already covered such important issues as healthy nutrition, youth and sexuality, prevention of substance abuse, show-and-tells with different guests etc.

Education

All youngsters go to school

All of our youngsters go to school, training for a wide range of professions. We have future hairdressers, sales clerks, nurses, pedicurists, gas fitters, electrical technicians, accountants. The most accomplished students have the opportunity to go on to higher education, so some of our youngsters now study civil engineering, computer sciences, economy, nursing, and in one case, chemistry. We also try to help the youngsters by organizing various courses, as our finances allow, to help them acquire new skills that might be helpful in their future professions. Many of our youngsters have completed foreign language courses, computer courses or driving school. Some of our youngsters study abroad, in institutions such as the United World College in Costa Rica.

Activities

Spending time together is the important part of the SOS idea

We regularly visit the ecological center in Beli on the island of Cres, set up for the protection of one of the most endangered bird species in Europe, the Eurasian griffon. We go rafting and play paintball, and we usually end such days with barbecue for all. We particularly enjoy empirical-pedagogical projects on the river Korana in Barilovići. Velebit mountain is one of our favorite destinations, particularly walking along the Premužić Way and visiting the eco-center Kuterevo, which specializes in protection of bears. Some of our youngsters have enrolled in the Outward Bound School which organizes outdoor survival courses in Ravni Dabar.

Our youngsters regularly attend summer camps in Germany, where they meet peers from around Europe. They also take active part in international conferences that promote intercultural dialogue and rights of children and youth.