A year of living in solidarity: lessons from social engagement in the midst of Covid, as seen by People in Peril

EESC Info asked People in Peril (Človek v ohrození), Slovak winner of the EESC Civil Solidarity Prize, to tell our readers how the project was born, how people have responded to it and how the prize money will help their organisation grow. Director Andrea Najvirtová answered our questions.

What prompted you to start your project?

People in Peril is one of the few organisations in Slovakia that combine humanitarian aid abroad with the fight against poverty in our own country. The onset of the pandemic a year ago disrupted all our work. The situation in marginalised Roma communities looked alarming and we had serious concerns about the health of the people we have been helping for a long time. As an organisation that has helping people in its very name, we decided to focus our help on people living a life of exclusion.

How has your project been received? Have you received any feedback from the people you helped? (Can you give us an example, if you have any?)

People particularly appreciated the jerry cans with taps on them, which enabled households without running water to store water hygienically and have a ready supply of it. Because a lot of families lost income from short-term work and the shops were either closed or far away, the personal care kits with shampoo, soap and other necessities were also a great help. At a time when administrative buildings were closed, our community centres continued to provide day-to-day advice and help people get their bearings, enabling them to sort out a range of difficulties. Children were also happy with the school materials at the beginning of the school year, and everyone very much appreciated the face masks with which they could protect themselves and be less fearful of transmission of the virus.

How will you use this specific funding to provide further help in the community? Are you already planning any new projects?

The funding received will enable us to respond flexibly to the ongoing needs of people living in social exclusion. At the moment, for example, we are planning to ramp up education in digital skills so that children and young people from excluded backgrounds can also take part in online distance learning and acquire the skills needed to get a job. The funds will also help us cover the costs of arranging the provision of assistance.

What advice would you give to other organisations in terms of achieving results with such activities and programmes?

The ongoing pandemic has an impact on society in its entirety and has brought about a whole raft of new problems. What worked for us was that we were able to focus our assistance on the area in which we have been working for a long time, so we know people's needs, and also that we were able to quickly shift track and redirect our activities to where they were most needed.