Civil Society Awards

This year, in early summer, just as every year since 2002, civil society awarded prizes to its elites.

Christine Leșcu, 19.06.2013, 11:41

This year, in early summer, just as every year since 2002, civil society awarded prizes to its elites. 220 projects developed by organisations from the non-governmental field ran in the “Civil Society Gala”, held at the National Opera House in Bucharest. The best projects running in the 17 sections of the competition received prizes. Apart from them, a Grand Prize was also offered. Sick children, young artists, lonely old people as well as abandoned parks and endangered ecosystems received support in 2012 from some of the associations that were awarded at the “Civil Society Gala”.

We hope to be able to recapture for you the special atmosphere of the gala, introducing to you some of the winners. The first prize of the “Education, Learning, Research” section went to the “Little People” Association for the project “My school in hospital”. Actually, the “Little People” Association grabbed most trophies, five of them, and not only for the project entitled “My school in hospital”, but also for “Paralympic Champions”, the “Brave-Hearted Magazine” and “I’m not afraid!”. Under the project entitled “My school in hospital”, the winner of the Grand Prize, the association offered assistance to various children hospitalised in oncological facilities, for them to keep up with their colleagues in school, thanks to the lessons taught in hospital by volunteers of the association. Attending the award winning ceremony, Oana Rusu, press officer of the “Little People” Association said.

We share this prize with all the children who believe in the importance of school. We thank you for supporting us every time we take a child by the hand, on the way to school and teach him or her that, no matter how difficult it is for them to face the situation, they need school and education. It is extraordinary what happens in hospital. Children can return to school and can attend classes alongside their classmates, without having the feeling of being left outside.”

In the “Arts and culture” section, the first prize went to the project “Young talents”, developed by the “Princess Margareta of Romania” Foundation. For several years now, budding musicians and fine artists lacking financial resources, receive scholarships in order to continue their artistic education. Mugurel Margarit-Enescu, director of the “Princess Margareta of Romania” Foundation has further details on the support granted to young people.

It is an extremely beautiful project, which is very close to our hearts and offers a chance to talented young people, who were born into families without financial means. Without this support-scholarships, guidance and promotion- they will get lost, and it will be the loss of the whole of Romania, which will be deprived of the beauty they create. It is a project initiated and carried out in keeping with the Royal House’s tradition to support culture”

With few green areas and parks, some districts in Bucharest also lack fresh air and properly laid out playing grounds for children. Showing a lot of civic spirit, the inhabitants of a district in Drumul Taberei set up an association to lay out a park between blocks of flats. Their effort was rewarded and they won the first prize in the section “Civic behaviour and public participation”. Delia Mihalache, a member of the Callatis-Drumul Taberei Civic Initiative Group won the trophy for modernising the Istru park.

We dedicate this prize to those who defend another park, namely the Gezi Park in Istanbul, as they equally defend their right to live honourably in their own country, the right to be consulted when decisions that affect them are being made. We hope that this prize will open for us and other interested citizens the doors of the public meeting halls of the City Hall of Bucharest”.

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The “Health” Section boasted two first prize winners, at the Civil Society Gala: the “Sf.Irina”(St Irene) Foundation for the project “Alleviating the suffering caused by cancer” and the M.A.M.E Association for the project “Childhood should not be spent in hospital”. The “Sf.Irina”(St Irene) Foundation develops palliative treatments for people diagnosed with cancer. Ema Madalina Popescu, the president of the foundation said:

“I thank you on behalf of those suffering from cancer, who discretely experience the trauma of suffering, abandonment, indifference and the discomfort they bring to those around them. Our team finds it increasingly difficult to counterbalance the total lack of interest shown by the authorities, who seem to live a life marked by the hallucinating myth of eternal youth and deathless life.”

Maria Culescu, the founder of the M.A.M.E Association, knows from her own direct experience what it is like to live your life in a hospital. That is why, through the project “Alleviating the suffering caused by cancer”, she periodically organises various workshops, events and shows meant to reduce the amount of stress induced by treatment and to make children forget about pain and disease. A child’s smile is the perfect reward for all the efforts that are being made. Then, it’s time to express gratitude. Maria Culescu.

“I was lucky to be surrounded by colleagues who supported and loved me, mainly because I am a former patient suffering from cancer who dedicates her life to those suffering from cancer…I thank the team, our sponsors and partners.”

Environmental protection projects are on the agenda of many NGOs in Romania. So, this segment was also covered by the Civil Society Gala. The first prize in the “Environmental Protection” section went to the “Save the Danube and the Delta Association” for the project “ Hunting hunters in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve”. Through this project, the association militated against all attempts at making hunting in the Delta legal again. The association says that the reintroduction of hunting parties may affect local communities, which rely on the resources and opportunities offered by biodiversity. Upon receiving the prize, Liviu Mihaiu, the representative of the “Save the Danube and the Delta Association” thanked all NGOs active in the field for their annual efforts.

“My plea is not destined for the team together with which I’ve done so many things during this campaign. My plea is destined for civil society, whose members are here, in this room. In this country, we have plenty to do, in the next 50 years, to repair what has been damaged.”

Carried out under the slogan “Good can be sensational, too”, the Civil Society Gala this year saw a record number of projects running in the competition, which comes to confirm the vitality of a sector, which, in spite of scarce funding sources continues to offer support to many underprivileged categories of the population.