Annual Report 2010 of the Caravan 2000 International Federation.

Caravan 2000 International is governed by the Belgian Law dated 25th October 1919, as modified by the Law dated 6th December 1954. The Association has its registered office in Belgium at B-1000 Brussels, rue du Pène 2. The coordination office of the Federation is located in: D-61440 Oberursel, Bommersheimer Str. 60, Germany, Tel.: +49 (0)06171-9126111, Fax: +49 (0)6171911658, email: info@caravan2000.eu

In the year 2010 the Executive Board continued it’s work. The Board members were:

• President – Magdalena Skiba, Poland,
• Vice-president – Michael Thiele, Germany
• Vice-president – Stefan Rothschild, Israel
• Treasurer – Monika Kaufmann, Germany
• General Secretary – Regis Alvin, France
• Board members – Tarik Bitlis, Turkey, Joseph Borg, Malta, Philippe Mazereau, France.

During the year 2010 the board met twice: in March in Hadamar, Germany and in October in Gdansk, Poland. In addition, the board held four Skype meetings.

The Caravan 2000 International Federation celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2010. The jubilee event series was a little smaller compared to the big movement in the year 2000 and started in March with the conference: “WAKE UP EUROPE” - What place do people with disabilities and disadvantages have today in the house “Europe?”. This conference took place in Hadamar, Germany in March 2010.

More than 30 participants from 10 European countries convened, including professional experts and self-advocates to discuss the social integration of people with special needs in Germany, Europe and its neighbouring countries. The essential messages included in the speeches of the Caravan President Magda Skiba, the former president Michael Thiele and Arnd Kunau, a representative of „People First” were that:
• „Every person is an individual with individuality, identity and dignity and merits the same respect”, • „Every person has abilities and something to share with others”, • „Every person in every country has the right to claim the same basic right as any other citizen of that country“.

As a result of the conference the “Hadamar Declaration” was developed, signed by the participants and sent out to media, politicians, and decision makers. The note is published on our website at www.caravan2000.eu/page/note-of-hadamar.

In April we received the good news that our application for network financing in the frame of the EU-programme „Youth in Action“, which was submitted by Mrs. Irmela von Toerne on behalf of the German Caravan Association, was approved for funding. Over a period of 15 months (May 2010 - July 2011) our activities will be financed up to a total amount of 20.000 €. This includes: (a) The internet presentation of Caravan International as promotion and information material, (b) One General Assembly meeting, (c) One Workshop of the Caravan 2000 International Federation that took place in Bernau near Berlin, as well as (d) One workshop of the Executive Board of Caravan 2000 International in Gdansk, Poland. The Caravan2000 International Federation’s website www.caravan2000.eu, the German Caravan’s website www.karawane2000.de and other promotion and information materials in the form of leaflets and banners in English and German were successfully produced as a result of this project.

In July 2010, IB Brandenburg and the Integration Centre in Neunhagen organized a youth exchange project “Youth, Future and Environment” on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Caravan 2000 movement. Participants from 5 countries met in Neunhagen to work together on the subjects of: composting different kinds of garbage, looking for food in the fields and forests and healthy nutrition from natural resources. Besides IB, the partners in the project were: ALMA (Greece), Dienos Centras (Lituania), PSOUU (Poland), and TOSSFED (Turkey).

The Executive Board of Caravan 2000 International met in October 7-10, 2010 in Gdansk. Using a workshop format, the members discussed key issues: The content of the promotion materials and the website and the desirable direction for future development of the Federation in the next 10 years. This meeting was accompanied by an art exhibition of artists from Baunatal (Germany) and from Gdansk (Poland). The exhibition was the second one in the “One World for All” exhibitions series. Pictures and suitcases from the suitcase museum 'Amos' (Germany) and the works of the Polish artists were put on exhibit in the 'PROM-ART' gallery run by PSOUU in one of the Municipal Halls in the heart of the Old Town of Gdansk. The vice-mayor of Gdansk opened the event.

International activities of the members.

Germany

The Executive Board of the national Caravan Association „Karawane 2000 Deutschland“ met four times and they also held the yearly General Assembly.

The majority of the international activities initiated by IB-Behindertenhilfe, the leading partner of the 'Karawane 2000 Deutschland', were developed in cooperation with partners from the Caravan 2000 Federation. The most important measures in 2010 were: • A professional expert exchange in Riga with the new Latvian partner, the parental organisation Dzivesspeks. • Initiating a partnership with the Serbian city Nis. • Conducting a drumming project “Let’s Get Loud”, with Polish partner PSOUU.

Germany - Turkey

The bilateral cooperation between the German and the Turkish partners of the Caravan 2000 IF led to the development of many different activities: • A soccer tournament was organised in Turkey with the participation of German and Turkish teams. • A rehabilitation centre in Antalya was built up. • An agreement was signed with the University of Akdeniz. • Apprentices in hotel and restaurant businesses underwent practical, professional training in Turkey.

Israel

AKIM Jerusalem is a non-profit parents association providing educational, residential, leisure time and family support services to persons with intellectual disabilities and to their families. AKIM-Jerusalem is the Israeli member of the Caravan 2000 IF and it administered the following international activities: • A foreign volunteers program – a number of mostly European volunteers had a chance to gain experience in their field of study (Social work and Special Education) and to acquire knowledge and skills helping them to complete their academic obligations and individual development aims. During the year 2010 AKIM-Jerusalem hosted young people from Sweden, Germany, USA, England, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Switzerland and South Africa. • Professional exchanges and delegation visits in AKIM-Jerusalem. Four professional social workers from I.B. International in Frankfurt visited AKIM-Jerusalem in the end of November to prepare for two reciprocal exchanges that are scheduled to take place in 2011. These exchanges will include clients and staff from AKIM-Jerusalem who will go to Germany and I.B. residents and staff who will go to visit Israel. • Website and Publicity Film – AKIM-Jerusalem's first publicity film was completed in 2010 and can be seen on the renewed home page at: http://www.akim-jerusalem.org.il/main.

France

During the year 2010, the activities of 'Caravane 2000 France' focused on two main topics: Competence transfer of the staff and possibilities for organizing joint work-camps for the beneficiaries of the partner organizations. • A meeting was held with Amadou DIONE, president of the NGO Concept, Senegal, in April 2010 – aiming at establishing permanent cooperation. • A meeting was held in October 2010 between the Board of EPDEF, France and IB Jugendheim Mühlkopf, Rodalben, Germany. The meeting constituted a continuation of the “Re-discovering cycle”, which aimed at defining a new basis for cooperation that is in tune with the current goals and work methods of both organizations and thus to strengthen their partnership. 'Caravan 2000 France' hosted its German partner in order to explain how EPDEF works and what its future perspectives are. This meeting was also an opportunity to work on a common paper that outlines the process of the future French-German youth exchanges cooperation.

Poland

The Polish Association for Persons with Mental Disability (PSOUU), Polish member of Caravan 2000 IF organized and participated in several international projects within the Caravan 2000 Federation as well as with other organizations in 2010. The main of projects were: • European Voluntary Service (EVS) – project named „Connection against exclusion” – 12 young people from Spain, Turkey, Germany, Ukraine, Austria worked on a voluntary basis in the institutions run by PSOUU in Gdansk and helped people with intellectual disability. The funding for this project was granted by the National Agency of Youth in Action Programme. • “Disabled in Theatre and Music” – a partner project with 'TJ Arts', Scotland and the 'Land of Harmony Foundation', Slovakia. The project included about 50 persons with intellectual disabilities and professionals working with them in the area of art in each country. The funding for the project was granted by the National Agency of Grundtvig Programme: „Long Life Learning”. • „Empowerment trough art for Disabled People” – partner project with 'ONS TEHUIS BRABANT VZW', Belgium, 'ROTONDE VZW', Belgium, 'Asociaţia Tinerilor Europeni Călăraşi 2007', Romania, and 'Primavera 85 cooperativa sociale', Italy. The funding for the project was granted by the National Agency of Grundtvig Programme: „Long Life Learning”. • „Lets Get Loud” – partner project with 'IB', Germany and the 'North West Play Resource Centre', Ireland. The project addressed about 40 people in each country: people with intellectual disabilities and accompanying professionals. The funding for this project was granted by the National Agency of Grundtvig Programme: „Long Life Learning”. • “Europe for Peace”, a “Human rights Project” in which the leading and applying partner was 'IB' Brandenburg, Germany

Malta

The 'Friends of Mount Carmel Hospital Society', Maltese partner of Caravan 2000 focused their international activities in 2010 on cooperation with the European Platform “Mental Health Europe”. Together, they together organized the training for National Focus Points, which Mental Health Europe held in Malta. NFPs from Malta (represented by Joseph Borg, member of the Caravan 2000 executive board), Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium and U.K. particpated.

Bernau bei Berlin 6 May 2011