1. CHANGING TRADITION
•Project status: FINAL SUBMISSION
•Name of project: Changing Tradition
•Team leader: Elena Nikolovska
•Impacted underprivileged group of youth: abused young people
•Number of people in the team: 1
•Volunteering hours spent: 30
•Number of youth impacted: 2
•Period of project/action: 1 month

2. As I walked down the street last night I
saw a young girl sitting on the sidewalk
in tears. It was late night and freezing. I
sat down next to her and asked if she
was ok. When she turned her face at me
I noticed that she was all bruised and
bloody. “I’m fine” she answered quietly. I
just hugged her and covered her small
shaking body with my jacket…

3. When she had enough strength to tell me the whole story, I ended up in tears.
You see, she was only 15 and yet her words sounded like she was 60 with a
terrible past and no future ahead. Her father was beating her every single day.
She thought it is normal for a father to hit his child violently if the child does
not act the way it’s supposed to…

4. In this century of modern technological inventions, Macedonia still has a
huge problem with family violence. People are traditional and the old
tradition says that you have to obey your parents or suffer the
consequences. This is why our society hasn’t moved an inch and it’s still
stuck somewhere in the dark ages….
Children and young people that suffer abuse don’t recognize it as such,
simply because the society they live in teaches them to hide it. Most of
these young people end up at some low pay job, not having the confidence
that they can do more, or they end up committing suicide. ..

5. Youth is the fuel and the future of any society. Together young people can
drive our society and force it to change so things like these never happen and
abused young people can get a fresh new start at a violence free future…
So what can we do?
It is my opinion that abused children and youth better accept advice from
people their own age, not having to view them as an authority but as a
second opinion coming from a peer…

6. THE FIRST STEP
 opening up a center where  There will be a place in the
abused children and youth center where victims can
can call to report this come down and talk with
violence without the fear of people their age, share their
being judged. The young problems and opinions and
volunteers that work there look for a solution together.
would then inform them of  The volunteers will then
their options and rights. work with the victims every
They will convince the day to discover what they
victim to come down to the are good at, tell them about
center for a talk. the opportunities that are
 the volunteers will also try to out there, and help them
work with the family. Trying pursue the same.
to get them to see what their
behavior is doing and
looking for ways to change
it.

7. THE SECOND STEP
 Youth volunteers will  informative leaflets will
teach about family be distributed amongst
violence in schools and people of all ages to let
inform other young them know that our
people like themselves tradition has become
that they are not alone, obsolete and old and
and that this kind of has to change.
behavior is no longer  Social networks will be
considered normal in involved in a public
civilized societies. discussion on how our
society needs change
in this direction.

8. Only WE can make old traditional society values change…
Only WE can help fragile young things survive…
Only WE can shape our world the way we want to…