Rares* was a boy like any other, until life challenged him. Low grades and absences were just the beginning of a downward spiral. What would have happened if he had not received the necessary help in time?…
Teachers and social workers know this reality. It’s like a snowball that’s growing and it seems like it can’t be stopped. It starts with inadequacy to the rigors of the gymnasium, it continues with poor grades, bullying, unexcused absences and ends, almost inevitably, with school dropout. This was Rareș` situation in the 5th grade. At the end of the first semester, he was flunking five subjects, the absences increased and his colleagues marginalized him.
Being alone with the responsibility of raising the child, his mother felt increasingly overwhelmed by the hardships of life. Unemployment, a husband employed as a day worker and tensions in the family made her feel trapped in a vicious circle from which she no longer knew how to escape. Despite the hardships, Rareș` mother did not want her boy to miss the chance to have a better life through education. Among acquaintances, they heard that the educational center supported by United Way was a place that could help him catch up on the lost material and keep up with school. So his mother took Rareș to the educational center.
A difficult road began for Rareș, and the team of specialists (social workers, psychologists, pedagogues) was by his side. Step by step, the boy understood that the support he received was his lifeline. Simultaneously with the psycho-pedagogical interventions dedicated to Rareș, his mother participated in psychological and social counseling sessions, because she also had to be involved in the process. And so she took action. She got in touch with Rareș’s principals and teachers, and made them pay more attention to the child. Everyone’s efforts made Rareș more motivated and involved.
At the end of that school year he breathed a sigh of relief, because the grade failure was avoided. And Rareș’s story did not end here. Since then, he has finished not only middle school, but also high school – he is 19 years old! – and did a qualification course in barbering. He is now employed and passionately and successfully practices the job he chose and trained for. Rares still comes to the educational center, but now as a volunteer. He cuts the hair of the little ones, happy that he was able to demonstrate that a timely help can lead to a positive, fundamental change of a destiny.
*To protect his identity, we have changed the beneficiary’s name and we used a generic photo.
