“Camins” accompanies children and young people in vulnerable situations so that they can have access to a better future through education.
This February saw the official presentation of “Camins”, the Social Action Foundation of the Escola Pia de Catalunya. Under the slogan “More opportunities, better future”, this new entity places children and young people at the centre of its mission so they can have access to a better future through education.
Following the Calasanz model, educational action is the tool used by “Camins” to work for social transformation, as “it is what makes the biggest difference in social classes. Without educational opportunities, it is challenging to develop as a person in a society like ours,” explains Mireia Sánchez, director of the foundation. And she adds that “giving opportunities to people who face different situations of inequality is the raison d’être of Camins”.
More than 2,000 users will be attended to each year by the entity to try to respond to their needs. Youth mentoring, socio-educational spaces after school hours, access to refuge homes or language training are some of the services that will improve the future opportunities of people who live in socially disadvantaged situations.
“Camins”, legally constituted in autumn 2022, was born from the merger of three entities that, until now, were the vehicle for part of the social action of the Escola Pia de Catalunya: the “Benallar” foundation, the “Servei Solidari” foundation and the “Fundació Educació Solidària” (Solidarity Education Foundation). The three entities attended to children and young people from the perspective of reception and refuge, socio-educational and international cooperation, respectively. Now, “Camins” will attend to these exact needs from a single organisation and be divided into three areas:
- The area of Children and Families
- The area of Youth
- The area of International Cooperation
Most of the projects already have a long history and strong roots. However, a lighter internal organisation now allows for more robust networking to benefit the people served.
Although the foundation is based in the Raval neighbourhood of Barcelona, it is active throughout Catalonia and even in Senegal and Mexico in international cooperation.
The presentation ceremony on 9 February 2023, which brought together around a hundred people from the Escola Pia, social sector organisations and the public administration, provided an opportunity to reflect on social rights in Catalonia and the vital work of social organisations in helping to make a decent future possible for children and young people at risk of exclusion.
Noemí Gallardo
