Working Groups on Work and Values: overview

1
Working Groups on Work and Values overview

• Caritas Europa
• Social Policy Forum
• Sarajevo, October 13-16, 2004

2
What do we do ? - Aid

• Distribution of clothes
• Charity soup kitchens
• meal delivery
• Medical aid

3
What do we do ? - programs and activities

• Legal counseling, social counseling,  long
  distance adoption ,
• Family mediation support,
• employment programs
• social enterprise programs
• sports programs

4
What do we do ? - Categories

• Drug users
• single mothers
• homeless, street children
• victims of human trafficking
• migrants, refugees, ethnic minorities
• prisoners and ex-prisoners
• victims of war and violence (women and children)

5
What do we do ? - institutions

• home care
• social stations day care centers
• shelters hostels
• kindergarten
• Services for the disabled
• Services for people with mental illness

6
What do we do ? - policies

• Advocacy, awareness raising
• co-ordination
• administration
• training of workers and volunteers
• theological reflection
• prevention strategies
• fundraising

7
What do we do ? - Summary

• Broad range of ways
• - social action - grass roots - institutional
  care - policiesto look at the theme of our
  conference
• ? broad attendance

8
What do we do ? - Summary

• ? Important building the network
• - caritas as a movement / family
• - sense of ownership

9
Values, beliefs, motivations

• Personal level
• happiness, feeling well, satisfaction that I can
  help, I like it
• share (myself) with other people
• feel useful
• self-realisation

10
Values, beliefs, motivations

• Respond to need
• Help elderly people, people in need, children
• Help people so they can look after themselves
  (empowerment)

11
Values, beliefs, motivations

• More theoretical concepts
• human dignity
• solidarity
• love to the people
• social justice, fight injustice
• option for the poor

12
Values, beliefs, motivations

• Faith
• Suffering person is sacred / image of God
• Christian charity
• specific spirituality (founder/ rel. order)
• see Christ in every human being
• own spiritual development
• being a sinner
• link with parishes

13
Values, beliefs, motivations

• Relation to others
• Link with other world views / religions
• link with larger community
• no criterion for selection of clients
• all clients treated with respect

14
Values, beliefs, motivations

• Other elements
• professionalism
• institutional values
• individual values (social workers)
• legal frame

15
Values beliefs - Summary

• ? Shared and converging elements
• (Cf. Goal 2 of implementation plan)
• SWOT strengths, opportunities
• client as a person (sacred as image of
  God) empowerment
• common language
• taking clinical input to grass root level

16
Link work/ beliefs challenges

• Clear from face value  (double meaning)
• time is given for reflection and meditation
• focus in action rather than words
• developing team spirituality as a source to
  live from
• (e.g. base community)
• ? keeping values beliefs in the picture

17
Link work/ beliefs challenges

• Impossible to help everyone (one has to choose
  sometimes)
• Difficult to choose right method or behaviour
  (difficult clients)
• human weakness (lack of patience)
• Routine of everyday life need to remind oneself
  of values

18
Link work/ beliefs challenges

• institutional rationale takes lead
• government demands
• enough attention for the most excluded ?
• Church documents not reflected or implemented
• Role as church agency / ngo ?

19
Faith inspires work

• Just one  God lives in every man 
• Should inspire us to continue to work with
  excluded people
• ? in our daily care
• ? in our advocacy work
• ? ? ? From empowerment to advocacy