POLAND/SOCIAL INCLUSION

In rural Poland limited access to services like education, health care, and communication often leaves people isolated and excluded from economic development. A World Bank funded program tries bringing people out of isolation and helping them to become active citizens. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:35
• Production Date: 1 July 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; FINANCING; EDUCATION
• Geographic Subject: POLAND
• MAMS Id: U090701c

Description

STORY: POLAND / SOCIAL INCLUSION
TRT: 2:35
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: POLISH / NATS

DATELINE: JUNE 2009, POLAND

Shotlist

FILE – WORLD BANK – 2009, POLAND

1. Wide shot, field
2. Wide shot, single house
3. Wide shot, people walking on road
4. Wide shot, people walking on road
5. Med shot, woman walking on road
6. Close up, drawing
7. Pan left, drawing
8. Wide shot, children drawing
9. Med shot, people drawing
10. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Beata Kalcha, Kindergarten Director
“A lot of people support the kindergarten. The parents support us, the mayor, and the local government. We have a sponsoring program and even the local bank is part of that. They provide money for educational material.”
11. Close up, toys
12. Close up, boy’s face
13. Med shot, children sitting in circle
14. Wide shot, children at table
15. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Stanislaw Baska, Regional Project Consultant:
“My dream was that this program would focus not only on spending the money but that it would also help the area to find its own way to something like true integration; an integration understood as development, both economically, and socially.”
16. Med shot, group of moms
17. Wide shot, moms
18. Close up, mom and son
19. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Kataryna Wojtasinska, Mother:
“I would love to work - like most of the mothers here. So this kindergarten is very important for us. Because we really want to work and we would have a place where we could leave our children in very good hands. We are all looking for work; all the mothers.”
20. Wide shot, children
21. Med shot, Mayor
22. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Romwald Kowalinski, Mayor:
“For example we have shown people that through initiative they can do things for themselves. They can exchange opinions, exchange views, and exchange experiences.”
23. Med shot, children dancing
24. Wide shot, children dancing

Storyline

In this rural community between Krakow and Warsaw people keep to themselves. Sparsely populated, most go to the nearby town to work. The others are unemployed or retired. And women in this area often don’t participate in the economy at all.

Change comes slowly to places like this where communities never learned to work together.

But the kindergarten changed it all. In this project run by the Polish government and supported by the World Bank, people joined forces and decided they needed a place for their children.

SOUNDBITE (Polish) Beata Kalcha, Kindergarten Director
“A lot of people support the kindergarten. The parents support us, the mayor, and the local government. We have a sponsoring program and even the local bank is part of that. They provide money for educational material.”

The building was there already. With a kick-start budget of 13,000 dollars and help from a regional organization the community worked out a plan for a project that would help them all.

SOUNDBITE (Polish) Stanislaw Baska, Regional Project Consultant:
“My dream was that this program would focus not only on spending the money but that it would also help the area to find its own way to something like true integration; an integration understood as development, both economically, and socially.”

For the stay-at-home mothers, the kindergarten has become a place to meet and talk. It has set something in motion and many have started to look for work.

SOUNDBITE (Polish) Kataryna Wojtasinska, Mother:
“I would love to work - like most of the mothers here. So this kindergarten is very important for us. Because we really want to work and we would have a place where we could leave our children in very good hands. We are all looking for work; all the mothers.”

The community has grown a bit closer; and has turned people who viewed each other as strangers into active participants.

SOUNDBITE (Polish) Romwald Kowalinski, Mayor:
“For example we have shown people that through initiative they can do things for themselves. They can exchange opinions, exchange views, and exchange experiences.”

For the children overcoming social exclusion is clearly a grown-up problem; and social integration, just another word for having a lot of fun together.