The gross proceeds of the collection amounted to 166,886.92 euros. The costs of running the collection were 17.25 percent. The net proceeds of 138,092.58 eurosare earmarked for supporting  more than 400 families with material, food and medical aid, school supplies for educational and leisure activities for 2,000 children and young people, and the repair of a centre in Damascus damaged by a bomb.

Directly involved in the collection were over 106 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and almost 68 youth and other organizations in towns and villages across Slovakia. All participating schools and organizations received promotional and background materials, which served not only the campaign for the collection but also as resources for education and awareness-raising in the area of development cooperation. As part of the collection, schools — with our consent — carried out their own activities serving its purpose.

The net proceeds of the collection, 138,092.58 EUR, supported the following activities:

Humanitarian aid for displaced families in Kafroun, Damascus and Aleppo, Syria

Thanks to the funds from the collection, it was possible to provide help to 81 internally displaced families in Damascus from November 2016 to June 2017, as well as 40 families in Kafroun and 136 families in Aleppo from October 2016 to June 2017. Thanks to the collection, the basic needs of the most vulnerable families in three Syrian cities were met and they were provided with decent housing. The activities were implemented by the Salesians of Don Bosco, who personally identified the target group and drew up a detailed list of final beneficiaries. The aid took the form of financial contributions towards housing and food for the selected families. The implementation team oversaw the use of the funds and monitored the improvement in the standard of living of the beneficiaries. Coordination and monthly monitoring were carried out by Alejandro José León Mendoza, project coordinator. Through the first part of the project, poverty levels and the vulnerability of internally displaced Syrian families were reduced.

Activities for young people at the Salesian centres in Kafroun, Damascus and Aleppo, Syria

The proceeds of the collection helped fund numerous educational and leisure activities for children and young people at the three Salesian centres in Kafroun, Damascus and Aleppo. The aim of the activities was to give local children and young people the chance for non-formal education and active recreation in a safe environment, and to mitigate the negative impact of the war on their mental health. The funds under these activities were used in particular for food, water, electricity, heating, medicines and clothing.

In Kafroun, 2 six-day summer camps for children were held. In Kafroun and Aleppo, catechesis sessions focused on the personal and spiritual development of children and young people took place — since many of the children were unable to come to the centres on their own for safety reasons, the Salesians of Don Bosco regularly provided bus transport for them. The centre in Aleppo hosted the sixth football tournament for peace in Aleppo, as well as a smaller tournament for university youth. The centre also offered tutoring for children, run by university students. As part of non-formal education they helped the children with homework and exam preparation. Aleppo also offered children and youth the chance to take part in music and drama clubs, where performances were rehearsed for numerous cultural events at the centre. A market for children and parents was also held in Aleppo, focused on the distribution of food, drinks, clothing and handmade goods. The market drew an enthusiastic turnout of hundreds of children and parents.

The centre in Damascus is visited daily by about 1,200 people aged 5–30 who take part in a spiritual programme, sports activities, art clubs in visual arts, music and drama, as well as charitable initiatives in nearby orphanages, hospitals, hospices and centres for people with disabilities. Thanks to Tehlička, non-formal educational activities were held there, during which school supplies were distributed to the children as needed. The centre organized 2 football tournaments in which 17 teams from the capital took part. Approximately 1,000 children took part in the Don Bosco Has Talent event, where children and youth showed their artistic, drama and music skills. During the project, 4 one-day trips were organized for the youth of Damascus, with around 120 children taking part in each. The centre also offered a rich Christmas and New Year programme — thanks to the financial support of the collection, Christmas gifts were given to around 1,150 children.

Roof repair of the Salesian centre in Kafroun, Syria

Kafroun lies in the Tarsous region, a well-known summer holiday area thanks to its beautiful landscape, interesting architecture and pilgrimage sites. The Salesian centre in Kafroun is a sought-after spot for local residents and visitors alike, since it offers the possibility of running activities for children and young people in a pleasant setting. Since the start of the war, the centre has become a refuge for many internally displaced families, who have found temporary safe accommodation here, and the number of children and young people coming to the safe environment of the centre to take part in sports, cultural and educational activities has also grown. To improve the conditions for running activities for children and young people, as well as conditions for housing internally displaced people, it was necessary to repair the roof of the main building of the centre — together with the ceilings, it was in very poor condition due to the high humidity of the air. In the first phase the old roof was removed; later, construction of a new roof began. The roof repair directly benefits, on average, 200–400 children aged over 8, 70 young people, Salesian youth and scouts from Kafroun, Damascus and Aleppo, youth groups from the surrounding villages, families living in Kafroun, 40 internally displaced families and poor families from Kafroun.

THANK YOU TO ALL DONORS AND PARTICIPANTS FOR SUPPORTING TEHLIČKA 2016