{"id":1977,"date":"2025-04-17T13:53:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T11:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/they-dont-grow-up-alone-here-how-cepora-changes-the-lives-of-children-without-parental-care\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:07:02","slug":"they-dont-grow-up-alone-here-how-cepora-changes-the-lives-of-children-without-parental-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/en\/they-dont-grow-up-alone-here-how-cepora-changes-the-lives-of-children-without-parental-care\/","title":{"rendered":"They don’t grow up alone here: How Cepora changes the lives of children without parental care"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While preparing the stage for the play “Missed Chances”, the members of Cepora – the Center for Positive Development of Children and Youth – tell a story that is not invented, nor is it artistically embellished. The story was created from the real experiences of young people from the home system, and tells about their journey from entering the social welfare system until the moment they leave it – with all the challenges that path brings. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

For more than a decade, Cepora has been working with young people who need support the most – children without parental care, young people growing up in homes, foster families or facing various forms of social exclusion. Through programs that combine applied theater, workshops and educational activities, career guidance and mentoring support, they create a safe space where young people can grow, make mistakes, <\/strong>learn and discover their own potential.<\/p>\n\n

“The methodology we use is not something we do only with children in homes. We also apply it when we teach children some skills in schools, because we are focused on social and emotional development,” explained Cepora. “Through play, challenges and various interesting situations that come from applied theater and drama<\/strong>, children and young people learn and practice the skills they need for life. These are everyday situations – from communication and support, to taking responsibility and getting out of the comfort zone,” emphasizes Lidija Bukvi\u0107, director of Cepore. <\/p>\n\n

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The performances created in Cepora are not only educational – they are interactive, created and performed by the young people themselves for an audience<\/strong> made up of their peers, educators, social workers and teachers. Those are the moments where real understanding comes in \u2013 when the audience gets a chance to step into someone else’s shoes and see the challenges these young people go through. <\/p>\n\n

“When we played the play for young people from homes, we asked them to turn on the light if they noticed that something on the stage was an unrealistic representation of their lives. No one turned it on,” says Iva Gayin. This was a clear sign that Cepora does not speak on behalf of young people – but together with them. <\/p>\n\n

Children without parental care form a specific group because that label is often their only point in common – and it is precisely this label that strongly shapes them. <\/p>\n\n

“Once they enter the system, they accept that identity very quickly and find it difficult to get rid of it. Our task is to remind them that they are, first of all, individuals, special children with their own experiences, enormous courage and potential that they themselves sometimes forget. We are here to help them integrate everything that has happened in their lives and, as they grow up – in the system and after it – to build their own personal path”, stresses Lidija Bukvi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n

The organization was founded in 2011, and today it gathers a team of pedagogues, experts from the social protection system, and volunteers. Through 15 performances, more than 4,500 workshops and thousands of individual conversations, Cepora has become a second home for generations of young people. <\/strong>Their activities are not only therapeutic – they are transformative. Young people learn to communicate, set boundaries, resolve conflicts and – most importantly – believe in themselves. <\/p>\n\n

“I thought I came to help children grow up, but actually I am the one who grew up,” said one volunteer, which sums up what many in Cepora feel.<\/p>\n\n

In addition to working with children without parental care, they cooperate with more than 50 Belgrade primary and secondary schools and run programs for young people in the community. “Any young person between the ages of 15 and 30 can contact us and get free support – whenever they need it. That’s key for us: all our activities are always available and always free. If we don’t have funds from the projects, we have time. We will work voluntarily, because we believe in what we do,” Cepora points out. <\/p>\n\n

For children and young people growing up without support, this often means that the system sees them through paperwork, protocols and deadlines. Cepora, however, sees people. And in a world where this is an increasingly rare practice – it makes a difference. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Watch the story of Cepora in the video attachment:<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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