[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_id=”health” el_class=”dtp-motif dtp-motif–right”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Health” icon=”icon icon-heart3″]We provide information, advice and support with accessing health services and we employ a team of Traveller community health workers offering a range of supports and services regarding health.
Peoples health is determined largely by their living environment and circumstances. Poverty, discrimination, employment, income, transport, lifestyle, access to services and stress are all factors that determine the health of individuals and their communities. The World Health Organisation says that these ‘social determinants of health’ contribute to health inequalities in society i.e. the unfair and avoidable differences in health status within communities. This is all to evident in the Travelling Community in Ireland. In 2010 a large scale study called the ‘All Ireland Traveller Health Study’ found that;
– Traveller men die 15 years younger than settled men and Traveller women on average die 11 years younger than settled women.
– Travellers are twice as likely as the general population to have diabetes and related conditions
– Traveller suicide rates for men are six times the national average
– Infant mortality is 14.1% in the Traveller population and 3.9% in the general population
– Fatal respiratory disease rates are 7.5 times higher in the Travelling community than in the general population
– Heart disease and strokes are four times higher in the Traveller population
The Donegal Travellers Project will work through the social determinants of health framework to bring about the improvements in the health and well being of the Traveller community.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”community-development”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Community Development” icon=”icon icon-users2″]We are a community-based partnership of Travellers and members of the wider community working for justice, equality and human rights for Travellers. We offer programs, support and services for the entire Traveller community.
Donegal Travellers Project is a community-based partnership of Travellers and members of the wider community working for justice, equality and human rights for Travellers. Founded in 1996 as a women’s development
project, DTP today offers programs, supports and services for the entire
Traveller community, including:
●Accommodation: Influence policy, support nomadism and provide a wide range of information, advice and support to Travellers regarding accommodation.
●Anti-Racism: Provide training for agencies and organisations, media work, relationship-building and advocacy.
●Crisis Intervention: In a range of different areas, from eviction to family crisis to difficulty working with state agencies, DTP is available to offer support and advice to Travellers in Donegal.
● Education: Promote equality for Travellers in the area of education through Home/School Liaison, After schools Program with Homework Club, St. Gabriel’s Intercultural Preschool and a range of adult education initiatives.
●Employment: Provide information, advice and support with accessing employment and employment services.
●Primary Health Care: Peer-led project employing a team of Traveller community health workers offering a range of supports and services regarding health.
●Representation and Travellers’ Rights: DTP is a voice for Travellers and supports Traveller leadership in our work lobbying for the rights of Travellers as a distinct ethnic group.
●Youth Work: After schools Program, summer schemes, groups and leadership training for young Travellers.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”employment”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Employment” icon=”icon icon-suitcase2″]We provide information, advice and support with accessing employment. Accessing mainstream employment is an ongoing challenge for the Traveller community.
In the 2011 census reports 84% unemployment rate among the Traveller Community. Most Travellers leave school without any formal education completed and a very small number access third level education. This poor level of educational attainment, coupled with the every day discrimination experienced by the Traveller community, makes it doubly difficult to access any kind of employment.
The job opportunities available to the community are often low paid work and, like all low income earners, Travellers fear the Welfare trap meaning there is a real worry about taking up employment for the fear of loosing much needed social welfare payments. The DTP will work to educate and inform the Traveller community of training and employment options with the aim of assisting them out of the poverty trap.
The core objectives in employment are;
– To develop opportunities for employment through training and promoting the right to work
– By Challenging the assumptions around the issue of unemployment in the Traveller Community which are underpinned by negative stereo types that Travellers do not wish to take up employment.
– Work with state agencies to create opportunities for employment in the public services.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”education”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Education” icon=”icon icon-suitcase2″]Travellers for the most part, have had poor experiences at all levels in the education system. The 2011 census records show that seven out of ten Irish Travellers were educated to Primary level only or lower. 90% of Irish Travellers had ceased their full time education by the age of 17 and only 1% of the population had attended third level. These are stark figures. The reasons for the poor showings are many and varied and inter related. The problems of poor accommodation, lack of money and societal discrimination affect the ability of any child to participate fully in school. There are also failures within the school systems – Travellers highlighted obstacles such as school enrolment policies, poor communication between parents and teachers, the inflexible system that caters for the settled majority but not the minority, little training for teachers in cultural diversity and the effects of social exclusion.
During the development of this plan, low expectations was identified as a key issues; low expectations from some parents, low expectations from schools and as a consequence low expectations from children themselves. Wen nothing else is expected by all stakeholders, it makes the challenge all the more difficult. However expectations are built through experience and importantly experiences can be changed. DTP is committed, therefore to working towards eradicating educational disadvantage and creating experiences in younger travellers that can change their expectations for the better.
Our objective in Education;
– To acknowledge the institutional racism as an underlying cause using a rights based approach to work in the area of education.
– To raise awareness and consciousness in the community on the role of education and in particular early years education in achieving equality.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”youth-work”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Youth work” icon=”icon icon-book2″]We promote equality for Travellers in the area of education through Home/School Liaison, after-school programs with homework clubs , St. Gabriel’s Intercultural Preschool and a range of adult education initiatives.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”roma”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Roma” icon=”icon icon-globe2″]Traveller and Roma share a history of nomadism, similar lifestyles and have a shared experience of social exclusion and racism. Within the European context Roma policy and integration strategies are now inclusive of Irish Travellers. Over recent years the Donegal Travellers Project has been exploring how best to develop work with the Roma community in Donegal.
While no empirical evidence exists, estimates of the Roma community indicate that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Roma living in Ireland. In Donegal the initial work with the community has engaged directly with just over twenty families and exploratory research indicates that there are a minimum of forty families living in the county.
Both Traveller and Roma face many of the same challenges; limited access to accommodation, poor access to services, and poverty.
The Roma community however also faces distinct challenges including language and migrant issues. DTP hope to work to build trust between the organisation and members of the Roma Community and the wider community.
The core objective is to work with national stakeholders on the strategic needs assessment for the Roma community and to develop appropriate community and rights based responses to the needs identified at a local level.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”Intercultural-work”][vc_column][boc_side_icon_box title=”Intercultural Work” href=”http://dtp.equigeek.net/our-work/#intercultural-work” icon=”icon icon-globe2″]Test.[/boc_side_icon_box][/vc_column][/vc_row]
