Calisthenics for Young Girls in rural areas of Albania
Calisthenics is a sport that brings together communities of young girls in Albania that suffer from marginalization due to their ethnical and racial background. Through it they become more strong not only physically, but also mentally they become more resilient, and ready to face difficulties head on. They become self-aware that their life belongs only to them, with the right to decide about it. Power belongs to the Young Girls which understand through this sport they are equal to the boys.
Cross-border/international
Albania
Albania
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Tirana municipality, Polican Municipality
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-06-20
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): REBUS Albania Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Migena Last name of representative: Xheleku Gender: Female Nationality: Albania If relevant, please select your other nationality: Albania Function: Project Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Stermas, Petrele, Tirane Town: Tirana Postal code: 1034 Country: Albania Direct Tel:+355 692772000 E-mail:rebusalbania@gmail.com Website:https://rebusalbania.org/en/
The project is about empowering marginalized young girls in rural areas of Albania through the sport of Calisthenics. We empower them not only physically but even mentally, showing them that they can be equal to the boys, and that their lives are at their own hands. This project not only makes girls aware of their inherit power, but also raises awareness of parent that their girls can be so much more than their traditional assigned role by a patriarchal society. Calisthenics as a sport has shown great progress in increasing concentration, and achieving greater academic results in the long-run for students at school. Basic exercises will be introduced to the young girls, in the selected high school of Albania, to plant the seeds for a sport revolution in our country. We want to start a quiet revolution, which will show to everyone that gender equality is not a sublime idealism, but a concrete practical reality that can be achieved even by our society, which suffers from old-dated patriarchy. Young girls must be successful, and why not start their success in sports, which will pave the way to a brighter future for them in all aspects.
Sports
Gender
Equality
Education
Aesthetics
The key of objectives of the project are:1) Introduction of Calisthenics to young girls, 2) Promoting gender equality, 3) Increasing academic results, 4) Build teams of girls to compete. Each objective has been carefully planned by engaging all stakeholders like institutions, civil society organizations, and focus groups of parents. They all supported our projects and were part of the designing of goals, and methods to approach our targeted group young girls. Having all stakeholders part of the project ensures sustainability in a long-term, and that all our goals are tailor made to address the problematic that we have highlighted of girls being excluded from sports. What makes our project exemplary is the close collaboration with stakeholders during all our project life cycle, and this is the main guarantor of success.
The key objectives were: 1) Reducing obesity in young girls, 2) Losing body fat, 3) Gaining moderate muscle mass. Calisthenics is a sport that in itself has been crafted to give those who practice it a gracefulness in it's movement, and complete control of the practitioner's motor functions. Simply put it gives total control of own's body, by making the person aware of it's body, not only by surroundings, but also mentally. Those who practice it have a higher quality of life. They can easily bond with like minded people who practice the same sport. Build groups, bridge differences of ethnic, racial, and cultural barriers. Mentally they are serene, and highly focused able to generate goals, and work with determination to achieve it. The benefit that brings the most result, is the girls showed an increase of 30% in their academic output. More activities followed as a result of participating in this sport, as a competition between schools.
The key objectives were: 1)Gender inclusion, 2)People with disability , 3)Race based inclusion. We made possible to all to participate despite their background. The campaign of raising awareness included going door to door to convince parents from the most remotest area to allow their daughters to participate in this sport. Special equipment's were given to girls with disability so they could practice. The transportation to the training ground was offered to them by us. Racial minorities were given benefits, and cloth to train, together with equipment's. There were also bonuses in their marks at school, if they completed with success this extra-curricular activity.
Citizens were very active in the project by spreading the word about it to everyone they knew. Some local woman even became the leaders of some Calisthenics groups in their villages. They started practicing themselves, so the girls would feel more secure to engage with this sport, without caring about how they will be looked upon. Some civil society organizations made some campaign in social media to raise awareness in society, and their audiences. Some even wrote articles about it. Others were engaged in raising funds from government, and businesses.
The designing and implementation of the project has been done in complete synergy with local, regional, and national level stakeholders. They were engaged in finding the target groups, disseminating information. Conducting awareness campaigns with the local villages. Contributing financially, and searching ways to increase the funding for the project. Also, conducted a project evaluation and assessment of the project to see if each objective was achieved in according with schedule.
Various disciplines and knowledge fields were engaged in the project design and implementation, starting specialist of sports from the University of Sports, who designed the exercises in conform to the age of the participants. Local education offices coordinated all the activities with the schools, so students would not be left behind academically while practicing this sport. Psychologist and social workers took care to see together with the gym teachers that girls to be motivated to participate. Parents took the charge by creating Calisthenics groups in their villages. Civil society made campaigns online in favor of this sport, and contributed in acquiring uniforms, equipment's and transportation for the girls leaving in remote areas.
The results of our project are: 1) 5000 young girls practice Calisthenics, 2) 100 groups formed in 25 schools, 3) 5 competitions between schools organized. 4) 65% of girls reported less bullying from their peers. 5) 45% achieved 30% higher academic results, and 35% achieved a 10-25 % higher academic results.
The innovative character of this project is that has the opportunity to be done alone after you get the basics. It gives not only physical benefits, but is able also to improve the mental abilities of the practitioner. Calisthenics is a form of resistance training that predominantly uses body weight and therefore requires minimal equipment. Some of the health benefits of calisthenics include improved endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination and aerobic conditioning. Resistance training is simply any exercise where you push or pull against a form of resistance, such as resistance bands. In calisthenics, the resistance is your own body weight as opposed to any equipment you would use in the gym, such as free weights or a cable machine. Calisthenics was developed in Ancient Greece and originates from the words Kalos, meaning ‘Beauty’, and Sthenos, meaning ‘Strength.’ It is therefore considered by many to be both the science and the art of beautiful movement. Which as highlighted above brings even mental endurance, with focus. This is a sport that can create a community awareness, and can fight discrimination, and this the uniqueness that this sports brings compared to other projects.
The main methods used in this project are: (a) experimental, (b) psychometric, (c) multivariate correlational, (d) meta-analytic, (e) idiosyncratic, and (f) qualitative approach. We made experiments with participants, in what circumstances and using a standardized procedure they give higher results doing the exercises. Participants are randomly allocated to each independent variable group. Psychometric testing was used to create measures that assess students, gym teachers and participants experiences and behaviors. Study was designed to test more than two measured variables like time and frequency doing the exercises, and effect in performance. All the methodology was designed to analyze figures and give the best adjustment to correct failures, and bring the best experience to the girls while performing this sport.
What can be replicated in other places is the part to engage parents in Calisthenics groups which can be a stronger incentive for marginalized girls from remote areas to engage in this sport, and start feeling and being part of society. What we have noticed in our participants is that they feel alien to society just from the fact that due to living in a remote mountain area, and have few contacts with outsiders, that people in city's. The biggest motivation for them was when they saw their mothers participating in the same sports like them. Timidity and shyness started to vanish step by step, and by the end of the project some of them had achieve the highest results, not only in Calisthenics, but also academically. If the parents are supportive, the girls had higher results, this is one detail that our project capitalized in, and brought us success.
The project addresses 4 important Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. We tackle SDG 3 good health and well-being, SDG 4 quality education, SDG 5 gender equality, and SDG 10 reduced inequalities. We are sure that by replicating our project, different countries and places can have the same results, or even better ones. Our project proved that the trio Civil society, Government, and Family can bring long lasting change and development to society. Sport can be the great equalizer of all inequalities, and set the stage for a prosperous society in which young girls can capitalize to have a fulfilling and rewarding life.
