Interview by Hena Takal

 

I thank you in advance for the time taken to answer these questions and I hope to learn more about your organization’s work, experiences, and relations on behalf of FOMOSO.

 

What is the mission and goal of your NGO?

The mission of InBáze is to help migrants and their families with the life in the Czech Republic. We create a safe and open space for mutual knowledge and understanding between Czech citizens and people of other nationalities and cultures (https://inbaze.cz/en).

 

How did your organization start and what was the motivation behind it?

All information about that you can find here: https://inbaze.cz/en/history

 

What are some key achievements of your NGO since your establishment?

You can find additional information here https://inbaze.cz/en/history. We have four departments and every department has “different” goals of work. (supporting migrants, carrying about ID cards, etc.). Czech teachers educate children, who haven’t  knowledge of Czech language including support of pupils, support of families, who come to the Czech republic and haven’t an idea how education, medicals, socials system, etc. work), we are also working as streetworkers – intercultural work, etc.

  • SOCIAL-LEGAL DEPARTMENT
  • DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
  • DEPARTMENT OF INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AND PUPILS WITH OMJ AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION​
  • DEPARTMENT OF INTERCULTURAL WORK

 

What are some events or projects you have worked on that have been memorable experiences?

a. RefuFest – (multicultural festival in Prague – every year) – https://refufest.com

b. Multicultural education program for schools and teachers “Bedýnky Příběhů,” Box of stories (https://inbaze.cz/publikace-a-metodicke-materialy/#bedynky).

c. Ethnocatering (social project for men and woman – cooking) – https://www.ethnocatering.cz

 

Do you work or cooperate with other organizations?

Yes, we have many meetings with NGOs, which are in Prague. The cooperation and communication is important and it works. We also have an international cooperation with Erasmus+ (here are all our actual projects: https://inbaze.cz/projekty)

 

How does your company function and how do you fund your day-to-day operations?

 

  • Projects from public finance sources from outside of Czech Republic
  • Projects finance from Czech government sources/grants
  • Project finance from support and grants from cities
  • Others finance sources
  • Others activities of InBáze (for example Etnocatering)

 

Do you get many volunteers to assist you in your mission?

I cannot say, that many, but if we need some volunteers we have support – we have some programs = offers for Czech students.

 

What was the attitude of people towards volunteering when you were first established and has it changed since?

InBáze started from volunteering group and we are trying to hold this idea, but I think that the opinion toward volunteering is changing in Czech society, but very slowly…

 

Have you faced any barriers and obstacles since your establishment?

a. funding problems
b. more bureaucracy
c. negative look at migrants
d. small interest (from state, society, official offices)

 

There’s a lot of polarized opinions on migration all around Europe, including the Czech Republic, has it impacted your NGO?

Sometimes (some hates in social network). By the way, the position to migrants is/was negative thanks to opinions from some people of our government. InBáze isn’t in the “first” line – our support is to the people, who live in Prague and they have some official status for living and staying here. They come to Czech Republic legally and they don’t need international protection. We support ( 95 % our clients) most importantly the integration.