eRko is the children’s organisation working throughout Slovakia. Young people – volunteers – from more than 210 towns and villages regularly meet with children in their free time. During meetings, trips, camps and other activities they experience together joy and realities of daily life. Since 1990 eRko is registered at the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic as a non-governmental organisation. It has more than 6 500 members and nowadays, it is one of the biggest children’s organisation in Slovakia.

Our aim

is to assist children and young people to become mature responsible Christian personalities involved in the  development of the society they live in. The basis of the work of eRko are regular meetings of children communities at the local level, where they can build open communities together. The mission of eRko is implemented through the personal example of young volunteers who experience the life in the community together with children. The main values are: lively faith, joyful service, open community, respect for life, responsibility and trust.

Child in eRko:

  • Walks towards the maturity
  • Gives hand to other children and does something good for the others
  • Develops his/her spiritual life
  • Discovers the world with the friends
  • Develops his/her talents and skills
  • Has his/her good friends in eRko
  • Belongs to the community in eRko and experiences Church as a community of people living in faith and acting in love

Leader/Animator in eRko:

These 2 words have similar meaning for us in eRko. Animator is the one who gives the spirit (lat. anima – spirit, soul) and leader is the one who knows, where to walk with the kids.

Every childreln´s community has at least one leader. This ministry belongs to the specific community and specific period of time (min. 1 year). Leader is in charge of the community´s development and formation.

eRko for CHILDREN

  • regular meetings of children in small groups – communities where we talk, discuss various topics, play games, and search for the answers to the questions that bother us;
  • summer camps
  • Campaigns
    • MINIdigi
    • Children deed of help
    • Candle for unborn children
  • Rebrík (the only Slovak Catholic magazine for children)

eRko for LEADERS

  • courses, workshops, seminars;
  • information-methodical magazine LUSK
  • methodical guides to assist in working with children

eRko for SOCIETY

  • Dobrá novina (Good News) – public collection for supporting development projects in countries of the African continent

The core activity of eRko is the regular out-of-school work with children in small communities – children groups. A programme for children is provided by volunteers for whom eRko regularly prepares training courses and methodical materials. Children meet with their leaders usually on weekly or fortnightly basis. Meetings have a family character. Through activities, conversations, stories, prayers and games children experience with their leaders a joyful community. Through personal example of leaders, they can make steps towards personal maturity and learn to serve others. They develop their talents, knowledge and skills. Leaders of the groups base the work with children on Christian values and their transmission into practical life. In addition to regular meetings, leaders with children organise a variety of themed events, day trips, days of life, days of joy, summer and winter camps. In Slovakia, there are more than 500 eRko children groups.

Summer camps are the pinnacle of  meetings in the local communities throughout the year and may become a motivation for the involvement of other children in regular activities of eRko.  At the summer camps, children have more time and opportunities  to deepen what they have learned and lived out on the meetings during the school year.

Dobra novina (Good News) is the Christmas carol singing campaign organised by eRko. Annualy, 25,000 children and young people visit 70,000 families, spread the news of newly born Jesus Christ and collect little donations from the people, which are used to support development activities of eRko in various African countries. Throughout the year, Dobra novina offers numerous activities of development education all over Slovakia. For more information see #DEVELOPMENT section or visit www.dobranovina.sk

MINIdigi

Children Deed of Help

Children Deed of Help is a national campaign motivating children to carry out deeds of selfless service. In the missionary month of October, children communities focus on helping others in their parish, village or town. eRko memebers open up to the whole parish community, participate in the life of their communities, they are taught to be mindful of the needs of others and through helping others they can develop their personal mission.

Candle for Unborn Children

Candle for Unborn Children is a campaign tied to the November 2nd – All Soul’s Day. The general idea is to remember the children killed by the artificial abortion and those who died because of spontaneous abortion, as well as to encourage parents of those children. We can do so by a short stop and reflection or lighting a candle in front of gynecological departments, memorials of unborn children, crosses or  in the windows of our houses

Dobrá novina

Dobrá novina (Good News) is the most extensive action of eRko and goes not only beyond its membership, but also beyond the borders of Slovakia and the European continent. Dobrá Novina is a public collection permitted by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. During the Christmas time, children sing Carols and spread the joyful news of the birth of Jesus Christ in their families, towns and villages. At the same time, they collect funds which are used to support development projects in countries of the African continent.

Rebrík is the only Slovak Catholic magazine for children at the age of 6 to 10 years. The magazine promotes an active enjoying of children’s leisure time, family upbringing and school education. It helps children in their spiritual growth, and it strives to show readers the true and lasting values and teach them to live not only for themselves but also for the others. When creating the content of the magazine, we start from the Christian tradition and a long-time experience of working with children of our publisher – eRko – Christian Children Communities Movement. For more information visit www.rebrik.sk.

BLOG

Pozývame na WorldCamp 2018

Každé tri roky, FIMCAP – federácia katolíckych farských mládežníckych hnutí, pripravuje WorldCamp. Po siedmich úspešných edíciách, v roku 2018 FIMCAP bude organizovať ôsmu edíciu WorldCampu v spolupráci s Chiro Filipíny   1992     Ghana & Čile 2000     Paraguaj 2003     Filipíny 2006     DR Kongo 2009     India 2012     Paraguaj 2015     Rwanda 2018     Filipíny   Dojmy z predchádzajúcich WorldCampov…

My EuroCamp 2015 experience

The first week of August was for me one of the best experiences in my life. I was chosen with 4 other girls from Slovakia to represent our country and our movement eRko on the national camp, which started at the 31st of July and ended at 7th of August in Heist op den Berg in…

INTERNATIONAL YOUTHWORK

eRko is a member of FIMCAP – International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements

FIMCAP is the international federation of catholic parochial youth movements, but even more a family of youth workers, youth and children all over the world. The abbreviation FIMCAP comes from the original French title : “Fédération Internationale des Mouvements Catholiques d’Action Paroissiale”. FIMCAP originated in 1962. For more information, please fisit FIMCAP website fimcap.org.

  • To unite and support the member organizations.  By offering opportunities to come together in a spirit of fraternity and mutual understanding, FIMCAP creates the feeling of a community and stimulates educational exchanges on issues concerning youth and youth work.
  • To help uncover and understand the specific needs of children and young people all over the world. FIMCAP builds upon the local experiences of its members to track down the needs of young people and youth workers and to develop actions to deal with these needs.
  • To represent the member organizations in international bodies and to be a voice of young people.
  • To build with and through young people a better world and a living Church.

The main aim of FIMCAP is to bring young people together, so they can inspire each other. Fimcap offers various activities for young leader as:

  • WorldCamp – international activity with social character organized every 3 years
  • EuroCamp – activity for young leader, which combines leader education, thematic work and intercultural exchange
  • EuroCourse – european training course for experienced leaders
  • Roundabouts – exchanges between local groups from different member organisations of FIMCAP Europe
  • Speeddating seminars – a platform for groups to meet groups from other countries to start exchanges.
  • Common visits of the World Youth Day
  • FIMCAP day on 20 November

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

eRko organizes public collection Dobrá novina for supporting development projects in countries of the African continent

eRko is a member of CIDSE – International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity

Dobra novina (Good News) is the Christmas carol singing campaign organised by eRko. Annualy, 25,000 children and young people visit 70,000 families, spread the news of newly born Jesus Christ and collect little donations from the people, which are used to support development activities of eRko in various African countries. Throughout the year, Dobra novina offers numerous activities of development education all over Slovakia.

 

Dobra novina cooperates with the local Christian and non-governmental organizations in the area of:

  • Providing health care services
  • Providing access to safe drinking water
  • Providing education to children and adults
  • Supporting physically and mentally challenged children
  • Supporting agricultural and income generating activities

CIDSE is an international family of Catholic social justice organisations working together with others to promote justice, harness the power of global solidarity and create transformational change to end poverty and inequalities by challenging systemic injustice and inequity as well as destruction of nature.

CIDSE work for a society based on social, economic and gender equality and solidarity, where the economy is at the service of society and functions within planetary boundaries. We aim at a fairer share of and limits in the use of global resources, democratized governance where people regaining control over their choices, economies based on the commons.

CIDSE work for reforms with transformative potential: move away from fossil fules and extractivism, limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees, promote the right to food and agroecology, regulate business to enforce human rtights, secure sustainable finance and fair wealth distribution, support local communities to speak for themselves, confront gender inequalities, enabling sustainable ways of living.

CIDSE brings together 18 member organisations from Europe and North America and its international secretariat is based in Brussels.

Current mission an work of CIDE is based on strategical framework for years 2016-2021 caled Acting for tranformation for a just and sustainable world. This framework is built on the experiences, knowledge and priorities of all of those who come together in CIDSE. It is also based on lessons learned from the Strategic Framework 2010-2015, our ‘paradigm shift’ process with which CIDSE embarked on new work streams in a dialogue with several partners and allies to rethink development, critique systemic failures in our economies and societies and look at alternatives we want to promote. Further it is based on an analysis of the challenges and opportunities CIDSE and its members face, the backdrops of the devastating multiple crises impacting on poor and vulnerable communities worldwide as well as recent opportunities: global agreements on sustainable development and climate, peoples actions and alternatives, Catholic social teaching and church action brought about. The strategy builds on past experiences and maintains several key strengths of CIDSE, while establishing a new spirit and direction.

CONTACT

eRko – HKSD

Address: Miletičova 7, 821 08 Bratislava, Slovakia

ID: 00605093

TIN: 2020848214

Legal form: občianske združenie

IBAN: SK35 3100 0000 0040 0071 3527

BIC/SWIFT: LUBASKBX

BANK: Prima Banka

Office:

erko@erko.sk

+421 907 713 169

 

Kristína Kružicová

Head of International Committee

kiks@erko.sk

 

Juraj Králik

chairman of eRko

juraj.kralik@erko.sk

 

Daniel Fiala

Director of Dobrá novina programme

daniel.fiala@erko.sk

International committee

ensures the cooperation with umbrella organisations and partner organisations abroad. It coordinates international projects and mediates the offers for the members of eRko.

Kristína Kružicová

Head of committee

Filip Tkáč

webmaster

Mária Sásová
Marianna Kvarteková
Matej Králik
Alexandra Glosová
Veronika Mozolová
Veronika Talafová