A citizen of Oradea has won a lawsuit against the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Finance, with the help of legal levers provided by the Citizen Advice Bureau Oradea. The lawsuit focused on the claim for damages over a political conviction incurred in 1945-1989. The Citizen Advice Bureau Oradea has facilitated the drafting of the summon request, preparing the dossier with evidence and counseled the citizen at every hearing, and after four terms the Bihor Court upheld the citizen's request by giving him compensation amounting to 10,000 Euros.

During January-August 2010, free information and counseling services offered by Citizen Advice Bureau Oradea had been accessed by a total of 844 citizens who have submitted a total of 901 applications. Most interventions were of legal nature, their diversity and complexity being a real challenge for CAB Oradea advisers.

The Citizen Advice Bureau Oradea (CAB) is a service of public interest that comes in response to the needs of the citizens for information and counselling, in order for them to receive increased access to information regarding their rights and duties, to benefit from counselling with the possible solutions for the problems they are confronted with and to guide them in using public services.  CAB Oradea was founded by the Ruhama Foundation in collaboration with the Oradea Social Community Administration and Oradea City Hall in October 2002, with the financial support of the European Union, through its Phare program.

Ruhama Foundation continued this year the implementation of the Summer Kindergarten non-formal educational program in 6 localities of Bihor county (Gepis, Ciumeghiu, Lugasu de Jos, Vasad, Alesd and Osorhei, between August 2^nd and September 1^st of 2010. 134 children participated in the program, most of them being Roma ethnics, children who had not attended public kindergarten and are going to enroll in first grade or preschool children that are thus stimulated to enroll in public kindergarten.

The Summer Kindergarten program became possible through partnerships and collaborations with the local schools, city councils and the Bihor County Inspectorate and it aims to increase access to education, generally, and the enrolling in school in particular. Summer Kindergartens had been organized in the six localities starting with 2006. In 2010 there could be seen a higher level of implication among parents, as they became much more aware of the importance of education in their children’s lives compared to last year.

The Summer Kindergarten program should be seen as an emergency short-term measure for eliminating the gaps between Roma and non-Roma children who enroll in first grade, regarding preschool preparation and knowledge/abilities (mainly social) acquired before reaching school. Year by year, Ruhama Foundation aims to reduce the number of Summer Kindergartens so as to not replace the public ones, and, at the same time, it promotes and supports the enrolling and participation of children in public kindergartens for at least one year.

The funding of the Summer Kindergarten program in the 6 towns is supported by the Roma Education Fund, within the project „Roma Education Centre. Developing and promoting inclusive and sustainable educational programs for Roma children through integrated community efforts”, a program designed to improve the access to education for Roma children of Bihor County, implemented by Ruhama Foundation in partnership with the School Inspectorate of Bihor County and the University of Oradea - Faculty of Social Sciences.

This year, between July 1^st and August 15^th Ruhama Foundation has piloted the Summer School educational program in partnership with the local schools of Gepiu, Salonta, Vasad, Sannicolau de Munte, Lugasul de Jos, Osorhei, Telechiu, Batar, Sacueni, Gepis, Ciumeghiu and Diosig of Bihor county.

The program was developed in two weeks in the period established, in the local schools, and has been attended by 290 children, with a majority of Roma ethnics. The activities, organized daily for four hours, were meant to not only strenghten basic knowledge of reading, writing, mathematics etc, but also to support children in getting to know themselves, in developing social abilities and competencies, and socializing. There were also organized activities for building positive behavior and aptitudes, as well as drawing or entertaining games with an indirect educational role.

The beneficiaries of the program are children who come from socially excluded environments, beneficiaries of the services provided by the Centre for Counseling and Support for Parents and Children, also children who attended Summer Kindergartens 2008 and 2009, pupils of 2^nd-4^th grade with learning difficulties.

The funding of the Summer School program in the 12 towns is supported by the Roma Education Fund, within the project „Roma Education Centre. Developing and promoting inclusive and sustainable educational programs for Roma children through integrated community efforts”, a program designed to improve the access to education for Roma children of Bihor County, implemented by Ruhama Foundation in partnership with the School Inspectorate of Bihor County and the University of Oradea - Faculty of Social Sciences.

The CAREERS Center, founded by Ruhama Foundation, organized the first regional Job Fair in Alesd, on 30 July 2010, at the Town Hall of Alesd, Bobalna Street no. 3. The Job Fair was at its eighth regional edition and was represented by five employers in the following sectors: insurance, construction, sanitation, services, carpentry.

The Fair offered around 30 jobs for minimum, average or superior education graduates. The numbers of participants looking for a job has exceeded 50 people, and as a result of pre-interviews between employers and participants, more than 30 people were selected by employers for staff recruitment and will be called to undertake interviews scheduled for the near future.  

CAREERS Center was established as a result of Ruhama Foundation’s initiative in partnership with the County Council Bihor, the County Agency for Employment Bihor, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Oradea and Soziale Gesellschaft fur Unternehmensberatung mbH of Germany, in order to offer support in problems related to labor market integration of persons seeking employment in Bihor County.