our mission
COMMUNITY
Assisting in the creation of a supportive, loving, and compassionate environment from which clientele gain vital networks and assistance, for both practical and psychosocial needs.
EMPLOYMENT
Helping those in need, wherever they are along their educational journey, to receive Hungarian language lessons, further their education, and gain job training in order to be productive and valuable members of society.
SAFE HOMES
Aiding families upon their arrival to secure housing that not only provides shelter, but is also a place to gather and make their own, leading to more full, well rounded, and independent lives.
KALUNBA
Through its activities, Kalunba strengthens a culture of tolerance, promotes human rights and protects minorities. The organization runs a community centre for refugees and third country nationals in the heart of Budapest, providing a variety of services such as housing, language classes, tutoring and employment services. Kalunba aims to ensure sustained employability and to create a friendly and supportive community with a meeting place for all. It uses a holistic approach to provide an opportunity for successful, full integration, in cooperation with the Reformed Church in Hungary and other European and North American Protestant Churches. An after school tutoring programme, providing specific and tailored solutions, has also been set up in an attempt to assist and encourage the Hungarian school system to respond to the needs of refugee children.
About Us
Our previous entity, the Refugee Mission of the Reformed Church in Hungary has been assisting refugees since 2006 in various forms and via various programs on the fields of housing, employment, culture, legal protection and education, the activities were funded by the European Refugee Fund and our international Protestant Church Partners.
In 2013 we received a prize from Eurodiaconia for our migrant inclusion programmes, and a prize for equal opportunities from the Ministry of Human Resources. In 2011, our education programme was presented in the UNHCR Report on Education. In 2014, Eurodiaconia presented our program assisting refugee women find employment as a best practice in its report. In 2015 September 27, Eurodiaconia will present our community center for migrants and refugees as a good practice.
Kaunba was set up in 2014 Spring, upon its funding in close cooperation with the St Columba Scottish Mission Kalunba started to provide free Hungarian lessons to migrants regardless of their protection status. St Columbas provided also for the initial office, lecture and community space for Kalunba’s activities, even after Kalunba was able to provide for its own community space the historical building of the congregation remained to haven for all the big celebrations and community events such as Christmas and Eid parties.
On April 24 2015 Kalunba Charity received its first contract by Office of Immigration and Nationality to manage the integration of resettled refugees as part of the National Resettlement Program in Hungary.
Between 2015-2018 Kalunba implemented large scale projects via the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Union: housing, employment, Hungarian language school, movement therapy for children with learning difficulties, community development.
Our current multi-year grants are provided via the HEKS/EPER the aid organization of Swiss Protestant Churches and Bread for the World the globally active development and relief agency of the Protestant Churches in Germany.
OUR PARTNERS
Since 2015 Kalunba is the official implementing partner of the Reformed Church in Hungary in refugee integration. We we receive trainees and volunteers from high schools and from the main universities in Budapest. On the international level we work closely together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We belong under the umbrella and participate in the network of Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and Eurodiaconia. Our current multi-year grants are provided via the HEKS/EPER the aid organization of Swiss Protestant Churches and Bread for the World the globally active development and relief agency of the Protestant Churches in Germany.
UNITY IN COMMUNITY
A project conducted by four NGOs in Central Europe (Mareena; Bratislava, Be International; Brno, Global 2000; Vienna, and Kalunba; Budapest). During the two year long Erasmus+ funded project the following intellectual outputs were created that are downloadable below: a Community Study, a Methodology for adult educators and a Handbook and video tutorial. Kalunba as the implementing partner of the reformed Church in Hungary involved various levels and members of the RCH umbrella.
The project’s recent closing event organized by Kalunba involved a presentation of the dissertation findings of a recently-completed doctoral dissertation by Eliana Garzón, who studied the effects of immigration and language-learning on identity formation of children 11-18 years old. Kalunba served as the primary case study organization for Eliana’s research, and her findings made it clear that Kalunba has the reputation and broad support to do the kind of holistic work that refugee families often need. Eliana’s dissertation was called, “Identity Negotiation through the Lens of Language Rights: Refugee and Migrant Children and Youths in MissionPlace* Budapest.”
Project Handbook
We created this handbook to offer practical tools and ideas to people interested in civic engagement and starting off a community project. Therefore, we recommend this booklet to community leaders, organizations, social workers, community organizers, and to anyone who would like to enhance social change and become actively engaged in their community. Our booklet is research-based and experience-based: we gathered the results of a common qualitative research and some good practices which can serve as a starting point for those interested in community work. Since the project was a cooperation between four different NGOs in four different countries, involving both local and migrant residents, our booklet has a strong intercultural focus and poses the question of how we can live together and take part in our own community in a sustainable way - and by this, we mean social, environmental and economic sustainability. To narrow down the wide concept of ‘community’, the project concentrated on the notion of ‘neighborhood’ and what it means to the participants. The handbook was edited by Claire Weihe (Global Mission Intern at RCH), Eszter Kállay (teacher and social worker at Kalunba’s afterschool program)
Mentoring Methodology
The methodology is intended for leaders and lecturers who want to motivate their teams to work in their own community or neighborhood and bring new impulses that respond to the needs of the community. It is based on participatory methods and an exploratory approach. The methodology uses the goals of sustainable development and the approach of active citizenship, which bring a global perspective to current social, economic and environmental challenges. It will be used in particular by leaders and trainers who would like to work in the field of community work and seek inspiration on how to work with diverse groups, map community needs and prepare realistic projects that would contribute to more inclusive neighborhoods.
CommUnity Study
The aim of the study is to understand the dynamics of community life at the neighborhood level and to examine the most common motivations and barriers to involvement in community initiatives. The research maps in-depth interviews between local and foreigners in four Central European cities - Bratislava, Brno, Vienna and Budapest. It also contains their views and experiences of engaging in neighborhood communities. It specifically addresses topics such as the perception of the neighborhood and its borders, neighborhood relations, neighborhood challenges and community involvement at the neighborhood level. The view of the respondents can serve as a resource for the work of community leaders who would like to initiate community activities in their neighborhood.
