Almost five hundred young people received the Duke of Edinburgh International Award, known in the Czech Republic as DOFE, on Monday 20 April at the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. Young people from the South Moravia and Zlín regions and the Highlands came to Brno. The award winners were congratulated by representatives of the founder and senators with links to the aforementioned regions. Helena Felix, daughter of Lady Louisa Abrahams, the lady who brought the international award to the Czech Republic in 1995, was a special guest.
The programme also included a festival of opportunities for further development of young people, where organisations such as Thanks that we can!, Nekrachni, Moudrá net, Záchranka app or Future Shapers project presented their activities.
Helena Felix, daughter of Lady Louisa Abrahams
The non-formal education programme is designed for young people aged 13 to 24 and operates in the Czech Republic in close cooperation with primary and secondary schools, children and youth homes, children's homes and sports clubs. The award was presented to dofacs and dofacs who have completed the bronze or silver level of the programme, i.e. have been engaged in activities of their choice in the field of exercise, skills development and volunteering for at least six or twelve months on a regular basis. They all also completed a team expedition that tested their ability to cooperation, adaptation to discomfort, and confidence in the team. „DOFE is unique in that it holds young people personally responsible for what and how they learn. It is a framework they can use to give regularity and consistency to their activities. And all the time they have a guide by their side who doesn't take over their journey, but helps them along the way. to bear and understand,“ says Gabriela, Director of the Czech office of the International Prize Drasquiet.
Awarded to dofáci
Almost 9 000 young people took part in the programme last year. Together, they worked 85,000 hours of volunteering and experienced the joy of helping others. They put in 122,000 hours of movement, learning about personal discipline and relationship with your body. 85,000 hours were spent developing skills to experience the focus and joy of shifting.
There are currently more than 450 DOFE centres in the Czech Republic - schools and other youth organisations - where more than 1,600 leaders accompany the participants. "An internationally recognised certificate is important not only because it provides physical evidence of a graduate's success - have I made it or have I done it - but it is also a validation of non-formal learning outcomes that should be of interest to schools for admissions and employers,” adds Gabriela Drastichová.
At the Jan Blahoslav Gymnasium in Ivančice, Jana Burešová fulfilled the bronze level of the DOFE. As part of the programme, she improved her swimming, learned to bake macaroons and picked up litter in her neighbourhood. „I've definitely moved on as a person. I've gotten better at discipline, I'm better at forcing myself to do something I don't really want to do, but I know I have to.,” says the student, who plans to continue on to the next level, silver.
Common photo of awarded dofaks
The Duke of Edinburgh's International Prize programme was founded by Prince Philip in 1956 to encourage the self-development of young people from all backgrounds. The programme was brought to the Czech Republic in 1995 by golf champion Luisa Abrahams.
