This morning was my first official day ‘at the office’
I had agreed with Laurent that I would find my own way into work to save him having to come collect me. I took the no 18 tram into the square and waited on a bench for Laurent to arrive. Now I’d txt Laurent in the morning and he had not txt back which was usual. I’d txt him again to let him know where I was but the txt didn’t go through.
I though take my chances with the intercom at the first gates and sit in the square. Lucky they were open. Then I realised that the bureau windows were open. Then i remembered that Ania wad back from her holiday. At the intercom (which i couldn’t read) I pressed a few buttons and someone answered! I said bureau porrade obevadirski…… can you let me it. Which they did! I knocked on the bureau door and introduced myself to Ania and waited for Laurent.
Today was spent catching up in emails/blogs.
Around lunch time Laurent had arrange for us to visit an outreach of WCAB.
Soviet union memorial
On the way to the outreach we came across a statue of what seemed to be men sleeping standing up! I asked Laurent (the fountain of all knowledge) what the statue was of! He explained.. If I have this right. German fought and won the pols in 39 (2nd ww) the communist racism began. Then there was an uprising but the germans stayed in power. Then the soviet union invaded and the german lost. (1946) then the SU communist regime commenced, the lesser of two evils! First year was really bad and lots of people got hurt and killed (SU flexing its muscles) then in 90′s it got bad again as a rumour of another uprising! Them Pols had staying power!! Then in 1989 when SU gave into democracy! (peer pressure) well anyway this statue was build by the Germans. It shows the SU army ‘sleeping’ when the pols tried to fight back in 1939. SU stood by and did nothing. Suppose that’s better than joining in and helping the Germans!
We also came across a really old building that was still staging after the wars! See pic
The Outreach
The outreach in Praga where Anna was interviewing a client when we go there. However, once she finished she had 5 min’s with us before her next client turned up. Anna M said she opened at 12.00 and she had already seen 8 people (4 of which were ongoing cases) it was only 1.30! I told her that our caseworkers/advisors would not be happy with that. However the outreach is once a week and there are so many people with issues that need addressing.
On the way back from the outreach Laurent showed me some of the poorer housing in Warsaw. Smelly, dank, grafity, rotten walls and windows. See pics. At the end of the street what do i see…. A fully air-conditioned shoping centre! It’s mad that we have people living in conditions like that when ‘that’s’ next door! :0( it makes our jobs in CAB so paramount! Example of case study on housing.
Case Study
Issue
A single client with a disability living in council flat accomodation that was provided for her when she was evicted by her former landlord. She gets some Housing suppliment towards her rent (housing benefit) In april the client completed a form for housing suppliment for the next period. However, she was told that she was not entitled. The client didnt understand why she was being refused this benefit. She couldnt afford to pay all her rent and she was worried that she would lose her home due to this. Therefore she sort advice from the CAB.
Advice
The council Flat was awarded to her on a two year period and this had now expired. Therefore as she has no rental agreement Housing suppliment can not be paid. The bureau helped her to contact the Department of Housing Resources in the town district to make another rental agreement urgently.
Outcome
Client recieived another rental agreement for 3 years. The office advised that as soon as the agreement was in force they would make a further decision on the housing suppliment.
One very happy client!
We returned to the union.
We are having problems with ECAS and a transfer of money so a lot of our time is taken up trying to sort this out.
Today I agreed to try to visit Malgorzata (ruda Skasia CAB) in lodz on Thursday. She has told me some interesting things about this region. She has also agreed to come to England to visit me!
Laurent has tried to set up a meeting with a government dept that helps Pols who wish to return to Poland. It will be interesting to find out what sort of enquiries they receive.
Tomorrow Laurent and myself will be compound a list of 300 cases that need to be send to a lawyer to check quality of advice and to provide feedback.
Right I’m off to go have my nails done and then a jog in the lovely park.
I have a late start tomorrow so I might get up early and sunbathe. I’ve had no time to do they yet as yesterday was way to cloudy that I had to go shopping instead!
Posted in Emma Cook CA UK, From the exchange experience, Learnings | Tagged outreach | Leave a comment | Edit
Day four
We were met at 10am by Irena who took us over to Zabrze CAB. We only had the morning with them as our train was at 2pm to take us over to Krakow CAB.
This CAB is part of extended charity called Stowarzyszenie Misericordia but I’ll fill you in on there amazing work in a moment. Zabrze CAB is located on the 2nd floor of the charities building (yes the charity own the whole lot and it’s huge) Zabrze CAB has 6 outreach. One of them is open one day a week. If you want an app’t you could have one, but not till the middle of August! So some things are the same in Poland as in England where CABx are concerned! They see clients for hourly app’t and one advisor Magda(lawyer) would see 8-10 people a day. The outreach service is funded through European Social Fund Monies. They have made a further bid for EU funds in the region of £260,000. This will enable them to fund 6 paid generalist advisors plus another outreach service. Fingers crossed for them!
Funding for the main bureau
The local authority pay the Bureau a grant of £1,000, nope I did not miss a zero or two. Yes £1,000 to keep the main bureau open!! Therefore, The charity subsidises the CAB! Due to the European football championship being hosted in Poland in 2012 the charity has been granted £800,000 to renovate the property. I’ve been asked to go back in a year and a half to see the finished work. I, of course said yes!
Benefits
I’m Trying to get a better understanding of the benefit system here…… Times are hard in England and I need to keep my options open! Lol
Maternity
Neither the state nor the employer pay the client for being off work to have a baby. The woman will receive a one-off lump sum of £200 for the child, no matter her income. Then if she has paid Tax in the last year. Dependant on how many children she has the government will award her a tax relief. For example client pays tax of 1,000 a year. She has two children. The state pay 1.000 for each child. Therefor her entitlement is 2.000 zl. However she has only paid tax of 1.000 zl so that’s the figure she will get. Now I am a benefit expert but not in polish benefit law so some of that may of got lost in the translation.
Unemployment
In order to get unemployment benefit (£100 month) you must have worked 20 years! Your studies could count toward this period. Remember it’s only paid for 6 months!! unless you live in a region of high unemployment and then it can be paid longer.
Disability
My fav!! Ok this is when I got really passionate and pretty much carved out a job for myself in Welfare Benefits and Social Policy.
If you are sick or disabled and have worked for 5 years you could be entitled to the disability payment. If you haven’t worked for 5 years the you can write to the president!!! and ask him to pay you in exceptional circumstances.
Anyway if you have worked for the 5 years then you have to attend a medical. The doctor will asked you to undress!!!!!! The Doctor will ask you do perform some physical movements. He even measures the length of your feet! A report will be produced (which the client can ask for a copy of, Not the CAB) The doctor will then issue a decision. If the decision is no, you are not entitled, you can appeal this and it will be sent back to THE SAME DOCTOR!!!! Like he is gonna say… Oops I’ve made a mistake, yes you can have the benefit! Further medical evidence from your own doctor can be submitted. If your still not happy (things have not changes so you still won’t be) then you can go to court to appeal. Very similar to our system (except the non independent decision in the middle) but wait………, No one knows what the Doctors base their medical decisions on! What criteria they use! Shocking that client/CABx are not allowed the criteria for this. See this would be a job for me! CAB do advise client to take in their medical history to the medical. I am unsure if taken whether the Doctor is compelled to look at it of not! I have another meeting with Ija on Wednesday and i will ask her about this.
Carers
Another favorite! If someone gets the disability payment then someone else can get the carers too, irrespective of years worked..
The Charity
They do so so much. Mainly in education.
- Open university courses
- Jewelry
- Nurse training
- Art
When Irena took us upstairs into one of their computer rooms there were at least 20 computers… No sorry, not computers but 20 MAC!!! The most up to date macs I have seen! I nearly had a heart attack. Lucky I was right next door to the room they do all the nursing in so I would have been in good hands! Irena gave us a bag full of information/memorabilia on Stowarzyszenie Misericordia and Slaska, I’m yet to dig deep. The two days we spent with her were amazing. Irena, is one amazing woman. I can’t thank her enough for all that she has done to make me feel so welcome. Thanks Irena!! Xxx
We were late for the train so had to run for it! again, not so good in flip-flops! However, the train was pulling away and although we did miss it the train. The conductor tried to radio the driver to tell him to stop! Can you believe that! We are defiantly not in Birmingham!
Volunteers specialists
As I sit on the later train to Krakow, I realised that the volunteers that they have in Poland are very different to ours in England. The majority of them work full-time. They all seem to have an area of expertise that the CAB use to give people advise. They are recruited due to that specialism Which is quite different to ours. However, one things the same… The committment to the service. One volunteer in Ruda Slaska Maglorzata works first and come to the bureau after work! Now that’s commitment!
Krakow
We were met at Krakow train station by Magda. The Bureau Manager. Krakow CAB has only been going very short time, 2 years. Magda is a very young bureau manager. Having spent some time in Ireland where she volunteered for a similar organisation than CAB. However, lucky for Poland (Krakow) she missed her family and friends and return and looked into setting up her own CAB.
In order to set up a CAB in Poland you have to approach an existing Charity and ask them if they will help you sent up a CAB under their umbrella Charity. Then that Charity will place a bid with the European Social Fund (the only real (Major) source of funding there is in Poland) Then if succesful, you have yourself a CAB. This is what Magda did 2 years ago in August 2007. Her ESF is now coming to an end. She has placed another bid with the ESF but the are not looking at applicants till the end of August. Therefore Magda and her colleges (3) will have to start looking for work. It’s a real shame as Krakow CAB are doing such brilliant work for the community. It is a pity that the local authority do not recognise that work. Madga did say that she will speak to the local authority to see if she can get a bridging grant. Good luck to her!
They are doing some road works in Krakow where we were staying. relaying the road for trams and the payments. when we first checked into the hotel it looked like they had weeks worth of work to enable them to finish. However the work men worked quite late!!! and then very early! when we checked out the following morning the road was finished and the tracks laid. I knew the Polish worked hard but that was saying something!!!
We took a walk down towards the Polish Palace where all the kings and queens are buried. Where the late President was buried. There was some sort of presentation which i captured. See photos. Then we caught a train back to Warsaw…..
Posted in Emma Cook CA UK, From the exchange experience, Learnings | Tagged unemployment, Krakow CAB, EU funds, benefits, disability, volunteers | Leave a comment | Edit
The best day so far!
We were up very early to catch the 7.30 train to Silesia. The Silesian voiodeship (region) is in the southness part of Poland. Is the most important industrial region in Poland. Silesia has over 4.6 million residents and is said to be the most diverse tourist attraction.
The time that we are spending in Silesia will be two days. Day one with Ruda Slaska CAB and day two Zabrze CAB. However for both days Irena Czop director of Zabrze CAB (amongst many other things) will be our host
We were met at Zabrze pronounces zashire by Irena and she took us by car to our hotel, The Ambasbor, quite a grand hotel. Then we went to lunch with Ruda Slaska CAB ……… I had a lovely chicken salad that Ania a IT volunteer (who is also studying Law and sociology at university) helped me select – Kurcze – chicken Salatka – Salad
After lunch, we walked down to Ruda Slaska CAB, passing the large steel industrial factory which is still in operation. Ania talked about the dust it used to produce, whenever you walked past you would be covered head to toe. We then walked past some building which Ania explained were for the blue collar worker. The building where build over 100 years ago. They are rectangle in shape and are split into two equal halves down the length. Then every two windows belong to one apartment. You get a bedroom, kitchen, living room and a bath. The toilet is shared and is located under the communal stairs. You share this toilet with the rest of the floor. Another 7 apartments in addition to yours. There is also a floor above with the same layout.
The building that CAB use is located in one of the poorest parts of Ruda Slaska, positioned in the middle of housing associations accommodation. The polish call it Social Housing. The building was original a department store. The CAB office is located on the 3rd floor without a lift. However, the service is in such demand people find anyway to access it. Ruda Slaska has one outreach in Swieto Chlowice.
Stats
Malgorzata who is a volunteer, and used her day off work to meet myself and Laurent showed me the stats for Ruda Slaska CAB for last year. Malgorzata studied Employment law and has completed Political Science studies but wants to move into HR. She gives her time and expertise (as well as helping with the stats) free.
Malgorzata, explained that most clients that they see are female. They see a lot of people from around Poland, not just Ruda Slaska and the surrounding area. She also talked about the inheritance of family members debt being a problem but now the cabs are involved more people know about this.
The system that Poland has for collecting, recording and pulling off stats is something that we could learn from. Their system, although it seems a lot simpler to ours gives you stats at the touch of a button, or a click of a mouse. There is no waiting for days in a queue!
We were lucky enough to have delegate from city hall (local authority) there on the day. We made sure that she was aware of the funding that BCABS gets from our local authority. At the end of the meeting she presented us with a bag full of stuff from the mayor. the Mayor of Ruda Slaska is Andrzej Stania.
Then the most amazing part of Poland yet.
The Mines
Poland used to have 8 working mines all in Ruda Slaska. However they only have two out of the 8 still working. They have both Bern privatised. A 3rd mine is undergoing restoration work and will be opened up again. This will increase the jobs on offer. Although baring in mind what such had work coal mining is!
There happened to be a museum mine where we are stopping (one of 4 in Europe) and Irean had arranged for a group of us to go down it! Yes right down to the bottom. thats 97m to the bottom. The mine was great but going down in flip flop and a white t-shirt probably wasn’t the best decision. The guide talked in a very strong Slasian accent (a unique dialect with many german words) which Laurent, Anis and Malgorzata who all spoke very good English, sometimes struggled to translate.
So I had 3 translators all ready to interpret his every word…. Or so I thought! There were two lads from The French-speaking part of Switzerland who latched in to my 3 when they heard them explaining to me in English. Lucky for the two lads I was there as there is no way they would have understood a word! So in the end we had one each. Malgorzata, made a very good interpreter and even gave me extra info as her dad was a miner! There is so much more to the mines, but It will take to long to write it down. Anyway, I have agrees with both anus and Malgorzata that if they ever want to stay with me in England then they are more than welcome. I have promised Malgorzata that we will have shots and dancing when she stays!
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This is a long one guys!
The day was split into two parts. Part one was a meeting with the president of the Union of Citizens Advice Bureau in Poland and a member of the trustee board. Part two was a meeting with the very first CAB in Poland, Warsaw CAB.
The offices of the Union of CABx in Poland is held within a small flat on the 5th floor of an old gated building. The lift can only be described as…amazing! You have to open the door to the outer lift, get inside and close the double doors, press a button and you’re off! Automatic doors they are not!
When I first stepped into the office, it automatically felt like home. I was instantly relaxed. Now this is not a bureau as its structure is very much like Citizens Advice in the UK. This is where Laurent works his magic on the stats to try and impress the local government. There were 3 small offices, a kitchen and bathroom…with a bath!! Laurents office was the nicest as he had the sun rising during the morning.
Part one:
The meeting
In attendance was the chair person of the Union for Citizens advice bureau (UCAB) Ija Ostrowska and a trustee board member, Barbara Przybyiska. Its was an honor to meet Ija, as she was heavily involved in the conception of CAB in Poland. Poland was reeling (not the strongest word i could have used perhaps) from the aftermath of the communist regime and her passion and committment to social justice was astounding. The late Jan Zaborowski stated ‘Citizen Advice movement in Poland is a child of its times’ he called upon the citizens of Poland to ‘help shape the social and political structure’ to me, this is social policy at its best!
I am very impressed with how far Poland have come in such a short space of time. (10 years) Having 36 CAB across Poland with 62 outreach’s, where 19 of those are in prisons (they beat Birmingham there!) The provide advice and information on a whole host of topics.
Some statistics for you:
2009/10
17% – Public administration is their top earner (this is every relationship between the client and the local/central government for example: applying for a passport or requesting planning permission) However, Bureau do tend to put cases in this category when they are unsure.
15.5% – Property landlord issues and assets
14.9% – Housing During the communist regime you could wait 10+ years for accommodation due to the bureaucracy that surrounded the process. Although, it could be quicker if you knew the right people.
14.1% Family
9.6% Criminal (quite high due to the 19 outreaches in prisons)
9.35% Debt in the first 3 month of 2010/2011 this has increased to 11%
7% Benefits Disability benefits, social welfare and retirement. In some cases the disability benefit which is a very small amount could be the only source of income a family has. Furthermore, unemployment benefit is approx 100.00 pounds a month where UK is over 250.00 pounds per month. Polish unemployment benefit is only paid for 6 months.
6.35% employment/unemployment
4.8% financial disputes (consumer issues)
1.65% Health
To give you some idea of the level of clients used o make up these figures. Warsaw CAB (the largest CAB in Poland with 8 paid members of staff and 10 Volunteers) saw 7436 clients in 2009/10. For all bureaus in the same period, in total 37327 (36 bureaux) that’s up by 25% on the year before.
Funding
Ija, felt that, although they have achieved so much they still had a very long road to travel. She talked about the amount of administration that goes in to European Social Fund money being 25% of the funding ( i agreed with her that we have the same issue with some of our funders) We went on to talk about the overall problems with funding. Like the UK they have a constant battle for continuation funding. Lucky Warsaw CAB get core funding from there local authority, However, thats not the case with the other CABx, as true with UK CABX
Cost of Living
*Ija talked about the problems with the increasing cost of living in Poland against the static wage payments. This would cause problems with EEA National that come to live and work in Poland. However, if you manage to bag yourself and international job the wages are in line with the coast of living.
* European Orphan
Due to the free movement Poland is seeing an increasing number of ‘europena orphans’ parents that go abroad to live and work are leaving their children with wither family or friends. Sometimes they send money back to the family and sometimes they return. Either way the children are bereft. This is then having a knock on effect with their behavior and development within school due to the feelings of abandonment. The wider effects of the ‘european orphan’ are not know. However, i belive the ripple effect could go on for years.
*divorcing
If you marry a German national and you are unlucky enough for your marriage to fail. If you have children, problems will be afoot! Now i’m no divorce expert for Germany so forgive me if my fact are not entirely correct………. when getting a divorce in a german court the court will grant the custody of the children to the ‘german’ parent and then forbid the ‘non’ german parent to communicate to the child in there mothers tongue. I also heard if the german parent subsequently dies the child can be put up for fostering!!! Shocking, if true!
Land
Another one for you: and again im no historian or property expert! After the 2nd world war, Germany lost a bit of land to Poland (a whole chunk actually) To balance this out Poland gave a chunk of land to the Soviet Union. When i say ‘gave’ Poland didn’t really have a say in either decision. Anyway the German houses on the chunk of land were abandoned and the Polish moved in. Years later german descendents of the abandoned houses came back to Poland to claim the houses as their own. They were successful in some cases as the administration in Poland wasnt carried out correctly.
*Child Benefit
A subject that Im very familiar with! For EEA national moving from Poland to live and work in England are able to claim CB for their children. However the UK DWP require proof that the child exists and is taking 3+ months for the claims to be processed. (they write for proof from Poland)
I will write the next part tomorrow as it’s 23.17 and i have been up since 5.45am….Yes i’m working very hard here!!
Citizens Advice Bureau, Biuro Porad Obywatelskich, in Poland is a very popular name amongst the 3rd sector. However, not only in its popularity with clients but with other organisations .hijacking the name, aims and principles to gain funding…. Successfully I might add! The Union of Polish CAB have taken action (Court) and a web-based apology was given. However, there are limits to the resources that they can utilise to stop this from happening again. One success was where a charity used the name CAB without realising. UCABx got intouch and they adported the aims and principles of CAB and are now an ‘official cab’
Part two:
The Warsaw CAB meeting:
Warsaw CAB was established in 1996, the fist CAB in Poland. The Citizens of Warsaw and the surrounding area began to receive advice and information on a whole host of different topics. This advice was greatly needed and welcomed at this one of their most challenging time. Wa
With ija Ostrowska, Manager of Warsaw CAB and the Debt co-ordinator. We talked about the work that Brent CAB (UK) and Warsaw CAB are undertaking. They are trying to use some of the practices and procedures that UK CABx use, within the Polish Debt process. One success was at a conference earlier this year where a Polish bank agreed to work with the UCABX. This project is coming to an end shortly. However, they have made some excellent progress with the debt process in Poland. They themselves admit that they have a way to go yet. However, they have made a great start!
To read up on the ‘marriage made in heaven’ that Jacqueline Carr, director of Brent CAB instigated see:
http://www.brentbrain.org.uk/BRAIN/Webpages.nsf/0/614AB54A2224ED42802577490048427A/$file/BrentCab_newsletter_Summer2010.pdf
Volunteers
Ija talked about volunteering being quite popular before the communist regime.. However, during the regime volunteering was prohibited and therefore it has taken a while for this to pick back up, but it’s getting there. The majority of the staff that work for Warsaw CAB were volunteers like myself before being succesful in obtaining paid employment.
*Social Policy
One of the main social policy work that Warsaw is involved in is inheritance of debts. For example. when a family member dies and leaves behind a debt, this debt can be passed on to family members if the family member does not ‘give up’ the right to take on the debt. The family member must do this within 6 months of the debt. Now this isn’t just about using the estate to pay the debt off. There could be no money in the estate and still the creditor will want another family member to pay this debt off. There is a campaign with all CABx to highlight this problem and its working slowly. A lot more people are aware of this issue and are seeking the appropriate advice from the bureaux.
* free movement
Posted in Emma Cook CA UK, From the exchange experience, Learnings | Tagged social policy, property issues, housing, unemployment, funding, CAB | 1 Comment | Edit
The Jorney Out
Today was a very good day to travel to Poland. The Weather was sunny in England and once i arrived in Warsaw the weather was even better! Laurent picked me up from the airport, I don’t think he’s been home yet! Traveling in this morning from Strazburg and heading straight into work to arrange my stay…Hes been on the go since 15th June!!
We caught the bus into Warsaw City Centre and made a quick pit stop at a lovely vegetarian restaurant. I couldn’t understand the majority of the menu but Laurent did his best to explain the options. However, i went for the easy option of the Quiche. It came with a tomato based sauce and boiled red cabbage. An unsual combination but delicious all the same.
On our way to the accommodation i was able to use my HSBC card to get into a bank…i was surprised that my card worked al the way out here! however, if your card works in a cash machine it’s really no surprises that it can get you inside the bank!
We reached the eccomunical centre where i would be staying. i don’t know what i was expecting but a balcony and flat screen was not it! besides the aforementioned, basic but clean accommodation was on offer. Having said that the bathroom and shower were quite roomy. Laurent allowed me to gain some bearings with e detailed may of Warsaw city centre. He marked where the airport, restaurant where we had eaten, the accommodation, United CAb and Warsaw CAB were. After a quick chat about the plans for tomorrow Laurent departed home after 15 days of being away from his wife and two children.
I decided to take a wander out on to the streets of Poland. The sun was setting and i had a little smile to myself. I’m here after all the organising and excitement of the last two months! I intend to make the most of this trip and get as much out of it as i can.
I had a stroll around a supermarket. I brought some Haribo’s, successfully i might add! Dziekuje pronounced Jen uire is my word for today… it means thankyou. However, i say Dziekuje and say thank you after!!
Walking further on i try my hand at ordering a coffee. I know yarden is one and cavva is coffee. I walk in and say can i have a latte please. I’ve bottled it! Still it works. But that’s because most European countries speak English very well and I’m ashamed to say i am not fluent or even close in any other languages besides english…and sometimes i struggle with that!
Currently im sitting alfresco writing this blog. It’s 20.47 Poland time and the sun is just setting. I’ve been in Poland 2 hours and 47 min’s and I’ve already fallen in love with the place.
There are lots of people sat around me. I group of younger adults to the right of me. A young man approaches and asked in Polish, is anyone sitting in this seat?, if not can i borrow it please? Now i don’t know polish at all well, However, i could understand what he was saying completely. The universal language of the body. Yes he pointed to the chair as he said it.ha ha!
Right I’m off now for a stroll around the park so i know where to go jogging in the morning!
Dobry Wielzor
