The Téka Foundation is a non-governmental organization founded in 1993 and has a cultural, youth and educational profile of activity. Its activities cover the geographic area of Gherla city and villages from the region of the Plain of Transylvania.
The mission of the organization is providing an institution, material and spiritual framework for the development of education and culture in our city and in the region of the Plain of Transylvania. We support the formation of active communities based on real and specific values existing in this part of Europe.
The vision is reaching a level where modern means and methods are used in an efficient way with the purpose of asserting the interests of the civil society in this region and addressing the new challenges that appear in education and culture.

Main target groups:
- Children and teenagers which are the most affected by the unifying, globalized culture
- adults, through cultural programs and preparatory courses, courses of qualification and re-qualification, needed as a consequence of the challenges raised by the labor market.
- Social categories that are disadvantaged by the actual education system
- NGOs in Gherla and in the surroundings

Main objectives:
- Foundation of a Culture and Education Center in Gherla and organizing different cultural/educational/youth programs, on a periodical, occasional and permanent basis, in the framework of the Center ( on a local/regional/national/international level)
- Preserving, promoting and leveraging of the traditional cultural heritage of the region of the Plain of Transylvania
- Promoting ethnical diversity of the culture in this region; developing inter-ethnical relationships ( Romanians, Hungarians, Rroma, Armenians )
- Supporting the education process through founding a boarding school for the students with a difficult social situation from the Plain of Transylvania
- Organizing the institutional framework of the learning process throughout their life
- Developing the NGO sector in the region; supporting civil organizations
- Supporting the development of the region indirectly, through capitalization of the cultural potential

Material resources ( infrastructure owned by the foundation)
- Cultural Centre: is situated in a building in Gherla. Inside this building we can also find the Headquarters of the Foundation, the offices, halls, a library, classrooms and in the attic we can find dorms for 28 children (250m2 ).The internal infrastructure is of high quality.
- The Social Boarding School : a building of 1300m2 . Accommodation capacity: 92 students. It includes rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a room for preparatory lessons and a hall.
- The Camping Centre of Lacu: a building with 3 rooms ; traditional pavilion for performances and for courses, 62 acres of land.
- The House of Traditions (project of founding a traditional Village Museum for the area of the Plains of Transylvania) : house and 50 acres of land.
- Ethnographic Museum Lacu : building of 40 m2

1. THE TÉKA BORDING – SCHOOL
Many remote villages from the region of the Plain of Transylvania - Romania are more disadvantaged than other rural communities of Transylvania. Among the problems this region is facing we could mention lack of employment (the majority of the population lives on agriculture practiced after traditional models); population decrease; weak administrative infrastructure and a weak social, cultural and educational infrastructure as well. Because of this, a general mentality has been formed, one that refuses any kind of renewal and accepts neglect.

Project presentation

The Téka Foundation from Gherla established a boarding school for the students coming from this region in the year 2001. Presently we are looking after 150 children.
Our project offers an alternative and a possibility of solving this situation by assuring the access to the education process for the students coming from families with a precarious social situation, living in this area. We also contribute to assuring equality of opportunities of these students with those from the town, in what concerns access to education, to extracurricular activities designed to form different skills and competences, to services of psychological and pedagogical rehabilitation, etc.

Project description

Our project is a social service-project through specialized services having as a general objective the provision of support and assistance for needy children and families.

The purpose of the project is providing access to education to students coming from families with a difficult social situation from the villages of the Plain of Transylvania - Romania or from the villages with no education centers.

Project objectives:

- Identifying the students with a difficult social situation from the villages of the Plain of Transylvania and registering in the boarding school those who either have a difficult social situation or don’t have access to mandatory education in their villages of origin.
- Providing access to the registration process and ensuring the participation of the students to the classes in the state schools from Gherla
- Providing necessary conditions for the psychological-pedagogical rehabilitation of these young students, for developing a healthy personality and for endorsing an authentic value system
- Ensuring that the expenditures needed in order for our institution to operate are covered.
- Providing decent living conditions for the students living in the boarding school
- Promoting the integration of these students in the society

The target group comes from the following villages: Sanmartin, Buza, Nasal, Taga, Geaca, Lacu, Feldioara, Puin, Camarasu, Chesau, Bontida, Rascruci, Jucu, Fodora, Badesti, Tiocu de Jos, Tiocu de Sus, Chidea, Cornesti, Luna, Salatiu, Ciresoaia, Unguras, Gherla, Fizesul Gherlii, Aghires, Pata, Cublesu Somesean, Visa, Aiton ( 29 villages and 1 city).

Number of beneficiaries: for the 2019 -2020 school year 150 students have been registered in classes between IIIrd and XIIth.

Socio-economic characteristics of the target group:

- Unemployed parents
- Orphans raised by grandparents or relatives
- Rudimentary living conditions
- Chronically ill parents/parents with health problems
- Disintegrated families
- Families with many members/children
- Children coming from disadvantage regions
- Students coming from families with low income
- Students coming from areas with scarce access to social services
- Lack of infrastructure in the areas they come from
- Lack of education possibilities in their native villages

Project impact:

- We contribute to the social and intellectual reintegration and rehabilitation of the students
- We widen the area of interest in learning, we develop new skills and competences of the students by means of psycho-pedagogic and rehabilitation activities
- Contribution to the development of the student’s personalities via the realistic, authentic value system we provide them.
- We insure a healthy alternative to the negative attitudes and influences coming from the mass media
- Directly as well as indirectly, our project contributes to developing and changing mentalities of the local communities our students originate fr

2. TÉKA CULTURAL CENTRE

„Téka ház” (Téka House ) is a cultural complex established and maintained by Téka Cultural Foundation. The foundation was established in 1993 as a result of local initiative. Its general aims centre around educating the public and organizing the community. Owing to applications and supports it has managed to come by a landed property of its own. This is where you can find the headquarters of the Foundation as well as the Téka Cultural Centre.

This institution plays a significant part in the cultural life of the town. It is visited mainly by young people, by hundreds every week. However, our most successful activities have developed around the fostering and popularization of the traditional culture of Mezőség.

In addition to the above activities that are related to folk culture Téka Centre also houses various clubs, courses, coaching and contests.

Our activities:

- Folk Dance and Folk Music Festival from “Mezőség” (Northern Transylvania) – XXIV. edition in 2020
- International Folk Festival for Youth – XXV edition
- Autumn Festival – XXI edition
- Folk Song competition from “Mezőség”;
- Lake District Camp for the Study of National Culture
- Different Conferences;
- Christmas Festival – XX. edition
- Art and Cultural exhibitions;
- Dance house. Teaching folk dance, music and song for children and youth;
- Craft workshop
- Hostel for different groups during the summer time and weekends;

Fundatia Teka
str. Mihai Viteazu nr. 39
Gherla, Cluj 405300
Romania
Phone 0040723575099
Website http://www.teka.ro
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tekaalapitvany/