The main goal of this project is the prevention of problem behaviors in pre-school and primary school age children through the use of therapeutic fairytales: “A story about lost happiness” (antidrug fairytale), “Sneaker and Slipper” (computer games addiction prevention fairytale), “Marmi the Bear” (personal boundaries development fairytale), “The Fearsome Ogre” (a fear-prevention fairytale) and “Detective story” (aggressive behavior correction fairytale), written by psychologist Mircea Grecu and teacher Jana Grecu.
The research shows that up to the age of 10, children are governed by the right-side of the brain, which is the locus of creative and imaginative functions, that is why any information necessary for adequate development and socialization of children must be converted and presented in the form of a fairytale. The power of therapeutic fairytales lies in the fact that their meaning is perceived by children simultaneously on two levels. On a conscious level, the child, although identifies with the positive hero, understands that the fairytale is pure fiction. On the subconscious level though, he/she absorbs every bit of information he/she hears, re-considers his/her own behavior, system of values and visions.
The therapeutic fairytales authored by Mircea Grecu and Jana Grecu have been translated in a number of languages and published in an edition of more than 120 thousand copies. These fairytales are very popular among the readers from the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Russian Federation.
During the 22nd edition of the International Board on Books for Young People organized in Chisinau at the International Exhibition Center “Moldexpo”, held between May 19-22, 2018, the collection of therapeutic fairytales “Paying a visit to Marmi – the teddy bear”, by Mircea Grecu and Jana Grecu,was awarded the special Prize from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova.
In March of 2018, the collection of therapeutic fairytales “Paying a visit to Marmi – the teddy bear” by Mircea Grecu and Jana Grecu was included on the reading program of the 15th edition of “Chisinau reads”, which took place at the Municipal Library “B. P. Hasdeu” from Chisinau.
The psycho-pedagogical project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY” is intended for children ages 5 to 9, both to provide examples of certain models of behavior and moral values, as well as to prevent certain undesirable behaviors, such as use of drugs and computer games addictions through the use of narrative therapy.
- 310 education institutions from Chisinau, Causeni, Balti, Edinet, Briceni, Comrat, Tiraspol (Republic of Moldova), Sankt-Petersburg, Krasnodar (Russian Federation), Lvov (Ukraine) and Bucharest, Suceava (Romania) participated in the psycho-pedagogical project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”, between September 1st, 2015 – March 05, 2020.
- About 30000 children from Chisinau, Causeni, Balti, Edinet, Briceni, Comrat, Tiraspol (Republic of Moldova), Sankt-Petersburg, Krasnodar (Russian Federation), Lvov (Ukraine) and Bucharest, Suceava (Romania) participated in the project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”.
- 718 teachers, psychologists and social assistants from the Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Romania participated in the international project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”.
- 1580 volunteers from the Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Romania participated in the project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”.
- 7089 lessons on the prevention of problem behaviors in pre-school and primary age children were provided within the framework of the international project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”.
- 150000 fairytale books were donated within the international project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”! Each of the 30000 children participating in the project received a book with the therapeutic fairy tales as a gift: “A story about lost happiness, “Sneaker and Slipper”, “Marmi the Bear”, “The Fearsome Ogre” and “Detective story”.
- 3625 children from 183 education institutions from Chisinau (Republic of Moldova), Krasnodar (Russian Federation), Lvov (Ukraine) and Suceava (Romania) participated in the drawings competition “My favorite hero!”, which took place within the framework of the international project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”.
- 1647 children from 154 education institutions from Chisinau (Republic of Moldova), Lvov (Ukraine) and Suceava (Romania) have staged plays inspired by the therapeutic “A story about lost happiness”, “Sneaker and Slipper”, “Marmi the Bear”, “The Fearsome Ogre” and “Detective story”.
- “The actors of the “Luceafarul” Republican Theatre, as part of the international project “AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY”, performed 25 educational plays for 6250 children from 37 education institutions from Chisinau, under the title “A story about lost happiness” – an adaptation of the therapeutic fairytale “A story about lost happiness”, written by Mircea Grecu and Jana Grecu.
