ASU News

The autonomous non-profit organization "Helping Hand," founded by the Department of Social Work and Tourism at Adyghe State University, launched the project "My Family's Alphabet: Socially Oriented Activities for Children and Families with Children in Difficult Life Situations." The first event was a specially designed training for residents of the Maykop Specialized Closed Educational and Correctional Institution, where most of the teenagers are held by court order for breaking the law.

"For this event, students and teachers developed and conducted a training session using social and pedagogical technologies. These included games for getting to know each other and for communication to create a trusting atmosphere in the group. The students really showed their creativity during the team task in the game 'Create Your Brand.' It allowed the participants to demonstrate their creativity, learn to work in a team, and present their ideas, " said Angelina Delenyan, head of the ANO. 

To complete the final task, students were required to assign roles within their teams, mimicking a real commercial project: creative director, marketers, designers, and speakers. After receiving instructions and a brief theoretical overview, the teams developed concepts for sportswear brands, gaming companies, street food businesses, and music bands. Working on these real-life cases immerses teenagers in the creative process, enabling them to explore new roles and recognize their own value.

" It was gratifying to see how enthusiastically the students engaged in the training and planned interactive activities. We, in turn, tried to enrich them with content and meaning. The main goal of the first meeting was to successfully establish initial communication with the students. I think we succeeded. After the event, we talked with the students about their plans for the future and shared our impressions. During the reflection process, the students expressed a desire to participate in trainings again at our university, and we, in turn, are looking forward to seeing them and preparing for future events, " said Dana Khashkhova , the project's social educator and assistant professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Social Psychology at ASU . 

According to Saida Khut , Acting Director of the Maykop SUVU , the meeting was productive and interesting. The students were engaged in all aspects of the event.

" Involvement in the 'Alphabet of My Family' project is an important, practical event in the lives of our students. I have no doubt that participation in the project will help them become confident in their choices, choose a worthy life path, and pursue it,  " she noted. 

She added that the "Alphabet of My Family" project cycles will be implemented jointly with the Maykop SUVU over the course of 11 months. 

" We are pleased to collaborate with the Adyghe State University team and thank you for choosing our institution and for providing our students with the opportunity to participate in the project's activities," said Saida Khut.

In addition to this venue, project events will be held at the Science and Innovation Park of Adygea State University. There, training sessions, family cultural and leisure activities, entertainment and game programs, and general charity and targeted campaigns to help families in need will be held. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of June next year. During this time, the team will work with 100 children from the target group and at least 10 families in Adygea who need these socially oriented activities. Event announcements can be found  on the "Adygea – Territory of Health" project team's    Telegram channel and on the university website.

As a reminder, the "My Family Alphabet: Socially Oriented Activities for Children and Families with Children in Difficult Life Situations" project won the 2025 Adygea Civil Society Development Grant Competition. A grant of 1.3 million rubles was allocated for the project's implementation. The project's organizers, in addition to the non-profit organization, are the team from the Adygea State University's "Adygea - Territory of Health" project, part of the "Priority 2030" program. The project's goal is to improve the resilience and social adaptation of children in difficult life situations and help preserve family ties. The project includes a range of activities that will, on the one hand, prevent antisocial behavior in adolescents by creating an individual developmental trajectory, and, on the other, prevent family dysfunction. 

The project's value also lies in the fact that student volunteers from ASU majoring in Social Work will participate in its organization. During the project's implementation, they will become "significant adults" for children in difficult life situations, assisting their parents in raising and successfully socializing their children. Having gained this experience, the student volunteers will form a future talent pool for Adygea's social sector.