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YMCA - development of body, mind and spirit

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one of the largest movements for youth in the world

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founded by George Williams in 1844 in London

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spreads all around the world

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today there are 58 million members in 119 countries.

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YMCA received first reaction to its idea in the Czech Republic

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among the groups of Christian young men,

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but the greatest expansion came in 20s of the 20th century.

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The first impulse was closely linked with the first Czechoslovak President

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Tomas Garrigue Masaryk

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and his daughter Alice.

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They made an effort to use the greatest YMCA virtues

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for building a new state of Czechoslovakia.

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Since freedom and democracy are the basic values and building stones of YMCA,

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during the Second World War, YMCA was closed.

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Many of YMCA members got actively involved in the resistance.

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After the war YMCA was restored for a short while,

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unfortunately in 1951 YMCA was dissolved

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into the only permitted youth organization,

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Czechoslovak Youth Union.

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In 1968 there was an attempt to restore YMCA,

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but it was not before 1990 when it was successful.

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And the result is where we are today.

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YMCA in the Czech Republic operates in 26 local associations in 11 regions,

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has more than 3500 members and offers a wide variety of activities.

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We do things like camps,

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then different clubs

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- different polytechnic, art, dance, sport clubs.

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Then we have mothers and family centres

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- this programme is rather for the little children with their parents.

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Then we also have a lot of specific activities in the programme,

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such as marital meetings,

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meetings of men and women - married couples,

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who want to somehow revive their marriage and improve its quality.

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Another activity we have is Ten Sing,

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which is singing of teenagers.

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It is for teen kids who are trying to cope with life,

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and I think this programme is quite good

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to lead them through this period of life.

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Another specific activity is scouting.

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They are a bit of other scouts - YMCA scouts,

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they learn how to live in the wild,

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to master basic camping skills.

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The last activity I would like to mention are open access centres.

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These are facilities for street children who need help with their life,

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with the school, just sort of put them back in life.

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