31.000 euros in donations collected for this year's Shalom Prize

The Shalom Prize, which has been awarded since 1981, is one of the most highly endowed human rights prizes in Germany. Every year, the award honors individuals and projects that have made exemplary efforts, often at considerable personal risk, to uphold human rights, promote global peace and help the oppressed. This time, the prize went to 64-year-old psychologist Iana Matei, who founded ROR in 1999. The prize money is raised from donations. This year's institutional donors are the World Church Department of the Diocese of Eichstätt, the Oswald Foundation, the Rotary Club of Eichstätt and the Lions Club of Eichstätt. In previous years as well, around 30,000 euros were transferred to the award-winning projects. The working group operates on a voluntary basis and is made up of students, alumni, University staff and citizens of Eichstätt.

In a reply to the news about the donation, Iana Matei reports that the financial support from the working group Shalom has not only enabled her to maintain the activities at the aid center, but also to take in more girls. This made it possible to enroll all the girls in school, offer them enriching activities during the summer vacations and hold personal development workshops as well as arts and crafts courses. The Romanian aid organization receives no state funding and has to deal with hostility. According to Matei, the positive developments were overshadowed by three criminal proceedings instigated in different parts of the country: However, the support from the working group Shalom has made a decisive contribution to "the fact that we were successful in the court proceedings and can continue the project". Victims of human trafficking are often isolated and socially ostracized – even friends and family turn away. ROR offers those affected space to heal, sensitizes those around them, enables them to build bonds and creates new perspectives on life.