wrzesień 2023 - Fundacja Dom Kultury

Dávid Korčkovský

Správa o letnom workshopovom tábore ETP Slovensko

ETP Slovensko bolo súčasťou Letného workshopového tábora, ktorý sa konal od 29. júla do 4. augusta v Medzinárodnom centre mládeže v Osvienčime. Letný workshopový tábor zorganizovala Fundacja Dom Kultury v spolupráci s nasledujúcimi organizáciami: Vzájemné súžití ops z Českej republiky, spolupracovali sme aj s Kultúrnym a vzdelávacím združením Rso Harangos z Krakova. Základnou myšlienkou projektu bolo, aby sa krajiny patriace do Vyšehradskej krajiny stretli a navzájom spoznali, spoločne sme si pripomenuli rómsky holokaust a život Rómov v každej zo zúčastnených krajín.

Prvé dni sa niesli v duchu vzájomného spoznávania sa a jednotlivých organizácií z krajín Vyšehradskej skupiny. Každá organizácia viedla časť programu a predstavila, čo v danom regióne robí, aké aktivity organizuje pre deti a mládež a ako pracuje s rómskou komunitou. Potom každá krajina viedla workshop sociálnych zručností pre mladých ľudí.

V rámci programu sme si naplánovali aj návštevu Múzea holokaustu Auschwitz – Birkenau a zúčastnili sme sa na podujatí, ktoré sa konalo 2. augusta pri príležitosti 79. výročia vyhladzovania Rómov a Sintov. Pred návštevou múzea sme absolvovali workshop, ktorý nás na návštevu pripravil. Prešli sme si historické udalosti, ktoré sa stali, ako sa ľudia dostali do koncentračného tábora, najmä sme sa zamerali na historické udalosti súvisiace s rómskym obyvateľstvom, ktoré sa dostalo do koncentračných táborov. Museli sme mladým ľuďom vhodne sprostredkovať poznatky o minulosti, ktorá postihla predchádzajúce generácie Rómov. Účasť na 79. výročí vyhladzovania Rómov a Sintov bola pre nich prvou v živote, ktorú zažili pri takejto spomienkovej príležitosti, niesli ju veľmi emotívne. Mladí ľudia zo Slovenska boli súčasťou takéhoto medzinárodného letného tábora tiež po prvýkrát. Ako sami priznali, netušili, že aj Rómovia boli vyvražďovaní. Veľmi zaujímavá bola účasť na diskusii s osobou, ktorá prežila holokaust, mladí ľudia to vnímali veľmi emotívne.

Program letného workshopového tábora bol pripravený na spoznávanie historických udalostí, ktoré sa odohrali v rómskom národe, ale zároveň bol nastavený na spoznávanie súčasnej histórie a života Rómov v jednotlivých krajinách. Samozrejmosťou boli aktivity zamerané na vytváranie nových priateľstiev medzi účastníkmi Summer Workshop Campu. Slovenskú delegáciu veľmi zaujala prednáška Agnieszky Caban, ktorá predstavila historickú a súčasnú situáciu Rómov v Poľsku. Mladí ľudia zo Slovenska boli prekvapení, koľko Rómov žije v Poľsku. Dozvedeli sa, že je to relatívne nižší počet ako u nás, len okolo 40 000, zatiaľ čo na Slovensku je to okolo 450 000. Veľmi zaujímavé bolo aj to, že Rómovia v Poľsku nežijú v osadách a netrpia takým sociálnym vylúčením ako Rómovia na Slovensku. Na Slovensku sú totiž lokality, kde Rómovia nemajú ani prístup k pitnej vode.

Jeden deň seminára sme strávili v Krakove, kde sme mali naplánovanú prehliadku mesta pod vedením sprievodcov v rodnom jazyku. Zúčastnili sme sa aj na maliarskom workshope pod vedením pána Janusza, ktorý sa konal v Medzinárodnom centre empatie. Každý účastník mal na workshope namaľovať jedno dielo podľa pokynov. Nikto nevedel, aký obraz vznikne, čo bolo zaujímavé. Na konci workshopu, keď každý dokončil svoju časť, podľa pokynov vedúceho workshopu mladí usporiadali svoj kúsok skladačky, vznikol obraz draka. Mladí ľudia zo Slovenska boli pozorní aj počas prehliadky mesta Krakov, kde nám sprievodca rozprával legendu o drakovi, pýtali sa ma, či sme toho draka namaľovali.

Medzi mladými účastníkmi z členských krajín Vyšehradskej skupiny vznikli pekné priateľstvá. Po návrate domov vidíme, že mladí ľudia z Poľska a Slovenska sú stále v kontakte. Vytvorilo sa medzi nimi puto, ktoré, dúfame, pretrvá dlho. Tešia sa na ďalšie spoločné projekty a podujatia, ktoré budeme organizovať v budúcnosti.

Dávid Korčkovský

Dávid Korčkovský vyštudoval magisterské štúdium sociálnej práce na Katolíckej univerzite v Ružomberku. Už počas štúdia pôsobil ako tútor a mentor pri práci s rómskou mládežou. Pracuje v neziskovej organizácii ETP Slovensko ako vedúci komunitného centra v Podsadku v okrese Stará Ľubovňa. Je spoluzakladateľom online mentoringového projektu Schopné deti.

Agnieszka Caban

Summer Workshop Camp – the joy of getting to know each other!

Only a few days have passed since the Summer Workshop Camp, an event that brought together Roma youth from three countries: Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and already in the heads of the organizers there are ideas for next year’s events. Because when we think of events planned for the vacations, we mainly look for entertainment, a moment when we can take a break from our responsibilities, school, work, the city. And if on this occasion we also manage to learn something new, that’s great because that’s what the Summer Workshop Camp was created for, to provide entertainment, education and, above all, to integrate participants from different countries communicating in different Roma dialects.

During the ongoing edition of this year’s camp at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim, after finishing their group work, Soliana from Poland and Richard from Slovakia were to present the results of their group work and their reflections on: „What unites us” and „What divides us”? „What is similar about us?” and „What is different about us?” Soliana recited that what definitely unites all Roma groups is language. „It’s similar, but not the same.” – she added. „Also, what we have in common is that Roma love cars, games. And what makes us different? „We don’t have the same skin color, the Roma have different skin colors, they also have different styles of dress and are engaged in different professions,” she concluded. Julka from the second group added that all Roma are united by a love of music and dance, but most of all: „We are united by Europe!”, „We all live and live in Europe, we have a similar culture and Roma roots. But what really unites us is that we are all Roma.”

And right here there is a lot of agreement. The first day of Summer Workshop Camp was a moment of getting to know each other and trying to establish closer relationships. And here it turns out that the obstacle was not language, as it sometimes happens when people from different countries get to know each other. No one had to speak English and force themselves to be linguistically correct, because communication was improved by Romani in various dialects. In the evening, on the other hand, Sinto Valentin from Poland played the violin and was accompanied on the guitar by Krystian from Slovakia, the rest of the group sang together songs well-known among Roma from different countries, and here, too, communication worked at the highest level, although there were no rehearsals beforehand, and everyone saw each other for the first time.

Twenty people, participants and attendees of the Summer Workshop Camp during various workshop tasks exchanged interesting information about traditional Roma dishes in different countries, what a day at school is like, what life is like in the Lunik IX settlement in Kosice, Slovakia. After which they solved quizzes on the knowledge gained during the workshop, which was decisively won by the group from Slovakia. The boys, under the supervision of Antoin – their coach and mentor, and smashed the bank of knowledge about the participants and attendees of the summer camp by taking first place.

Despite the wide variety of activities, the group also had time to play together. In summing up the workshop, what they liked most was the opportunity to get to know each other, integration, new contacts and a good atmosphere. „I like meeting new people”, „Getting to know new habits”, „Kamarati radost”, „Friendship”, „Lerning new things and spending time with friends”, „Roma knowledge”. , „Co-operative games and activities” are just a few of the messages from our international group.

Clearly the Roma are united by Europe, and in particular by the shared history that informs their modern identity. And although taking part in the International Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration and history workshop was also a sad experience for most of the participants, which also appeared in the information from the group, certainly the sense of togetherness that appears on this special day gives hope for a better future together and, above all, for the next edition of the Summer Workshop Camp!

Dávid Korčkovský

Report on Summer Workshop Camp by ETP Slovakia

ETP Slovakia was part of the Summer Workshop Camp, which took place from July 29 to August 4 at the International Youth Center in Auschwitz. The Summer Workshop Camp was organized by Fundacja Dom Kultury in cooperation with the following organizations: Vzájemné soužití ops from the Czech Republic, we also collaborated with the Rso Harangos Cultural and Educational Association from Krakow. The basic idea of the project was for the countries belonging to the Vysegrad Countries to meet and get to know each other, together we remembered the Roma Holocaust and the life of Roma in each of the participating countries.

The first days were designed in the spirit of getting to know each other and the individual organizations from the countries belonging to the Visegrad Countries. Each organization led a part of the program and presented what it did in the given region, what activities it organised for children and youth, and how it worked with the Roma community. Then each country ran a social skills workshop for young people.

As part of the program, we also planned a visit to the Holocaust Museum Auschwitz – Birkenau and participated in the event commemorating the 79th anniversary of the extermination of the Roma and Sinti on August 2. Before visiting the museum, we had a workshop that prepared us for the visit. We went through the historical events that happened, how people ended up in the concentration camp, especially we focused on the historical events related to the Roma population who got into the concentration camps. We had to properly convey to young people the knowledge of the past that affected previous generations of Roma. Participating in the 79th anniversary of the extermination of Roma and Sinti was the first time in their lives they experienced such a memorial occasion, they carried it very emotionally. Young people from Slovakia were part of such an international summer camp for the first time as well. As they themselves admitted, they had no idea that the Roma were also murdered. It was very interesting to participate in a discussion with a survivor of the Holocaust, the young people perceived it very emotionally.

The Summer Workshop Camp program was prepared for learning about historical events that took place in the Roma nation, but at the same time, it was set up to learn about the current history and life of Roma in individual countries. Of course, there were activities aimed at creating new friendships among the participants of the Summer Workshop Camp. The Slovak delegation was interested very in the lecture by Agnieszka Caban, who presented the historical and current situation of the Roma in Poland. Young people from Slovakia were surprised at how many Roma live in Poland. They learned that it is a comparatively lower number than our country, only around 40 000, whereas in Slovakia it is around 450 000. It was also very interesting that the Roma in Poland do not live in settlements and do not suffer from such social exclusion as the Roma in Slovakia. Because there are locations in Slovakia where Roma do not even have access to drinking water.

We spent one day of the workshop in Krakow, where we had a planned city tour led by native language guides. We also participated in a painting workshop led by Mr Janusz, which took place at the International Empathy Center. Each participant had one piece to paint at the workshop according to the instructions. No one knew what image was going to be created, which was interesting. At the end of the workshop, when everyone had finished their part, according to the instructions of the workshop leader, the youth arranged their piece of the puzzle, the resulting image was a dragon. Young people from Slovakia were attentive during the tour of the city of Krakow, where the guide told us the legend of the dragon, they asked me if we had painted that dragon.

Nice friendships were formed between the young participants from the member countries of the Visegrad Countries. After returning home, we see that young people from Poland and Slovakia are still in contact. A bond was formed between them that we hope would last a long time. They are looking forward to other joint projects and events that we will organize in the future.

Dávid Korčkovský

Dávid Korčkovský studied Master´s degree in social work at the Catholic University in Ružomberok. During his studies, he has already been a tutor and mentor working with Roma youth. He works for the non-profit organisation ETP Slovakia as head of the Community Centre in Podsadek, Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia. He is a co-founder of an online mentoring project Schopné deti.

Simona Reichlová

An unforgettable experience for Roma youths and adults from the Czech Republic

When we (Life together NGO from the Czech Republic, Ostrava) learned about the opportunity to join he project and to build new partnership with great people from Poland and Slovakia, we did not hesitate a moment. The participation in the project enabled us to provide Roma youths from Ostrava with new experience and knowledge. The event enriched all participants, both youths and adults (representatives from Life together). The event was attended by youths (mostly secondary school students) who have potential for their personal development, they may once become respected Roma leaders.

There is no mention about the history of Roma people in history lessons at schools in the Czech Republic. There are some cultural and other insitutions where information can be obtained, but in general, people, including many Roma children and youths, know little about the history of Roma people. WW2 and all the horrors associated with the war may seem as an ancient past to young people, but sometimes the history may repeat itself if the mankind is not able to learn from the mistakes.

Nowadays there is e.g. some tension between part of Roma community and people from Ukraine in the Czech Republic. There are more reasons to this fact, but the dangerous point is when people, who may be in difficult situation themselves, blindly follow, share and do not critically analyse some fake news, which then may result e.g. in a common and shared hate and frustration. Hitler was once also able to manipulate and braiwash the crowds. That is also why we consider it very important to strenghten civil society, give especially young generation the chance to broaden their horizons, learn how to think critically, be able to consider the conseqences of such acts. Also according to some respected Roma personalities in the Czech Republic it is crucial for this community to have strong Roma leaders, which can hardly be achieved without their own empowerment, education and awareness.

We are convinced that the projects like this one are unique in the possibility to bring together people from Visegrad countries, which is rarely possible from national sources. They have not only gained a lot of information, but they were also able to meet new people, hear about the situation of Roma in other countries, what troubles they face, but also what challenges may be realized. People could hear about a lot of interesting ideas, projects, which may also be applicable in our country. The event enriched not only the youths, but also the employees of Life together, who work with Roma children in Ostrava on a daily basis and during the camp they learned new and for them inspiring ways or methods of work with the Roma. People had the chance to find out something about themselves during a series of interesting, teambuilding and other activities. Although speaking different languages, they all shared their common way of expressing themselves, their emotions, troubles or dreams, through music or singing. We believe they will never forget this week and it will bring them new perspectives or dreams into their lives.
We, as a NGO, also value and appreciate the newly build cooperation and networking of participating organizations. There were a lot of great ideas and plans for the future cooperation risen from many participants during the camp (e.g. art-based activites etc.), and we believe we will be able to strenghten and extend our cooperation when planning some new, innovative projects together, which will be beneficial for us all.
We would like to thank the Visegrad Fund for supporting this unique project and the Culture House Foundation for inviting us to the project and look forward to new challenges and collaborations.
Simona Reichlová, Life together NGO (Vzájemné soužití o.p.s.)

Prvý ročník letného worshopu – leto plné vzrušenia!

Summer Worshop Camp bol navrhnutý tak, aby mladí ľudia z väčšiny krajín Vyšehradskej skupiny mali možnosť spoznať časť dôležitej histórie, ktorá zanechala výraznú stopu v našej časti Európy. Tento rok sa za touto históriou vydali mladí ľudia, účastníci a frekventanti letného workshopu, ktorý zorganizovala Nadácia Dom kultúry v spolupráci s organizáciami: Vzájemné súžití o.p.s. z Českej republiky a ETP Slovensko a v spolupráci s Kultúrno-vzdelávacím združením Ros Harangos z Krakova. Mladí Rómovia a Rómky z Poľska, Českej republiky a Slovenska sa stretli od 29. júla do 4. augusta v Medzinárodnom centre stretávania mládeže v Osvienčime, aby strávili týždeň nielen vzájomným spoznávaním a integráciou, ale aj pohľadom do 79-ročnej histórie vyhladzovania Rómov počas druhej svetovej vojny.

Pri realizácii takýchto projektov sa vždy vynára otázka, ako mladým ľuďom sprostredkovať poznanie tragickej minulosti, ktorá postihla predchádzajúce generácie a často aj ľudí z ich rodiny? Ako povedať dospievajúcim, že ich predkovia boli odsúdení na úplné vyhladenie, aby sme ich opäť netraumatizovali? A napokon, ako si pripomenúť pamiatku zavraždených, vypočuť si prejavy tých, ktorí prežili, aby sme sa zároveň mohli lepšie spoznať, tráviť voľný čas zábavou a integráciou? Tieto témy sa napriek uplynutiu takmer ôsmich desaťročí od vojny budú medzi tými, ktorí sa zaoberajú historickým vzdelávaním detí a mládeže, stále objavovať. Prichádzajú nové generácie a hneď od začiatku dostávajú vedomosti, o minulosti, ktorá je vlastne batožinou tragických zážitkov. Veď ako hovoriť o minulosti národa, ktorý bol nacistami odsúdený na úplné vyhladenie len pre svoju etnickú príslušnosť? Program letného tábora bol preto koncipovaný tak, aby vzdelával, reflektoval, ale aj aby sme spoločne absolvovali vzdelávacie a integračné hry, ktoré pomohli lepšie pochopiť ťažkú históriu, ale aj upriamiť pozornosť na budúcnosť. Túto budúcnosť môže vytvárať ďalšia generácia mladých sociálnych aktivistov a aktivistiek, ktorí práve vstupujú do dospelosti.

Hlavným bodom programu tábora boli preto prezentácie aktivít jednotlivých

organizácií a možnosť pozrieť sa na to, ako je rómska komunita podporovaná v susedných krajinách, vrátane toho, čo sa organizuje pre deti a mladých ľudí. Spoznávanie vzdelávacích metód, zaujímavých riešení z rôznych krajín, t. j. integračných denných centier, workshopov, kultúrnych a športových aktivít, podpory detí a mladých ľudí v ťažkých rodinných situáciách, utečencov z Ukrajiny, ako aj možnosť spoznať sociálnych aktivistov a aktivistky s rôznymi skúsenosťami, ich históriu a úspechy.

V ďalších častiach seminára sa otvorila otázka identity, a to tak individuálnej, ako aj sociálnej. Kto som? Ako ma vidia ostatní? Čo je pre mňa dôležité? Kým chcem byť? To sú pravdepodobne najčastejšie otázky, ktoré si kladieme v období dospievania, a my sme si na ne chceli spoločne s našimi účastníkmi odpovedať.

a účastníkmi, spoznať ich spôsob nazerania na históriu a súčasnosť, a tým podporiť rozvoj sociálnych kompetencií. V tomto nám boli nápomocné Agnieszka Caban a Iza Jaskowiak, školiteľky a dlhoročné sociálne aktivistky.

Strategickým bodom programu však bola príprava na návštevu bývalého koncentračného tábora Auchwitz-Birkenau a účasť na podujatiach pri príležitosti 79. výročia vyhladzovania Rómov a Sintov, ktoré sa uskutočnilo 2. augusta. Na toto podujatie sa pripravoval školiteľ z Medzinárodného centra pre stretnutia mládeže.

V predposledný deň workshopu sme sa ocitli v Krakove, kde nás sprevádzali sprievodcovia a sprievodkyne, ale vybrali sme sa aj do Novej Huty, kde sa v Dome Utópia – Medzinárodnom centre empatie konal maliarsky workshop pre mladých ľudí, ktorý viedol jeden z najzaujímavejších umelcov mladej generácie Marcin Janusz. Na druhej strane, na záver nášho stretnutia sa konal hudobný workshop, ktorý viedol Sinto Valentin, hudobník a skladateľ a neoficiálne najlepší strýko pre účastníkov a účastníčky tábora.

Všetky aktivity viedol skúsený tím: trénerky a tréneri, ako aj umelci, ktorých vedomosti a skúsenosti nám umožnili priniesť dôležité reflexie, ale aj stráviť čas v bezpečnej, takmer rodinnej atmosfére. Tohtoročný letný wokshopový tábor priniesol veľa emócií, ťažkých, ktoré priniesli smútok, ale aj pozitívnych, v ktorých sa radosť miešala so vzájomnou zvedavosťou a nápadmi do budúcnosti. Podelíme sa o ne v ďalšom pokračovaní našich noviniek z letného workshopového tábora!

Agnieszka Caban

Agnieszka Caban, kulturologička, doktorandka na Varšavskej univerzite na Doktorandskej škole kultúrnych a náboženských štúdií, výskumníčka kultúr národnostných a etnických menšín, odborníčka na multikulturalizmus. Lektorka a školiteľka v oblasti medzikultúrnej komunikácie, antidiskriminácie, sebaobhajoby a ďalších. Sociálna aktivistka a obhajkyňa ľudských práv. Predsedníčka Nadácie Dom na Pograniczu, členka programovej rady Nadácie Dom Kultury.

Artykuł – Agnieszka Caban_eng

Artykuł -D.K_ eng

Artykuł – Simona Reichlová_eng

Interviews from the Summer Workshop Camp

The main question of the interviews is: Why do you think such educational camps and meetings are important? (for Roma youth)

ETP SLOVENSKO

Antoine De Hertogh

Transcription: Hello, I’m Antoine De Hertogh. I’m working as a social worker here in Lunik IX. I participated at the Summer Workshop Camp in Poland in Oświęcim with the boys from the locality. I think this project was very interesting for us, but mainly for the kids to meet each other and to create contacts with people from other countries and to develop themselves. Also I really believe that they took a lot from the workshops we made there. The workshops helped them to know better each other and also to know better themselves.

Dávid Korčkovský

Transcription: I think it is very beneficial that young people meet each other at such workshops. It is important that these are international meetings of young people from different countries, as it offers new perspectives. When I talked to our group, they said it was an inspiration to them in many ways, because they learned how the Roma from other countries live, how they work, and what are their traditions. Our young people have already discovered that the Roma in Poland live a different way of life than in Slovakia. They are going home inspired and they aspire to get a better standard of living as they saw here in Poland. Because in Slovakia the housing for some Roma is not of the same quality as in Poland.

Fundacja Dom Kultury

Agnieszka Caban

Translation: My name is Agnieszka Caban and I am a trainer and educator at this year’s Summer Workshop Camp in Oświęcim. I believe that such initiatives are very necessary and very important. Mainly due to the fact that during this year’s camp there were about 20 male and female participants from different countries. These include Roma youth from Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Apart from the fact that we had a great number of different educational workshops, a very important initiative of this camp was mutual integration. This is because Roma young people have had, I think, a unique opportunity to meet and get to know their peers from different countries. And I think this initiative will also be at the heart of next year’s Summer Workshop Camp.

Vzájemné soužití

Zuzana Janeczková

Transcription: My name is Zuzana Janeczková and I’m a social worker in Vzájemné soužití. I think this project is very important for young people because they should meet with other children from other countries. And it’s especially important for them to know their history.

Simona Reichlová

Transcription: Ibelieve it’s very important for them because they (Roma youth from Czechia) don’t have such chances as their peers. And I think it’s going to give them a lot of useful things for their life.

Univercity of Ostrava

Zuzana Stanková

Transcription: My name is Zuzana Stanková, I work at the University of Ostrava Faculty of Social Studies as an academician. I teach community work and I also have been a community worker in socially excluded localities. I think these initiatives or these camps for young people are really important for their connection and for knowing some new…, not just the people and places of course, but I think it’s very important to know new contexts and knowledge from another communities or young groups. It can improve them and their seeing of the context of our lives.