The event took place on 3rd – 8th August 2024, from Saturday to Thursday. The venue was the Wald Hotel in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The camp was attended by approximately 30 young Roma and their companions from partner organizations from 4 countries of the Visegrad Group – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
On Saturday, all 4 groups gathered in Warsaw, as part of the introductory evening and the official start of the event, the groups were introduced and the entire camp, program, activities and goals of the project were presented.
On Sunday, participants learned about the activities of all organizations working with Roma children and youths in presentations, interesting activities and projects were presented. In the evening, our group from the Czech Republic took on ice breaking games. Friends from the Slovak organization were in charge of the second part of the games. Antoine De Hertogh and Maroš Polak created a fun quiz that provided great entertainment and beautiful gifts for the winning group!
The colourful program was enriched by a visit to the Old Town in Warsaw, which took place with guides in all languages. Young people visited the Palace of Culture and Science. We had the honor of visiting BarStudio, to whom we thank for the warm welcome of our soaked groups and for refreshments.
On Monday, the participants had a great experience at Limanowskiego High School. Thanks for the equipment loan and Piotr Kaczmarczyk for the fantastic sports competition!
This was followed by social workshops and games led by our Hungarian partner Amrita OBK.
As part of the cognitive activities, the groups visited the interactive Copernicus Science Center.
A creative activity for young people was screen printing as part of an art workshop led by the wonderful Esther Mrówka. On the bags, they made her and Mateusz Kwiatek’s design with the motif of dragons that the Polish Roma once had on their carriages. The workshop took place in cooperation with Kwiaciarnia Grafiki
On Wednesday, we participated in a debate at the Multicultural Center in Warsaw led by Agnieszka Caban. The participants debated about the Roma community in their countries: what is their connection, the differences, what is the attitude of the government towards the Roma in the given country, what are the goals and dreams of the participants… At the end, Agnieszka evaluated the project and plans for the next year.
We also had a pleasure to participate in a music and singing workshop led by Agata Siemiaszko, artist and singer.
The leader of the team from Poland this year was Rajmund Siwak – Roma activist, expert on Roma culture and a great animator. We thank him for a fun evening full of dancing, music, humor and stories.
The summer camp in Warsaw was a unique opportunity for young people from different countries to meet, get to know each other, share their views, dreams, but also to strengthen cooperation within the Visegrad Group. The meeting allowed young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn about cultural diversity and develop friendly relationships, inspire one another. Young people had the opportunity to get involved and actively participate in a variety of activities that supported their creativity and thinking, and thus contributed to the participant’s personal development. The discussion and exchange of experiences gave them valuable knowledge that they can apply in life. The participants were able to contribute their opinions and ideas to important Roma issues and to support their culture and identity, thereby making it easier for them to become aware of society and inform it.
The project “Summer workshop – capacity building program for Roma youth and networking of non-governmental organizations” is co-financed by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through a grant from the International Visegrad Fund, whose mission is to promote ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
On behalf of Life together NGO Oldřiška Kopeščanská
