My
story dates back to my childhood, I was a shy, reserved, quiet little
girl.
I
grew up in Budapest but most members of my family live in Hodász,
therefore I spent a lot of time there. I was bilingual as a kid, I spoke both Romani and Hungarian fluently. My mother
taught me to be proud of my Roma heritage. Unfortunately, this
does not mean that I have not faced discrimination because of my ethnic background. Often security guards followed us while we
were shopping, hence I learned, if I liked something in the shop, I
should not touch it but look at it instead.
I remember when I was in kindergarten and I was playing around the climbing
frame after lunch. Suddenly one of my mates, a ginger-haired,
freckled little boy came up to me and said that Gypsies are not allowed
to play at the climbing frame. I was frightened and I did not play
there that day. My mom worked near the kindergarten so I did not have
to wait long for her to take me home. On the way home, I told her
what had happened to me that day. I am sure, it must have hurt her to hear that her only daughter was insulted. Even though she was hurt, she
did not show her feelings, just asked: “Shall I speak to the
teacher and the boy?” I said no, of course, because I considered
myself a big girl who can protect herself. Then something came to
Mom’s mind and we agreed – she was not going to talk to them if I
would ask a question from the boy the next day. Therefore, the following day I
gathered my courage and came up to him and asked: “Which one tastes better, flour
or chocolate?”
He
was staring at me and said nothing. Neither then, nor after.
Written by Vivien Balogh,
based on a conversation with Melinda Vajda
Megjegyzések
Megjegyzés küldése