My father was born in 1923 in Vép, a small town near Szombathely. Back at the time, the count used to give dinner to the children of the poor every Sunday. One Sunday, when my father also went for the dinner – he was about the age of four – the count offered him a violin. He shortly learnt to play the violin and he started making music in the neighbourhood. He got food in exchange for the music and he brought it home to his family. The story goes that after primary school he got a job right away, he worked as a miner and as a shoemaker, but music had always had an outstanding role in his life. Later on, he bought a new violin and a suit of clothes from his salary and so he went to play music. He had already had a family when he bought a clarinet and signed in to music school once again. As a Gypsy violinist, he played in restaurants and abroad, and he played in the Budapest Gypsy Orchestra. At the age of 76, he even got to Japan. All he lived for was the violin. We learnt...

I was 13 years old when I arrived in Belgium to live with my father. Moving to a different country meant changes in all fields of life: different traditions, different culture, different language. In order to go to school, first I had to learn a completely different language. After that I continued to study and get a qualification. Everything went well, I started to feel at home. One day I found out that I was pregnant. I was 16 years old. This was a very hard time at school. I was ill a lot and missed my classes and exams. At the age of 17 I gave birth to my daughter. I will never forget the first moment when I hold her in my arms. I stayed at home to take care of her and didn't go back to school.*  When I was 18, I went to the social welfare office to see if me and my daughter could get some financial support, which we got. This made it possible for me to move out and go to live on my own with my little daughter. I've been a single mom for almost 2 years now. It...