Ugrás a fő tartalomra

I will fight for them till the day when I die!



What does education mean for you? Did you know that the tradition of marrying early and starting a family at a young age is still alive in many communities? Early marriage and early parenthood due to family pressure is an existing phenomenon and the youngsters at Pásztó have experienced that in their own environment too. Their firm opinion is that they do not want to start a family while they are studying. But what can one do if he or she already has children and wants to take care of them despite the difficult circumstances? Youngsters from Kövicses Part group, Pásztó, discussed parenthood at Roma Heroes workshop and they performed the below described scene.

The hero of the youngsters is a single mother who raises several children while taking care of her elderly mother. She did not finish school because of her early marriage; the family lives in poverty despite the fact that the children work and help in many ways, too. It is very important for the mother that the children keep studying. One day the youngest girl comes home from school hungrily. There is only a small portion of bread at home that the others saved for her, and she needs the energy to write her homework. 

That day, the social services are expected to visit the family. Everyone is preparing for the visit, they have been cleaning the house for hours, the visitor shall find everything good enough. They are afraid that child protection services will tear them apart because of their difficult circumstances, but they would like to stay together. Children and family are the most important, they could never bear to be separated. But there are to many hungry mouths to feed and the house is to little for all the children, the mother and the grandmother. The mother fights as she can for the family's unity when the public official arrives. 

"This can't go on like this, things must change!" – says the social worker.

The mother starts to explain and apologize. There are many children but she does everything that is possible to take care of the children and her sick mother. She starts to beg and asks the social worker not to take away the children. The official leaves and the family does not want to let her back in to their home. The mother is bothered by doubts. She falls asleep praying to God for help. 

Youngsters from Kövicses Part Group, Pásztó, discussed parenthood at the Roma Heroes workshop and they performed a scene about this topic.

Megjegyzések

Népszerű bejegyzések ezen a blogon

We Are Unstoppable

What does family, parents and siblings mean to us? What do we do for our family members and what does the family do for us? How can we help each other in life? My story is about my younger brother, I consider him a hero in my life. Gábor is a simple man with a huge heart who is very honest and enduring. His endurance in work makes him a real hero. He works 16 hours five days a week as a cook; he gets up every morning and goes to work because that’s his job. He was 18 when he got a great opportunity to work abroad as a chef, naturally making much more money than here, at home. Had he accepted it, his life would have changed radically, but he didn’t want to leave me and our mom alone. It is just the three of us and we would never leave each other. He has superhuman strength. He moved in with Mom who had to be cared for because of her health, but we never felt that is a burden; we are one and everyone does their bit without complaint – Gábor works, Mom takes care of the household, I s...

I don’t want special treatment! – Alina Serban in conversation

Alina presented her auto-biographical play, I declare at my own risk, at Roma Heroes Festival. The play provides insight into the difficult moments of Alina’s life, her important decisions, her often controversial but always true thoughts and feelings. According to the actress who got to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London from a Romanian Gypsy yard, having climbed a mountain doesn’t mean that you have arrived. You may get some rest before you start climbing another mountain. She claims that we must consider carefully what Roma image we show and how it reinforces the superficial stereotypes that are present in many people. The human similarity is much more important than otherness. Roma theatre is theatre, same as non-Roma theatre. It is vital not to treat Roma people, nor Roma theatre as something ‘special’. If the topic and the artistic realisation is good enough, the artists should be in the mainstream instead of a cultural ghetto – from where they can step out on som...

The Perfect Grandma

We all need role models, heroes in our life whose acts and qualities serve as examples. Sometimes it takes time to realize that real heroes are all around us. Find your own hero! Oh, my darling granny. She loved us, her family, she did whatever she could for us. She was a vibrant ball of energy. She rushed from one grandchild to the other whole day long. She helped with household chores, made jam, cooked our favorite granny-cakes like no one else. She often told us about our badass grandpa and she kept loving, loving and loving. Words cannot express what she means to me even today. No doubt she had a huge impact both on my mother and me. We got the love and solidarity of the family from her. She lived her life with sacrifices and an everlasting smile on her face, she lived for us and for our happiness. We learned only after her death that besides everyday care, she had a secret that she never told anyone. A stray paper found after her death revealed this secret. My grandm...