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.