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...

What do mothers mean to us? What do we learn from them and what is our favourite memory with our mother? They are the strongest, most persistent people who never give up, who we can always count on. The next story presents a mother, a hero who lives for her children. When I was a child, we rarely got any sweets. However, when mom went to the shop, we always looked forward to her return with great expectations. What will she bring us today? Lollypop? Melon-flavoured chewing gum? Or jellybeans? I remember, one day she drew a deep breath as she left to the shop. All we had was 500 HUF and she wanted to buy bread. I didn’t know how much 500 HUF was worth back in those days, but it must have been similar as it is today: not very much. When mom got home, she put down the bread on the table. She took out two lollipops from her pocket and gave them to us smilingly, then went to the kitchen to cook some potatoes. I remember, I was 6 years old when I first got a cake. It was a chocolate cake. We...

  What’s the first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about heroes? Why do we consider someone a hero? Discipline wouldn’t come to most people’s mind first. This story shows, though, how expectations full of love and intentional parenting make heroes out of our parents. To introduce my heroes, I must go back to my childhood…and I am lucky enough to think of my mum and dad as heroes. I was not a good kid at all. I did a lot of mischief, and I was also lazy and self-righteous. Music was always important in my family. My dad is still the organist in our local church. My parents soon noticed my musical talent when I was a child, and they wanted me to improve it. Beside music, improving my school records became my other priority. My parents divided the tasks between them: my dad would assist my musical studies, and my mum would help me better my grades. I found maths extremely difficult, and my mum sacrificed her whole summer to tutor me. Each day she worked with endless pa...

  The pandemic has been in our lives for two years. The whole world is struggling with it, many people have lost their loved ones, their jobs, their financial and spiritual safety. What can you do when the situation seems hopeless and there is nothing to hold onto? The answer is simple, it’s hard to act. But we cannot give up, we must move forward! Our goal is to bring hope with this story to those who lost their relatives. Theatre means a lot to me, I love being on stage, rehearsing, stepping on stage with my colleagues. It’s truly an exceptional way to earn my living doing what I adore. Everything was going well, my life was great, then suddenly problems started to arise. The virus appeared. There was less and less work, the money to live on became uncertain and a crisis in my partner relationship reared its head. Long months have passed, there was nothing to do, I had to take actions. I tried my luck in the Netherlands, I took a job in a factory.  Life started to become nor...

My story dates back to more than ten years ago now. For a long while, I lived in love and harmony with my husband and our daughter, but at some point we realised that we do not walk the same paths and we both started a new life. It was a peaceful divorce and we are on good terms even today. Shortly, I got to know a special man who accepted my daughter, accepted my Gypsy origin and with whom we planned our future together. I thought that finally, I have made it, but I was mistaken. Our relationship became too difficult, trust was lost and thus we had to let each other go. Let a loved one go is never easy, but this time, the circumstances made it even harder for us. My spare money was in the house that we had built together and where I could not stay any longer with my daughter. I had no home, no money and no partner, I was alone with a little girl. I had to start again from zero. I did not know how I will pull myself together and how I will get a home without any spare money. ...

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...

Kende was in sixth grade when it first came to our mind to change school. Afterward, everything happened so quickly, we chose an alternative school together, he applied and we were looking forward to the results. One afternoon, we got the notification that he is 26 th on the waiting list. At this point Kende said that he didn’t want to compete with anyone for the vacant places. It’s hard time like this when it is important for people to remain brave. The idea to study abroad came to mind  because of the Hungarian education system as well as enabling him to learn more about his father’s heritage and culture. I remember what it was like to observ while he was packing to depart. I was just looking at  him and thinking how proud I was of him and how difficult it was going to be to let him go. But I didn’t want to stop him, I let him go to Bristol, as this was about him and not me. Before he left, he asked me not to go with him to the airport, it was easier for him to bi...