Amalipe Center Week dedicated to International Roma Day (Overview)
April 8 is the International Day of the Roma Community.
April 8 is Roma Awakening Day. This is a day to honor the memory of those half a million Roma killed in the death camp during the Holocaust. On April 8, 1971, the first Congress of the International Roma Union was opened in London. A Roma anthem and a flag were adopted at the meeting. The anthem is the popular in Bulgaria song “Djelem, jelem” (I wandered, wandered), written by the Serbian Roma Zarko Jovanovic, and the Roma flag is a red wheel with 16 spokes on blue and green, symbolizing the sky and grass, as well as the free nomadic life of the Roma in the past.Since then, we have celebrated this date as a symbol of the Roma movement, of the fact that Roma from all over the world are uniting in their quest for equal inclusion in the globalizing modern world. Тhis year marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the modern Roma movement and the holding of the First Roma Congress.
Every year, the Amalipe Center celebrates the International Roma Day with a number of events at the national level. This year, due to the epidemic conditions, they were online, but this did not diminish their importance and interest in them, on the contrary.
Our week started with the tenth traditional meeting of Roma teachers with the Minister of Education. On April 7, Krassimir Valchev talked to the teachers in an online meeting through the Zoom platform. More than 70 teachers of Roma origin asked questions to Minister Krassimir Valchev, Greta Gancheva – project manager “Support for Success” and Lalo Kamenov – executive director of the Center for Educational Integration of Children and Students from Ethnic Minorities. The aim of the meeting was to draw attention to the large number of pedagogues of Roma origin who work in the field of education in Bulgaria and thus contribute to changing attitudes towards the Roma community, to increase sensitivity to the need for support among Roma institutions studying. in pedagogical specialties, as well as to enable teachers and students of pedagogy of Roma origin to share about their journey from the neighborhood to the university, then to the classroom as teachers; the challenges they faced along the way, what motivated them to succeed and at the same time keep their identity, how they fight stereotypes, etc.
During the meeting the Roma pedagogues shared their challenges on the way to professional realization and accordingly asked the questions that excite them – as Roma and as pedagogues: about the regime of return to face-to-face education, stereotypes and prejudices in the education system, segregation of Roma children. in a separate school, for the future of educational mediators, etc. Within a month, the schools will start receiving computer devices under the REACT-EU mechanism, said Minister Valchev. Over 80,000 mobile computers will be provided to all schools. In addition, tablets will be delivered to schools with a concentration of students without distance learning devices in an electronic environment.
The Ministry of Education and Science plans to continue the Support for Success project for another year, although the project budget is almost entirely spent. We will offer the EXECUTIVE AGENCY SCIENCE AND EDUCATION FOR SMART GROWTH OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME to use savings from other schemes and projects to fund “Success Support” for another year. We are ready to provide additional funding from the state budget, but in any case we will continue the additional training, as well as the activities of educational mediators.This was also mentioned by Minister Valchev.
See more about how the event went here.
Of course, we did not miss April 8, when a discussion of four generations of Roma activists was held, who discussed the achievements, challenges and prospects of the Roma movement.
The past, present and future of Roma inclusion was the basis of the discussion of four generations of Roma activists, representatives of the Informal Ambassadorial Group for Roma Integration in Bulgaria, the European Commission, UNICEF, the World Bank and all activists in the form of educational mediators, youth, teachers, directors and guests of the Discussion Forum “OPRE ROMA! We are not alone! Keep moving forward together!”. Motivated for changing attitudes, equality and unity, over 100 participants took part in the online event, organized by the Amalipe Center, to share their views on the Roma issue, learn more about Roma culture and history on April 8 as International Day of the Roma!
The event began with the traditional commemoration of the thousands of Roma killed during the Holocaust, with live broadcasting of several Community Development Centers, by throwing flowers in the rivers and remained silent for a minute in memorium of the tragedy of thousands of Roma families in WWII.
The emotional beginning was complemented by a video message from representatives of the Informal Group of Roma Ambassadors, a group of 17 ambassadors from European countries and the United States, UNICEF and the World Bank. In the video, they express sympathy for the Roma community and send messages of tolerance, equality and unity! Thanks to:
H.E. Muriel Berset Kohen: Ambassador of Switzerland to Bulgaria
Н. Е. Bea ten Tusscher, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bulgaria
Н. Е. Alejandro Polanco, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Bulgaria
H. E. Kristiina Kuvaja-Xanthopoulos, Ambassador of Finland to Bulgaria
H. E. Siri Beate Barry, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Bulgaria
Mr. Fabrizio Zarcone – World Bank Country Managerfor Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Europe and Central Asia
H.E. Dr. Rob Dixon, Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Bulgaria
who sent these strong messages and supported entirely the iniciatives of Amalipe Center, related to the celebration of April 8 – The Intermational Roma day!
This was followed by a presentation of different generations of Roma activists who spoke openly about what they wanted to achieve, what they achieved and what message they will send to future generations about the issues they have failed to address and the challenges they have faced over the years. Vasil Chaprazov, as a representative of one of the first generations of Roma activists, writer and journalist, shared about the difficulties and stories that leave their mark, as well as messages from future generations that do not forget their identity and do not stop fighting for goals. you are! Sergi Karakashev, Yosif Nunev and Deyan Kolev added by highlighting the main challenges, such as learning the mother tongue, segregation in schools and negative attitudes in society.
The youngest generations were also represented by Tanya Hristova, the candidate for Young European of the Amalipe Center, Volunteer of the Year according to TimeHeroes and regional coordinator in Amalipe. Esil Shukrieva and Stefan Stefanov, as students and mentors of the AMALIPE Leadership Program, spoke about their achievements and their concerns about their peers who deny their identity and have no motivation to defend causes.
See more about the event here.
As a final event of the week dedicated to the International Roma Day, Amalipe Center held an online award ceremony for the winners of the contest “Girls with dreams – let’s turn the page” on Friday – April 9 from 14.00 through the platform Zoom.us. The event was also broadcast live on the organization’s Facebook page. The event was also broadcast live on the organization’s Facebook page. At the beginning of 2020, the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance “Amalipe” and Zonta Club Stara Zagora announced a student competition “Girls with dreams – let’s turn the page.” The topic of the competition was related to overcoming harmful traditional practices, including the so-called “Early marriages” and the pursuit of dreams. The aim of the competition was to provoke young people to create messages aimed at preventing these practices. They participated with essays, videos and images.
See how the event went, as well as the awarded works here.
How we celebrated April 8 in the country – coming soon!
Amalipe Center would like to thank all the participants in the three events. With our joint efforts we believe that we make possible an equal chance for the developing the potential of every child. Do not forget your origin and do not stop pursuing your dreams!
The meetings and campaigns were implemented in the framework of the Dream Road project, with the main focus of the project being the empowerment of the Roma community in the Danube region through innovative approaches to facilitate digital, information and functional literacy, where the strong collaboration of Roma communities, public authorities and policy makers, as well as local communities, in general, is key to achieving success.