Summer camp for poor Roma children

Fundraising campaign by Janka Tóth

Szeged, HU Causes

€165.00

raised of €1,300.00 goal goal

12% Funded

5 Donors

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities

Campaign Story

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Help us and give on opportunity for Roma underclass children live in extreme poverty and organize a two-day long summer camp for 50 of the poorest local Roma children (Szeged, Hungary).

Summary (outline)

In the past 6 years our organization ("Elszalasztott 1000 év" Association) have been carried out many different activities for the benefit and social integration of Roma living in extreme poverty in Szeged (Hungary). Our activities include social aid, capacity building and anti-oppressive activities. People who we work with live in extreme poverty, e.g. there are families where 7 people (parents and their 5 children) live in one room of approximately 20 m², parents are unemployed and it is a great difficulty for the family to fulfil their everyday subsistence needs. Being extremely poor, children do not have any opportunity to participate in any recreational summer holiday programs. Our goal with the present request is to ensure one of these missing opportunities. Our aim is to organize a two-day long summer camp for 50 of the poorest local Roma children. We intend to visit a rather simple bath in Mórahalom (a village 20 kilometres away from Szeged). 1300 EUR could cover travel costs, entrance fees, food and swimming suits for these kids (swimming suits are necessary since most families are too poor to be able to afford one). It means that 13 EUR/day/child could help these children to leave their economically and socially poor environment and would give them the opportunity to attend in integrated environments, participate in integrated activities and gain unforgettable experiences which are otherwise unreachable for them.

Goals and activities

The main long term goal of our organization ("Elszalasztott 1000 év" Association) is to further the social integration of underclass Roma families living in extreme poverty – the breaking of the poverty trap characteristic to these communities. In order to reach this goal we have been carrying out many different activities in the past 6 years including social aid (e.g. providing food, firewood, clothes etc. to families not being able to fulfil such survival needs, capacity building (e.g. running afternoon schools and educational programmes, helping people to participate in public work programmes including adult education, connecting underclass families with middle class families and thus creating personal patroning relationships) and anti-oppressive activities (e.g. fighting prejudices against the Roma locally, putting pressure on local politicians to deal with the situation of the Roma etc.). All of our projects have been carried out in cooperation with other NGOs and underclass Roma families.

Programme

The main target group of present fundraising activity are Roma children living in the segregates of Szeged (Hungary). These children and families live in extreme poverty. Unfortunately there are families where 7 people (parents and their 5 children) live in one room of approximately 20 m², parents are unemployed and it is a great difficulty for the family to fulfil their everyday subsistence needs like food, firewood, clothes etc. Spatial segregation means and extra problem for these families since it contributes to the multiplication and reproduction of their poverty and disadvantages. Unemployment rate in the community is extremely high, the level of education for most people is very low, Roma families face severe discrimination in Hungary. The level of self-organizing within the community is also low. Connections between Roma and non-Roma groups are weak and rare (almost non-existent).

Children in the community are socially poor. It means that their parents cannot allow to pay for extra free-time activities (e.g. learning sports, musical instruments, arts, or send their children to summer camps.) Therefore, these children have no opportunity to participate in any summer programs, including summer camps. This way they normally spend all of the summer holiday in the segregates where they live and do not visit any integrated environments or participate in any integrated activities. It is impossible for them for material reasons to leave their home city and go to surrounding lakes, bathes, forests, cities – to participate in any recreational holiday activities.

Our goal with the present request is to ensure these missing opportunities for the poorest Roma families (most of all children) in Szeged (Hungary). Our aim is to organize a two-day long summer camp based on voluntary work for 50 of the poorest Roma children. We intend to visit a rather simple bath in Mórahalom (a village 20 kilometres away from Szeged). 1300 USD could cover travel costs, entrance fees, food and swimming suits for these kids (swimming suits are necessary since most families are too poor to be able to afford one). It means that 13 EUR/day/child could help these children to leave their economically and socially poor environment for 2 days and would give them the opportunity to attend in integrated environments, participate in integrated activities and gain unforgettable experiences which are otherwise unreachable for them. We believe that on the long term such opportunities also help these children to have plans, goals, and vision for the future and to take steps for a better life.

News about our activities in the local media (some pictures are also come from these articles)

http://www.delmagyar.hu/szeged_hirek/morahalmon_taboroznak_a_roma_fiatalok/2392035/

http://www.delmagyar.hu/szeged_hirek/danis_lidia_a_roma_tanodaban/2325463/

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2014/08/roma-csaladi-nap-a-szikin-fotok.html, http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2013/08/furdozes-vetelkedok-es-sok-sok-zene-roma-csaladi-nap-a-szikin-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2014/06/egeszsegugyi-szures-a-szegedi-szegregatumban-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2013/09/jatekos-delelott-az-elfogadas-jegyeben.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2014/02/haromszaz-raszorulonak-osztottak-elelmiszert-alsovaroson-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2013/12/260-mazsa-fat-kaptak-az-arpa-utcai-romak-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2012/08/tarsadalmi-munkaban-szepul-a-romak-irodahaza-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2013/01/a-szegedi-ciganysag-jovojenek-kepei-fotok.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2013/12/foglalkoztatasi-szovetkezet-adhat-munkat-a-szegedi-romaknak.html

http://szegedma.hu/hir/szeged/2015/04/a-vadasparkba-latogattak-a-roma-tanodas-gyerekek-fotok.html