Intercultural Youth Meeting in Sokobanja 2010
Intercultural youth meeting in Serbia: colourful, lively, democratic
4-10 July 2010
Sokobanja
With 37 participants from seven different countries, Caritas and Erste Foundation’s seven-day project in the Serbian town of Sokobanja was a raving success.
A seven-day intercultural youth meeting in Sokobanja in Serbia ended on Friday 9 July with a lively, colourful party. The group of 37 children and teenagers aged between 12 and 14 from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine had come together for a variety of joint activities and a children’s parliament to discuss topics such as discrimination, children’s rights and cultural diversity. There was also plenty of time for leisure activities, such as cooking, art workshops and a football tournament.
The meeting was organised by Komenský Fund, a Caritas and Erste Foundation initiative that was created to help people in difficult social and economic situations seize educational opportunities and to raise awareness about education being the best way to escape poverty.
Prejudices and barriers start in the mind. “It’s never too early to start promoting cultural exchange and to foster understanding for other countries and cultures,” says Franz Karl Prüller from ERSTE Foundation enthusiastically. “This meeting gives children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as Roma and street children, the opportunity to boost up their self-esteem and to spend a few carefree days with their peers,” says Barbara Reiterer from Caritas, citing another objective of the youth meeting.
The participants’ feedback proves they succeeded in their aims: “I’m very happy to have come here, because now I know that children have lots of rights. For example, we have the right to receive medical care. This is very important for a happy life,” says Tomás M. from Jihlava, Czech Republic.
And Srebra M. from the Roma settlement in Banya in Bulgaria adds: “What I’ll take home from here is that even as a child I have the right to feel safe and secure and to be protected from violence. Besides, I have never thought I would have so much fun spending time with so many children from other countries. Although we speak different languages, we had no problems understanding one another.”
