Something I notice is different in Hungary is this: whenever you catch a train Hungarians seem very reserved. The other thing is once you are out of Budapest the passengers don’t go out the station through a barrier with a ticket collector as they do in my country. They simply walk off across the fields in the direction of their home. To me this all looks very strange.
More »
Istvan Lazi, a Hungarian Dalit, speaks of struggles for a better life.
My name is Istvan Lazi. My nickname is Benu. I was born at Kazincbarcika, in Northern Hungary, in 1987. My family are gypsies. It is difficult for non-gypsies to understand what that really means. Most non-gypsies think it is a matter of race or skin colour, but it is not. To be a gypsy is a belonging. It is to be part of a community where everyone knows, ‘We are gypsies’. Gypsies are a community of people who have the same way of thinking about things. Even though skin colour is not the main point about being a gypsy, many gypsies are dark skinned. When two Buddhist friends visited us recently from India, people seeing us together thought they were my relatives. If an Indian doesn’t speak English then people in Hungary will think he is a gypsy.
In my village there are several gypsy localities, all separate from the non-gypsies. There is the gypsy locality where I live - most of these, my people, are gypsies who have been in Hungary for many centuries and speak Hungarian. There is another smaller gypsy locality for Vlach gypsies who came from Romania a century or so ago and speak the ancient gypsy language, which is quite similar to Hindi and other North Indian languages. The number of gypsies is growing in my village as more gypsy families move in and they are now in the majority. So conflicts are growing with the non-gypsies because none of them want a gypsy neighbour. The mayors of many Hungarian villages are always counting how many gypsies there are in the village - because it is obvious that they are becoming the majority and that they do not want.
More »
In our school the results of the survey in October were shocking.
In the autumn of 2007, sixty one students registered at the Dr. Ámbédkár Grammar School in Sajokaza. Nineteen of them were entitled to orphans annuity. If that is the case, then nearly a third of our students are orphaned. We can read much in the specialized literature on the low life expectancy and the high death rates of the gypsies. However, it’s a very different thing to read the cold numbers in the specialized literature than it is to meet this problem with the students of a high school class who are victims of this demographical symptom.
More »
Our School invites You and Your Family for a joyful commemoration of the Dhammadiksha of Dr. Ambedkar what happened in Nagpur 14 October 1956. The festival will begin at 11 o’clock in Sajokaza Solyomtelep Football field 13 October 2007. Our Special Guest: Dr. Judit Szoke (constructor of The Jozsefvarosi Tanoda).
More »
Our school is named after Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891-December 6, 1956) an Indian jurist, scholar and political leader. Born into a poor, dalit (untouchable) family and subjected to intense socio-economic discrimination, Ambedkar spent his life fighting against the Indian caste system and the idea of untouchability. We see his message being relevant for gypsies in our country today.
Our school is serving in a region of northern Hungary where the proportion of high school graduates having matriculation examination is under 1%. At the gypsy settlements of Sajokaza, Lak, Alsovadasz, Homrogd there are thousands of people without the chance of secondary education. We believe, that the application of proper pedagogy will result in the elevation of above mentioned ratio similar to any other group of today’s society, and our students so become competitive participants of the labour market.
More »
Most Active Commentors