Svíčková or Ukrainian holubtsi? Experience a slightly different kind of lunch with Family Next Door

Do you enjoy meeting new people? Do you like trying new things and unconventional flavors? Are you interested in the stories of people who had to leave their home country due to war? Then you have come to the right place! Sign up for Family Next Door. A project by Slovo 21 that has been connecting Czech families with immigrant families for 20 years. A project that received the prestigious Austrian SozialMarie award for its originality.

A truly unique experience  

‍It is an experience you will most likely never forget. After all, how many times in your life do you invite a complete stranger into your home or visit a family you have never met before? You can have this unique opportunity thanks to the Slovo 21 project. Family Next Door facilitates such meetings. This year, it focuses on Ukrainian refugee families who fled to the Czech Republic from Russian aggression and would like to find new friends in their new country. Perhaps even you. "We are convinced that such informal meetings will not only encourage Ukrainian refugee families, for whom life in a new country is understandably difficult, but will also enrich Czech families. Perhaps they will realize that even in these difficult times, they are not doing so badly," says project coordinator Ljiljana Batovanja.

Good food simply brings people together

‍Perhaps you are one of those who became more interested in Vietnamese, Chinese, or Indian culture precisely because of the great food. Believe me, you are not alone in that. Good food simply brings people together – and we are well aware of that. That is why the Family Next Door project is designed as a festive family lunch where the best delicacies cannot be missing. If you host a Ukrainian family, you can shine and show them Czech cuisine in its most delicious form. Conversely, if you accept an invitation to visit a Ukrainian family, you will likely enjoy something you have never had before. Would you like some authentic borscht? Or holubtsi – cabbage leaves stuffed with meat? Or varenyky, which are boiled dumplings made from unleavened dough filled with sweet or savory fillings? Let yourself be surprised!

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We want to do it! How do we sign up?

‍It's simple – just fill out the online application HERE. In it, you will provide your basic information and choose, among other things, whether you want to host or would prefer to visit. Unlike previous years of the project, we are not planning individual meetings across the country at one specific time, but are adapting to the schedules of both participating families. However, you must complete it by the end of 2023. We have been connecting Czech and immigrant families in this way for two decades. Since 2004, nearly 1,800 families have met over a shared lunch. And most of them are still in contact – even several years after their first meeting through Family Next Door. "And that is exactly what we are aiming for. That is the purpose of our project. To break down prejudices through friendship," adds Batovanja.

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