When 17-year-old Marlon Ferenc from Prague arrived at our summer school
The journey of Roma with blindfolded eyes
After a twenty-year hiatus, it is back. The summer school We are on the long way builds on the international meetings that Slovo 21 first organized in 1999. It offers young Roma a place where they can spend several days together, learn informally about history, culture, and identity, and look for ways to respond to anti-Gypsyism. For Marlon, the summer school was his first opportunity to hear a comprehensive account of Roma history. Until then, he had missed out on this both from his parents and at school.
"When we recently had to prepare a presentation for history class at school, a classmate was given the topic of Jewish camps. I asked if I could do a presentation on the Romani concentration camp in Lety u Písku. I had learned about it at summer school and wanted to spread the word. But the teacher said we wouldn't be dealing with that. We didn't learn anything about our language or origins. I think that's wrong," says Marlon.
He still remembers the Slova 21 summer school. According to him, one of the most powerful activities took place with blindfolds on. The lecturer recounted the journey of the Roma through Europe, and the participants had to "experience" it together. "We held each other's shoulders the whole time, and I imagined what it must have been like. It was quite powerful," explains the young man with striking eyes.
When there are no role models
The summer school focused largely on how to actively engage in the fight against anti-Gypsyism. Young Roma discussed specific situations, hateful comments, hate speech, and their impact. The topic was not entirely new to Marlon, but thanks to the meeting, he gained a clearer idea of how to respond to hatred towards Roma.
The meeting also opened up the topic of Romani role models. According to Marlon, their absence is one of the reasons why many young Romani people are unsure of where to go. "You can see it in school discussions with Roma students," he explains. "When we ask who has a role model, a few people say their parents. But 80 percent don't have anyone."
Marlon has experienced firsthand that stories can be very powerful. It was at summer school, he says, that he met people who talk openly about their identity, study, work, are active in their communities, and at the same time embrace their Romani identity as a source of strength, not shame. "For the first time, I felt that I was surrounded by people who had achieved a lot and who understood me."
From summer school to activism
After summer school, Marlon realized that meeting his role models had inspired him to become one himself. Marlon has been coaching soccer for Romani children for some time now, motivating them not to underestimate school or themselves. After summer school, however, he gained a clearer idea of how he could channel his energy further. He accepted Slovo 21's offer to become a mentor and show younger people that Roma identity is not a weakness, but something they can rely on. "I want to pass on to children what I myself lacked for a long time," he says.
The entire summer school program was framed by the legend of a broken mirror, whose shards represented the division of the Roma community. At the end of the meeting, everyone was asked to write on one of the shards what they had learned from the summer school. Marlon wrote on his: "Thanks to this, I realized that it makes sense."
The summer school was held as part of the We Are On the Long Way project under the auspices of ERGO Network. Funded by the European Union.
However, the views and opinions expressed in this document are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the grant provider are responsible for them.
