The Foundation for Global Human Dignity’s six-month project took place in Budapest from January 1 to June 30, 2024, achieving outstanding results in supporting the educational and recreational activities of Roma refugee children from Ukraine. The Romaversitas Foundation supported the project’s implementation through a grant from the NGO Menedék – Migrants’ Association for Assistance to Ukrainian Refugees in Hungary, and a MADRE Foundation Crisis Impact Grant. The program’s objectives included further developing children’s literacy skills, teaching basic math, and providing personality and skills development activities.
The FGHD has maintained continuous contact with Hungarian Roma families in Ukraine and, over the past two and a half years, has engaged with such groups at various locations in Hungary, including Gyáli út, Zugligeti út, Bag, Pilisszentlászló, and Fonyód. Our activities focus on three main areas:
1. Mini Workshops: Organizing school catch-up programs in Hungary.
2. Afterschool Geekery: Teaching digital literacy, programming, and robotics in Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia.
3. Summer Camps: Providing personality and skills development programs for children to participate alongside their more fortunate peers.
During the current program, we also worked with Hungarian-speaking Roma families in Ukraine who live in a double minority situation and experience daily discrimination. For many of these families, Hungary was the first place where the school system tried to address their needs, and thus, the majority of school-age children arrived in Hungary illiterate, most of them unable to count on their fingers.
With the Romaversitas Foundation’s support, we continued the Mini Workshop program. FGHD mentors engaged with the children in regular afternoon sessions to help them overcome their disadvantages, view learning positively, and promote the integration of underprivileged Roma children into the school system. Leisure activities enabled the children to visit places that had previously seemed inaccessible to them.
All project staff are of Roma origin, including teachers and a graduate student teacher, all with experience in teaching and child development. The mentors always knew what required more attention and covered topics such as “Environment,” “What Does Ukraine Mean to Me?” “What Does Hungary Mean to Me?” and “What Does It Mean to Me to Be a Romas?”
We hope for further opportunities to continue and expand the program to provide similar opportunities for more Roma children. In the coming period, we aim to further develop the Mini Workshops and organize more recreational activities for children and their parents.