COMING TOGETHER WITH YOUNG ROMA PEOPLE

Having a great time with friendly people last night was nice, but did you ask yourself how much you know about your hosts? Here are some facts about our hosts:

The Roma society in Bački Monoštor was founded in 1998 being a special group of Roma in need of a place for cultural and social connecting. During their nomad times they trespassed Romania, and there they picked up some of Romanian language and tradition. At the same time they kept the biggest part of their Roma tradition.

Some of the donators for this community centre are:

SPOLU - Holandska NVO

Misija OEBS-a u Srbiji

Incest Trauma Centar – Beograd

Crveni Krst Sombor

Ministarstvo ekonomije I regionalnog razvoja

Grad Sombor

MZ Backi Monoštor

For some time Roma people from Bačka region (some of them call themselves “Vlah”) lived in separate settlements, but nowadays they use to live within the village. There are 750 Roma in Bački Monoštor: that is 15% of the total population of the village. There are around 70 active young people to participate in public work, seminars, folklore activities, workshops, games and sports. Beside that the young Rom generation usually gathers on Saturdays for having a party, karaoke or other funny actions. They also get involved in village feasts and have a good relationship with other organizations like the Red Cross of Sombor or KUD Bodrog.

Together they built up projects like:

“Produžena nastava” – work with young people who want to learn more.

“Umeće roditeljstva” – workshops with parents whose children go to Roma kindergarten.

“Farma gusaka – Ružno pače” – economical empowerment for Roma people.

“Zanati” – for Roma youth additional vocational education

There is also an education centre, a kindergarten, a Club of older Roma and much more.