Charlotte Flynn June 2016 Mi Újság? What’s new? Reflections on a year of living, learning, and serving as a YAGM in Budapest, Hungary A Comparison of Community How and why do we come together? As part of its mission to provide volunteers with the tools and support to make the most of their voluntary experience, Phiren Amenca organized a seminar in Slovakia in April to bring current volunteers from across the network together to learn about “Challenging Antigypsyism through Grassroots Activism”. The seminar was looking at ways for communities to organize themselves and come together for a cause and how we as volunteers in different local realities could help shape or take part in these kinds of actions. So many wonderful things came out of the seminar, from meeting local Roma community members who were organizing afterschool dance classes and building community centers, to holding a commemoration at a local Holocaust memorial. However, one of the most interesting things that I took away from the seminar came from a workshop on community organizing. Through a series of activities, we came to realize that in general, communities are formed and function in very different ways in the US and Central Europe. In the US, it is natural to come together over interests and issues. We start groups—book clubs, neighborhood watches, carpools, church committees—all the time. People volunteer their time and energy to be involved, and they feel a sense of ownership, fellowship, and purpose. From my experience and from discussion with friends here, this is not common in this part of Europe. Often the formation of a community is top down, and membership is seen more as an obligation than an opportunity. There is little feeling of solidarity and there is a general sense of inability to change the current situation. It is interesting to speculate why there is this difference. Does it have to do with the difference in political history? Is it a throwback to the Declaration of Independence that makes majority society Americans feel that if they have an issue and bring it to the attention of an authority, that authority has a responsibility to them to address it? Is it the remnants of Communist policies and mentalities that make Hungarians wary of coming together around causes and skeptical of volunteering? Perhaps the difference comes from how common it can be for Americans to move far away from their extended and nuclear families. Is this what makes us seek out support and a sense of belonging from communities rather than relatives? Probably all of these factors come into play and more, but 1 Continued
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Charlotte Flynn June 2016
Mi Újság? What’s new? Reflections on a year of living, learning, and serving as a YAGM in Budapest, Hungary
A Comparison of Community How and why do we come together?
1
As part of its mission to provide volunteers with the tools and support to make the most of their voluntary experience, Phiren Amenca organized a seminar in Slovakia in April to bring current volunteers from across the network together to learn about “Challenging Antigypsyism through Grassroots Activism”. The seminar was looking at ways for communities to organize themselves and come together for a cause and how we as volunteers in different local realities could help shape or take part in these kinds of actions.
So many wonderful things came out of the seminar, from meeting local Roma community members who were organizing
afterschool dance classes and building community centers, to holding a commemoration at a local Holocaust memorial.
2
However, one of the most interesting things that I took away from the seminar came from a workshop on community organizing. Through a series of activities, we came to realize that in general, communities are formed and function in very different ways in the US and Central Europe. In the US, it is natural to come together over interests and issues. We start groups—book clubs, neighborhood watches, carpools, church committees—all the time. People volunteer their time and energy to be involved, and they feel a sense of ownership, fellowship, and purpose. From my experience and from discussion with friends here, this is not common in this part of Europe. Often the formation of a community is top down, and membership is seen more as an obligation than an opportunity. There is little feeling of solidarity and there is a general sense of inability to change the current situation.
It is interesting to speculate why there is this difference.
3
Does it have to do with the difference in political history? Is it a throwback to the Declaration of Independence that makes majority society Americans feel that if they have an issue and bring it to the attention of an authority, that authority has a responsibility to them to address it? Is it the remnants of Communist policies and mentalities that make Hungarians wary of coming together around causes and skeptical of volunteering?
Perhaps the difference comes from how common it can be for Americans to move far away from their extended and nuclear families. Is this what makes us seek out support and a sense of belonging from communities rather than relatives? Probably all of these factors come into play and more, but
1
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Charlotte Flynn June 2016
Celebration
Storytelling
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There is a really wonderful Ted Talk by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie entitled “The Danger of a Single Story” (if you have not yet seen it, I highly recommend doing so right away!) As Central Europe YAGMs, we watched this video during our orientation, and I have since done my best to keep it present in my mind as a framework for how I go about (and talk about) my year of service. I have the opportunity, through my presence and interactions here in Hungary, to hear and share many stories and to remember and remind that there is never a single story to a people or place.
One place where I have found many opportunities for the exchange of stories is at the Fasor School, where I assist with English classes. One instance was with a group of 5th graders, when their teacher asked me if I could discuss Native Americans. We came up with the idea to do a ‘pen-pal’ type exchange with students from my mother’s school in Albuquerque. The 5th grade class made a poster about themselves and Hungarian culture, which they sent to my mother’s class. Some of her Navajo students then sent back similar introductions to themselves and their culture. In addition to getting to know about the diversity of experience of what it means to be American and Hungarian, they also discovered some similarities. For example, Hungarian langos is a lot like fry bread, and both New Mexico and Hungary dry red chilis in ristra-type strands!
Another example of making connections and sharing stories was International Roma Day. This day commemorates the First Romani World Congress on April 8, 1971. During the week leading up to it, my fellow volunteers Max and Angela, who are Roma, came to
school with me and helped lead activities about Roma history, culture, and their own experience as volunteers. I’m so grateful that we had the opportunity, because just me talking about work at Phiren Amenca at the school will never have the same impact as the chance to build a relationship with someone who is Roma.
I think these moments of interaction and storytelling are some of the most impactful experiences of my year of service. These stories ultimately bring us together, help us see the humanity in one another, and remind us that we are all part of a diverse
human body, the Body of Christ. Just like any body cannot function with just hands, or just eyes, or just feet, so cannot the Body of Christ be made up of uniform people or human experience. It is not about being the same or functioning in the same way; it is about working together.
Celebrating Easter in Hungary included some exciting new traditions for me. Decorated Easter eggs are hung on cut branches of willow to make an Easter tree. Small gifts are delivered to children by the Easter bunny in “nests” rather than baskets. Last but not least – boys will visit girls on Easter to recite poems and “sprinkle” them with a little water or perfume (in some villages, this “sprinkling” is actually a bucket of water that is thrown on them). In return, girls give the boys Easter eggs.
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whatever the reasoning, organizing community does not happen as naturally here as in the US.
So what does this mean for community organizing and grassroots Roma activism? It has the potential to be a powerful tool, yet there are social and cultural barriers to overcome in order for people to believe it can be effective and work together. There are positive examples, like the community centers in Slovakia, yet it is scary to see how the shift to the political right in recent years has made community efforts for progress more difficult and even dangerous.
Charlotte Flynn June 2016
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More Pictures!
April Seniors at the Fasor
School formally
say goodbye
to their classrooms
April Enjoying
the first days of
sunshine with some
friends
April Planting trees at Grassroots Activism seminar in Slovakia
May Visiting an open air Hungarian culture museum near Budapest
May Watching
a friend perform
Hungarian folk dance
May Sharing the
Wisconsin spirit with
my roommates
Max and Angela
May Participaing in activities for May 16, Romani Resistance Day
May Visiting the Lutheran Roma College Program in Nyíregyháza to discuss volunteering
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