I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with this blog recently.
Truth is, not much is going on here in Tisovec.
Over Christmas and New Years I had a wonderful time in Itlay, however! I spent two full weeks in the cities of Rome, Vactican City ( a whole other country, boo ya!), Florence, Pisa, Venice and Milan! I went to midnight mass, which the Pope presided over. I saw the Sistine Chapel, Michaelangelo's "David", "The Birth of Venus", and "The Last Supper." I visited the Pantheon, the Colloseum, the Leaning Tower and so much more! I ate soooo much food (gelato almost every city, fresh seafood, tiramisu, cappuccinos, pasta and pizza galore) and I only got kicked out of one bar (for dancing, when it was forbidden). I was certainly living "La Doce Vita." It was a vacation, however, so I'm not going to write too much about it. (I would like to focus this blog on Slovakia.)
But here's a couple photos (thanks to Sara and Rachel who took many photos of me) :
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| Sara (my lovely travel companion) and me waiting for Midnight Mass |
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| The next day - Me filming our "Christmas Morning" |
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| The coffee was simply amazing in Italy! |
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| You know... |
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| Me and my Best Friend - Rick! |
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| My very Italian haircut! |
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| New Years Eve! |
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| Leaning Tower - The day after New Years! |
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| Finally, Venice! The city I've wanted to visit for so long! |
Meanwhile, back in Slovakia, my students were working hard. The second semester is coming to an end (I can't even believe it) and the students had to take a "Big Test", which is a comprehensive exam, as well as study for other tests in almost every class.
Today the grades were due. Grading really isn't so much fun when you have countless papers and tests in front of you and your grade actually matters to the students! When writing numbers (1 = A, 2 =B, and so on) in the books I felt very official, but unsure of my teaching at the same time. It's so difficult to asses students in a fair and inclusive way. I'm worried that my grading isn't fair to everyone (or that I even know how to grade my students) Fortunately, most of my students received 1s and 2s - so they don't really complain - but then I worry that I'm too easy on them!
I like to give my conversation students these "participation surveys" where I have them evaluate their growth and participation in my class as well as give me suggestions on what they would like to do more ,or less, of in class. This usually serves as an ego boost as most of the kids write, "This class is great because you are a great teacher. I participate much more in this class than in the others. " I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it usually puts a smile on my face. However, today one of my students wrote that everyone in the class does good work because they like me and they want to make me happy. I like to believe that story over any of the other possibilities and therefore everyone deserves their good grades!
While I'm bragging about how well liked I am I would like to mention a result from a survey that happened before Christmas break. Our school psychologist surveyed all of the 1st year students ( of which I teach half) about their attitudes of the school. One question in particular was: Who at this school do you think cares about you? The students' answers read as followed:
1. No one
2. The American teachers
3. A Slovak teacher, who was their homeroom teacher
4. ME! - Miss Stephanie Locke
This just made me so happy. To think that some students actually wrote in my name above others, and they really believe I care about them! Learning that really cemented my love for teaching. I do care about my students, and it's so lovely to hear that they think so. OK- enough bragging.
Truthfully, I feel like I'm in the middle of the year and it's really cold outside. Not much has been happening since Italy and I'm itching for another adventure. The most adventurous thing I did this weekend was mop my floors.
Luckily, an adventure is coming my way! Next week I am traveling to Trencianske Teplice, a spa town in Slovakia, where I will have another Fulbright conference. I will give a presentation about my experiences thus far in Slovakia. I'm really looking forward to going and meeting up with all of the other Fulbrighters from Slovakia and the Czech Republic again. I'm also looking forward to hearing about their experiences. So, stay tuned for that blog entry.
Until then, I would like to leave you with a paper one of my students wrote about the Roma population/problem here in Slovakia. In my Christmas blog - where we went to visit the orphanage - talked a little about the prejudices towards the Roma population (gypys) here in Slovakia and how difficult it is for them to be accepted as equal Slovak citizens. This student wrote, what I think is a very in depth and well-rounded piece on the issue if you would like to read more:
Until next time ...
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| Atop the Duomo in Milan! |
Dovidenia or Arrivederci
White or Black, Roma or Tisovec Resident
Peter Dlhopolec TISOVEC – „Black“, filthy, smelly, drunk, ragged, impolite, lazy, uneducated, unemployed or, by accident, doing public work. Although, it is always better to do something rather than nothing. Such is the picture of the Roma population as seen by the majority of Slovak citizens, including young students. Why is this so? Are they all, in fact, the same? What is the situation like in Tisovec? What should be done with this long-term and seemingly endless issue?
„Not only is this community Slovakia´s most populous minority, but also the Roma are the weakest social class, socially and economically - afflicted with poverty and social separation that they are unable to conquer individually,“ says Iveta Duchoňová, M.A. from The Department of Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities. If Slovaks can coexist with the Hungarian minority, why is it impossible to achieve a positive relationship with the Roma? The response is simple: Slovaks are not racists nor extremists, even though certain exceptions can always be found. It does not have to do with the use of the Roma language, or their culture. Besides, most Slovak residents respect the traditions of other nationalities living in this country, as well as their own traditions. The only things that bother the inhabitants are the indifference, irresponsibility and attitude to life the Roma seem to express. The fact that they do not take showers, do not put clean clothes on, do not work for the most part, do not educate themselves, but they just sit on benches in parks and stations or they vex well-behaved people are the only results of their mental thinking. Rightly this unutterably irritates the people around.
New, but troublesome, situations and scrimmages with the Roma happens nearly everywhere in Slovakia, and Tisovec isn´t any exception. Rude and vulgar shoutings at people, thefts, clashes - this is a daily routine here. „Dávid was beaten when he stood up for the girls, whom the Roma had uncalled comments for, and the poor wretch carried the burden,“ says a young student. In that case, alcohol had also played an important part. However, what is more shocking is the fact that small, school-aged children wander aimlessly in and around Tisovec while they should be sitting in chairs at school. „Fero wants to f...k you!“ This shout and many similar ones, yelled to female high school students, is already used by the small Roma kids in Tisovec.
And what about their parents? Lukáš Vetrák, Tisovec resident, claims: „The majority of them don´t work. It is very easy to find a job, but it is necessary to seek one, and they are too lazy to do so. As the result, they do nothing - only make an awful din in the square where they sit all day. When they already have child-allocations from the government, they are still aggressive. They do not even have a bit of respect to those citizens who work hard. Their children seldom play with balls at playgrounds; they wander around, and another unadaptive generation of Roma is on rise this way.“ But what is the point of view of the Roma proponents? „We do public jobs; our relationship to Tisovec citizens is normal, and if one of us drinks alcohol and gets drunk our behaviour is the same as the behaviour of other drunk men.“ proclaims Marián Bóldi, one out of a million, who does public work and receivies a monthly salary of 62 euros. When the children and social allocations are added, he gets about 125 euros. His working spouse gets approximately 150 euros and together they have a daughter in kindergarten. He also adds:
„We are not lazy, we just don´t have an opportunity to work, there aren’t any suitable conditions available.“
Plenty of the non-working Roma get more money than the working ones, at least doing some public job. Life in the „social“ state is not as easy as it might seem to be. If it´s righteous, is a question to be asked to the inhabitants of the republic itself. However, it is admirable to see the Roma who stands up for one another, in spite of financial unfairness. It would be good to imagine whether a Slovak would defend another Slovak in this case. It is also important to say that not all Roma are the same. There are the „black“ who work, live and study as the „white“, but there are also the „black“ who are indifferent to life and there are „whites“ that are the same. So, we shouln´t immediately deplore all Roma and throw them into one sac because not everyone is the same.
Social separation is an immense problem concerning the whole society, for the reason that it leads, inter alia, to the deterioration of civil coexistence and increases the danger of extremism. The Roma attitude to life and the Slovaks´ prejudices towards all Roma is a murderous combination mounting a way to the previously mentioned extremism, that is why it is necessary to do everything possible to avert this.
4 089 citizens live in Tisovec, and 350 of them are of Roma ethnicity but only 73 of them do public work, thus confirming the words of citizens of the town that most of them do not work but just receive social allocations. Since there are work shortages in the entire region, it is very likely that other job offers - apart from public work - aren´t available at this time. Ida Krišková, a professional officer from the Office of Social and Legal Matters and Education at Tisovec Town Hall, says, „ Tisovec itself tries to do the best it can to solve the Roma issue. We have done everything that the law and economy allows us to carry out. In Tisovec and district Rimavská píla, for example, field and community social workers operate. The town has been built up, with the help of the Department of Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, a community center (SCHOOL), housed in the building of the evangelical school in Rimavská píla, where we make an effort to help the Roma integrate to the society. You can find schools in our town where Roma children can go study, but we cannot protect them against truancy, that is the task of the police. Furthermore, the mayor of Tisovec approved one-off social allocations for these social groups.“ In the next four years, the town would also like to build a health center, but apartments of a lower standard, i.e. for the Roma, are still out of sight.
A high level of segregation from the Roma community, not only in Tisovec, carries some impacts, itself, such as high illiteracy, poor hygienic habits, unhealthy lifestyles, high morbidity, low usage of medical treatment or distrust for institutions. In order to solve the Roma issue, it is necessary to solve every single problem concerning the issue, not just a few of them. In all parts of Slovakia, it is needed to show how a full citizen lives in the Slovak republic. Politics are everywhere, but issues like this are usually left out. It is not yet a political game to find out who will be the first in solving this mystery, but rather to build a grown-up and well-informed society. How have politicians sorted out the current Roma issue? They have only made it worse. Terms such as „sanitation“, „health“, „literacy“, „work“ and „belief“ are concepts of which they are familiar with, but haven´t built any relation to. Our task and aim is to mend this.
We can´t handle it by ourselves, though. However, a new government has been elected and there is great hope that the very delicate issue could be, at least partly, resolved in its mandate. After former governments put millions of euros into diverse projects solving the Roma problem and supporting this ethnicity, no outcome has approached. It is definitely possible for the government to do more. Evidence of this is seen in their fight against corruption and people who have „bagged“ money for themselves.
In their Manifesto, the government of the Slovak republic, for the period 2010-2014, has also addressed precisely the question of the Roma minority. The government tends to support the development of culture and literacy of the Roma and also protect their rights. Particular attention will be paid to the issue of status, integration and development of the Roma community. Also, this government would like to welcome the full participation of the Roma in social, cultural and political life on the basis of their minority status. They want to introduce measures preventing segregation, but to do so, the will of the Roma would be inevitable. The government and institutions will have to opt for apolitical access and no populism, as well, to regain the belief of the Roma. They would like to extend the Police Department of the Slovak Republic with so-called „police walkers“ in the Roma settlements, but they had better consider the question of housing as well. If segregation ends, then we have to integrate the Roma among the citizens in the towns and mustn´t leave them living in shacks in the slums. Previously, The Department of Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities will have to resolve the question of health, education, employment and social field to be fully integrated to the life of the full –fledged inhabitants of the Slovak republic.
Peter Dlhopolec
