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23-09-2011.
Establishing Roma Cultural Centre in Trstenik through Public Advocacy

A several decade long problem that burdens the Roma population in Trstenik is the lack of a Roma center, where various activities with a goal to preserve cultural values of the Roma people, their identity, language and customs would be implemented.  Association for Roma Emancipation KHAM from Trstenik has applied for BCIF’s Public Advocacy competition with that goal in mind.  This program provided them with educational and financial support for lobbying municipal authorities, directors of public enterprises and schools, and for various media actions in order to make this problem as visible as possible, and which resulted in the decision of the Municipal Council to grant the space for launching Roma Cultural Centre in Trstenik.

In September 2011, on the floor of the former mall “Zapadna Morava“, the space was redecorated and sutably equipped for Roma Cultural-Entertaining Centre.  Slavica Denić, State Secretary at Ministry for Human and Minority Rights,opened the Center in presence of the hosts and their guests.  Dragutin Veljković, Head of Rasina county, and Stevan Đaković, President of the Municipality of Trstenik spoke on this occasion.  Dragoljub Acković, Director of Museum of Roma Culture, spoke about the importance of this Centre, not only for the Roma people, but for other young people in this municipality.

BCIF has awarded the first grant to Association for Roma Emancipation KHAM within Active Communities program for organizing Roma Culture Promotion Week.  During that Week they presented the fellow citizens with Roma authors, photographers, musicians, organized an art workshop for children and screened a documentary.  The project “Our Language and Our Culture – That is Our Future” within Public Advocacy program followed.  Marko Marković, Director of the newly founded Roma Cultural Center in Trstenik pointed out the successful cooperation between BCIF and KHAM:

“Our dear friends from BCIF, it is my honor to inform you in front of Roma Association KHAM and Roma Cultural Centre from Trstenik that we have managedto get and officially open our Roma Cultural Centerprimarily thanks to you and Public Advocacy program.  It is a wish of our organization to have our own home for hanging out, play and studying.  The children will, apart from play and fun, learn from other children who speak Roma language better, and they will study Roma history and culture.  It is our goal to form a youth office within Roma Centre, which would integrate young Roma people in the community through their activities.  Roma Cultural-Educational Centre will be open to all the citizens and children from Trstenik, because we will organize various shows, musical events and tribunes on the premises of the Centre.  Apart from the Roma population, which numbers about 1300 people on the territory of the municipality of Trstenik, this will be a meeting place of all the citizens of the municipality of Trstenik who wish a better life with Roma people in this country.” 

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