A Monthly Periodical of The Roma Inclusion Office The Roma ... 22/engleski.pdf · Merima’s mentor, Dr. Alek-sandar Stojanovic, said that he was satisfied with their coope-ration

1The Roma Decade in AP Vojvodina

The Roma Decade in

AP Vojvodina

A Monthly Periodical of The Roma Inclusion Office no

. 22,

Nov

embe

r 20

12.

FIRST PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER IN THE ROMA LANGUAGE

Successful Roma: Stanko Petrović

Interview: Zoran Mladenović

2 The Roma Decade in AP Vojvodina

The Founder and the Published of the Periodical:The Roma Inclusion Office of the

Government of AP Vojvodina

The Editor:Duško Jovanović, dipl. ing. of agriculture

The editor of theme of the number:Duško Jovanović, dipl. ing. of agriculture

The Team:Dragana Rajić

Snežana Dimić, dipl. pedagogistZita Farkaš, pharmachologist

Correspondents:Roma Coordinators of APV

prof. dr Vladimir GecelovskyIvana Koprivica, dipl. psychologist

Translation in Roma language:Igor Dimić, preschool teacher

Translation in English language:Mirjana Serdar, BA in English Philology

Technical Preparation and Printing:MAXIMA GRAF, Petrovaradin

[email protected]

Circulation: 1000

Address: Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 25,21000 Novi Sad

INTRODUCTIONDear readers, Happy anniversary of our monthly magazine! We

wish it to be more interesting, more read and purpose-ful!

We would like to point out one exceptionally impor-tant fact about our monthly magazine: for several months we have been the only magazine on the territory of the entire Republic of Serbia which deals with the problems of Roma only – we inform our readers of the problems of Roma, their culture and history in Roma, Serbian and En-glish and we are trying to show and prove that the Roma are as equally valuable as any other nation and thus dese-rve the same opportunity to be educated, employed and given health care. However…

When we say – the only magazine…We cannot say that we are proud of it… We have a great responsibility for being the only

one. Our greatest wish is to help individuals, organiza-tions and institutions to solve certain Roma issues in their environment, according to the model we offer them, but also we wish to contribute to the elimination of preju-dices which non-Roma have against Roma population. We wish to motivate Roma, with the positive example of their countrymen, to try hard, make progress and start thinking – If he/she can do it, so can I.

The criticisms we received so far have been only oral and mainly positive. We want to believe that that was not done only out of politeness.

We believe that in the last year, in the period of our existence, we got to know each other and that we can already ask each other everything. Also, we are ready to hear you, the reason of our existence, and to adjust to your taste and to consider your opinion.

We wish to communicate with you, which is why we are introducing an innovation: all your comments for our monthly magazine, positive and negative criticism, recommendations related to the topics you would (not) like to see in our and your magazine, all of which you can send on our e-mail address: [email protected] and contribute to the quality of our magazine “De-cade of Roma in AP Vojvodina”.

We want to hear your opinion and to justify your trust...

The Team


Merima defended her the-sis “Planning, Observing and Evaluating Beginner’s Ma-thematics Education” in the ceremonial hall of this school on 5th November. Commis-sion consisting of members Dr. Aleksandra Stojanovic, Dr. Tanja Nedimovic and Professor Predrag Prtljaga gave this the-sis the highest mark.

Her defense consisted of three parts. In the first part Me-rima presented the basis of her thesis and in the second part the commission members asked questions. After that, the com-mission left the room in order to assess Merima’s thesis.

An excellent combination of theory and practice

Merima’s mentor, Dr. Alek-sandar Stojanovic, said that he was satisfied with their coope-ration.

“Merima had showed in-terest in this topic even during her studies. She approached this task as any other - serio-usly and responsibly. She used relevant references and connec-ted the theoretical part with her practical research in an outstan-ding way.”

A span more of happiness

Dr. Grozdanka Gojkov, director of this school, also at-tended the defense. She was the first to congratulate Merima. Even though she said that all students are equal in this scho-ol, she could not take smile off

her face, which proved that that November day was still special.

“We treat our students equ-ally. We look forward to every graduate student and it is our pleasure to reach that goal to-gether with them. Today I have to admit that I am happier more than usually because this is the student who was completely committed to her faculty obli-gations. Besides, she partici-pated in student parliament, as well as various extracurricular activities. That is why I am happy today, because I saw that all her efforts and potentials she showed are now rewarded with success.”

Historical event

Dusko Jovanovic, director of the Roma Inclusion Office of AP Vojvodina which was an initiator of the opening of this study program together with the Government of AP Vojvodi-na, said that 5th November be-came part of the history thanks to Merima’s thesis defense.

“This day is a historical day, not only for the Roma community, but also for the so-ciety we live in. This study pro-gram is something which has clearly shown Serbia’s and Pro-vince’s interest in the nurture of the identity of Roma national community. Thus, this event is remarkably important not only for the Roma community, but also for this city, province and country. Besides Merima, the teaching staff of this school also takes credit for today’s success. What I always insisted on from the very beginning is making no difference between students of Roma nationality and stu-dents of non-Roma nationality. We see that today, because the commission listened to this de-fense without any prejudice. It was my pleasure to attend this defense.”

Dragana Dimitrov

STRAIGHT “A”Merima Nika belongs to the first generation of students who studied to be specialized pre-school teachers

in the Roma language at the Pre-school Teacher Training College “Mihailo Palov” in Vrsac. Today she is the first graduate student majoring in this subject.

This month’s topic: First pre-school teacher in the Roma language

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At the beginning of thesis defense


DIPLOMA IN HER HANDS, SMILE ON HER FACE Interview with Merima Nika

*Thanks to your success, you have become one of the le-aders of education of Roma in our country. Who else is “guil-ty” of your success?

-I think that the biggest cre-dit for my success and my cho-ice goes to my parents. They have invested so much strength, persistence and effort to empha-size the importance of education to my sister and me. I am glad that they succeeded in that.

Besides them, there was the Roma Inclusion Office which supported every move I made and which takes the biggest cre-dit for my choice of this school. Thanks to the scholarship pro-vided by the Office, my parents did not have to worry about any financial problems.

*Are you satisfied with your studies at this school?

-‘Satisfied’ does not give it justice. I would recommend this faculty to every future student, because it offers much more than you expect. Professors were very considerate and stu-dent-friendly. Thus, they sup-port the students, which further motivates and encourages them. University students are not just a name and a number, but per-sons and that’s what made me happy during my studies.

*What are your further plans?

-My first plan is to find a job, of course, in my profession, in a certain pre-school institu-tion. I would like it to be an in-stitution which is attended by a large number of Roma children, so that I can promote the educa-tion of Roma in a proper way.

After finding a job, I plan to

continue my education; I am not going to stop here. I am planning to enroll on specialized studies in my school, but also to conti-nue my education at the Teacher Training Faculty in Belgrade.

Employment is the most important for me, and then all those other things I mentioned. I never lacked persistence, which is one of the main factors of suc-cess.

*You are the first graduated pre-school teacher in the Roma language. How important is it that members of Roma popula-tion will have the opportunity to have in their pre-school edu-cation someone with whom they will be able to communicate in their mother tongue?

-That is very important, not just for children, but also for pa-rents who will finally have so-meone to talk to when they need help. We will be there to help them as much as we can, and if we cannot solve something, we will direct them to person who can. Thus, the relation between Roma and institutions, which is often problematic, will be im-proved.

As I said, I would like to work in an institution attended by a larger number of Roma children, because I would know

I admit that I was nervous before defending my thesis. However, when I started presenting it, my nervo-usness slowly disappeared. I am happy that everything went well, because I worked really hard for it. My diploma is a reward for my people, my parents and everyone who encouraged me. Diploma in my hands and a smile on my face lead to a good sequel to this story.”

This was the answer of Merima Nika when we congratulated her on her success. Moreover, she shared with us her impressions about her education at the College and her plans for the future. She also gave her opinion about the significance of her study program and her attitude about Roma tradition, as well as her message for Roma students.

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Awaiting commission results



how to deal with them, con-sidering that I myself was in the same position. I will try to help them master the language of the environment as much as possible, but also the lessons we learn. I would like to succeed primarily in boosting their self--confidence and faith in themse-lves, so that tomorrow they can become good people who are ready to bravely walk through life.

*What is the current state of Roma tradition, in your opi-nion? Do girls still leave school to get married?

-I think that that part of Roma tradition is behind us. Nowadays republican and pro-vincial institutions emphasize

primarily education of Roma boys and girls. I am only one of numerous examples of the tradi-tion being broken and I am pro-ud of it. Nowadays, we, girls, just like our boys, are complete-ly equal with others.

I think that all of us toge-ther, both Roma and non-Roma, are aware of the fact that we have the same possibilities and abilities.

*What advice do you have for members of Roma popula-tion?

-I want to tell them not to give up, to be persistent and hard-working, and all their plans and goals will fulfill. I think that it is important to emphasize the support of institutions, which

Roma people have, unlike other national communities. It is im-portant to mention that, because many of them give up on scho-oling, not knowing where and who they can ask for help and support.

As far as institutions are concerned, I would like to men-tion the Roma Inclusion Offi-ce, which helps students enroll on high schools, colleges and faculties. And not just that. The Roma Inclusion Office in cooperation with Council for Integration of Roma of AP Vo-jvodina and National Council of Roma national minority helps Roma people fulfill their rights on scholarships of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia, as well as their rights on

Summary

Topic: Planning, observing and evaluating beginner’s mathematics education

Every educational cycle consists of four phases - planning, observing, acting and monitoring. The paper deals with these phases related to beginner’s mathematics education. In addition, it discusses the role and significance of mathematics in pre-school age, as well as methodological principles and me-thods of pre-school teacher’s work.

The paper also emphasizes the importance of evaluation, which provides a pre-school teacher with continuous promotion of the curriculum, planning and practice of beginner’s mathematics education. Based on the results of evaluation, pre-school teachers estimate what must be improved in order for the curriculum to function better.

Regular development of child’s personality requires teacher’s constant care and influence. Pre-scho-ol teachers take care of pre-school children in their most sensitive period when it is necessary to create an atmosphere in which children will accept the school more easily, adapt to its conditions and get ready for it. In addition to pre-school teachers, parents have a great role in beginner’s mathematics education, but also the cooperation between parents and pre-school teachers.

This paper reached the following conclusions regarding methodical acts of a pre-school teacher. A pre-school teacher should:

• Organize well physical environment (space, means) and social environment (manner of children grouping, time organization, general social atmosphere);

• Enable children to observe, compare, experiment, solve problems, daydream and create their own thoughts during playtime;

• Encourage children to observe the most important characteristics of objects in games with ob-jects, to notice similarities and differences, as well as to name and describe objects;

• Encourage children to thoughtfully separate object’s characteristics for the object itself and no-tice them in other objects. Then children can group objects by similarities, i.e. classify them by color, shape, size and purpose.



accommodation in dorms and students’ restaurants.

If you are persistent and hard-working on one hand, and have the support of institutions, on the other hand, you will not experience any financial pro-blems. Your success is guaran-teed.

PARENTS “GUILTY” OF SUCCESS

Merima says that her pa-rents take the biggest credit for her success. Here is what her fa-ther, Zoran Nika, said about her success.

*You have two daughters. One of them graduated today, while the other is also a univer-sity student. How hard was it to support and direct them?

-Of course, it was hard, but we never lacked persistence. We gave our children that persisten-ce. Today was one of the hap-piest days of my life. The satis-

faction I have today suppressed all difficulties and torments we went through during Merima’s education.

*What is your message for Roma parents when it comes to education of their children?

-I think that the parent’s role is truly great at the beginning of education. It is necessary to te-ach your children the language of the social environment. It often happens that children who do not know the language of the social environment spend the-ir entire elementary education without learning that language. And they certainly lag behind other children. I felt that from my own experience. That’s why I taught my children their mo-ther tongue, but also the langu-age of the social environment. I think that that is the best model, because in that way we connect in our children our tradition and country we live in.

* Your daughter shows that the situation changed in the education of Roma girls, who would leave school early to get married.

-That was before. Nowa-days, thanks to the institutions, the situation is changing. I wo-uld like to see that in the future too; and to see Roma being edu-cated as much as possible. That is a great success for all of us.

*What do you expect from Merima? Have you talked about her plans?

-We haven’t discussed any-thing in detail. I would like her to continue her education. It is up to her to decide and we are here to support her. We hope to get the support of the Roma In-clusion Office of AP Vojvodina, which has helped us so far with all the problems we encounte-red.

Dragana Dimitrov

Merima Nika with her parents and sister

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ćThis month’s topic: First pre-school teacher in the Roma language


InterviewProvincial secretary for healthcare, social policy and demographics Dr. Vesna Kopitovic

WE CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS IN HEALTHCARE! The words of provincial secretary professor Dr. Vesna Kopitovic show great medical experience. She

talked with us about healthcare, defined problems health centers and hospitals face and discussed the plans for their solutions. We learned many things from her and we believe that our readers will, after this inte-rview, have a bit more understanding for their doctors, because, thanks to our interviewee, they will see the long waiting lists in polyclinics and lines in health centers and Emergency Room from another perspective.

* What is the current state in healthcare?

- Nowadays the healthcare is not in a great position. Still, the provincial government has a great team of experts we believe in.

* What are the responsibilities of the Secretariat?

- The province is the founder of all thirty-five hospitals, speciali-zed and highly-specialized institu-tes. The Secretariat should take care of them, their cadre, equipment and investments. The Secretariat’s goal is to continue investment in its in-stitutions, together with the Fund for Capital Investments.

* Nowadays people mention primary health protection more and more often. Explain to our readers what it includes.

- Primary health protection is related to all health institutions and health centers, within which a patient has his own chosen doctor, specialist, and gynecologist.

* What do you see as the so-lution?

- The solution will be making the state and private sector equal. That will be the solution of the pri-mary health protection. If the sta-te does not have the funds to pay the necessary number of healthcare workers, let’s work together! The

network plan and cadre plan need to be good and if something does not work, problem must be solved.

* How to persuade poor and uneducated people to check their health regularly?

- That is really hard. Maybe we will succeed in that if we make it simpler. Patient needs to find his doctor more easily and be satisfied. I think that the solution is at the lo-cal level. It is necessary to organi-ze calls for the population to attend regular systematic examinations. If a person forgets that he/she has an appointment, then somebody sho-uld call and remind him/her.

If they have a medical worker in their place, who is employed for their sake, then let’s organize those calls. Systematic examinations are carried out through calls worldwide and if you forget it, someone must

* Many patients object to long waiting for an examination. Can that be changed?

- I think that this system is vulnerable because the appoint-ments are made on the phone. The phone secretary is not a pro-per way for people to explain their problems. He or she does not know if you are an emergency, if you are a person who needs a systematic examination. Do we need a phone secretary? We need a real person who will listen to a patient and determine if it is an emergency. It is in Vojvodina healthcare’s best interest to work together with local self-governments to change something.

Prevention is the most important. If it is good, Emergency Center will have less work. Emergency Center is open for every-one, but the primary doctor must not be only a traffic police officer - he/she must work and recognize a patient’s problem and try to solve it. Also, it should be checked if that doctor can examine so many patients. Doctors have a great number of patients. We must do something about that.

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Interviewcall and remind you. We should explain to people through bazaars of health, public appearances and the media how important it is to un-dergo a preventive examination.

* Serbia is fighting against the white plague. Is the situation alar-ming?

- Demographic structure shows that 12.5% people are more than 65 years old. 7.1 % is the world avera-ge. We have a very low birth rate, a high death rate and a low fertility rate, thus we have a negative po-pulation growth. We must improve the population growth.

* How can we do it? - Employment system is whe-

re we should start. The Province had lovely measures which inclu-ded funding of the third and fourth child, twins, triplets, quadruplets and so on, but the Constitution denied the decision of the Law on authority and we are no longer able to conduct them. But we are not gi-ving up. We will find a way how to compensate for it. We also have to find a way to help single mothers and fathers, so that they can feed their children and have a job.

Also, by rebalancing our bud-get we got new funds totaling one hundred and seventy million. Those funds are forwarded to a maternity hospital, in order for future mothers to be satisfied. Children come first - we are focused on helping them come to this world in as big number as possible. That will be the first measure for improving birth rate.

* We must provide our children with basic conditions for uninter-rupted development. Experts say: family must be planned.

- We must take care of our reproductive health and plan a fa-mily, only when we have the pro-per conditions for it. Why to give birth to ten children (I apologize), if we cannot provide them with everything we want. It is socially irresponsible. The message is: chil-

dren must not be hostages. Where are the children’s rights to choose parents? They cannot choose their mother, nor the conditions under he/she is born. One day he/she will wonder: why?

* Are we ready for internatio-nal standards?

- The problem lies in our edu-cation - what is good and what is bad. I think it is our obligation to see how problems are solved in other countries. The Ministry of Health has the same opinion. We will give our proposal very soon.

* Health institutions of Vo-jvodina face financial problems. A great number of hospitals are in constant debts?

- At the beginning we gathe-red directors of all clinics, the re-publican Fund for Health Insurance and our Secretariat and established communication. We identified the-ir problems. We were seven billion short at the start due to the needs of healthcare in Vojvodina.

There is no hospital in Serbia that is free of debts. Hospitals have the same funding for medicines,

energy-generating products and ca-dre. You don’t have enough money and you increase your debt. Mr. Dinkic decided to pay the debt to suppliers. It was paid in 2006 too. That is not a permanent solution. You still don’t have enough mo-ney to cover all medicines, costs and all energy-generating products. The solution lies in the reform of the system. The Assembly is the place where we should propose an amendment.

I think that we can solve these problems.

More than 12 billion were al-located for the healthcare of Vojvo-dina in the last four years. A lot of money was invested in hospitals. There are ongoing projects which will end during 2013.

* At the beginning of this co-nversation you mentioned that Vo-jvodina has a great team. Is it po-ssible to keep the best people with little money?

-We have a lot of excellent young students of medicine. If I were in their position, I do not think that I would stay in this co-

* Even though the Emergency center represents a place where fast and efficient action is taken, it is often the opposite. What is the problem?

- Plan of cadre and plan of network are a centralized thing. It is necessary to establish communication (currently non-existent) between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina and our Provincial Secretariat.

Cadre commission proposes cadre - number of employees ac-cording to the number of beds and examinations.

The number of cadre determined by the Ministry of Health and Commission for cadre is not enough. We asked for 70 doctors and 270 nurses from the Ministry of Health for the Emergency Center, which covers 9000 m2 and has 50 beds. However, we got 5 doctors and 5 nurses. Who can work with only 5 doctors and 5 nurses? Mo-reover, you need to fund the rest of cadre, medicines and energy--generating products from your own sources.

The plan of cadre is not good. Austria has a good system: the-ir goal is simple procedures, without keeping the patients for too much time, nothing invasive - everything in order for the patient to go home as soon as possible. We should reduce the costs of educa-tion and equipment. But our state forces you to keep the patient for as long time as possible in one of hospital’s beds.


Interview

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untry. They have the right to say that this country does not offer enough for them. I can see the so-lution. Best students must be of-fered a position at clinics, in ter-tiary institutions; the best must be included in projects. That is why we are open to Europe.

Our Secretariat has a depart-ment for projects. We are open to Europe. We are going to apply for all projects offered, which can provide our young experts with an opportunity to participate in and start serious scientific work and research. The first project we started is a project of the Fa-culty of Medicine and Faculty of Science. We opened a new major - reproductive biology, i.e. em-bryology. Nowhere in the surro-unding area is there a school that educates people to become repro-ductive biologists - embryologi-sts. Professor Miodrag Stojkovic, who is one of the participants of this project, confirmed that there are many young Serbian experts who live abroad. We want to at-tract young people. Once we train the cadre, we can build a center for reproductive, regenerative medicine, stem cells, and treat-ments of patients. Stem cells are the future of patients’ treatment.

* Finally, the Government of AP Vojvodina won the fourth place for investments in Cannes. Does that mean that we are he-ading in the right direction?

- 87% of projects in our co-untry are projects of Vojvodina. We have the right people, we only need to give them a chance and engage them in the right di-rection. Teaching, science, edu-cation and medicine must work and cooperate synchronically and we will advocate the fulfillment of that.

Dragana Dimitrov

President of the municipality of Srbobran, Zoran Mladenovic

MAKING WORK PUBLIC – IMPORTANT PRE-REQUISITE FOR DEVELOPMENT

President of the municipality of Srbobran, Zoran Mladenovic, to-gether with his team introduces novelties in the work of municipal ad-ministration, in whose charge he has been since 10th July. He thinks that making his work public is one of the main pre-requisites for the development of every local self-government. The door of his office is open for all citizens, whom this president considers his partners.

*In your opinion, what is the most important thing in the work of a local self-govern-ment?

If I would have to choose one thing, it would be making your work public, which repre-sents a good basis for the deve-lopment of every local self-go-vernment. This is why the mu-nicipality of Srbobran exposed itself maximally to the public judgment. We achieved many things in the previous period, since I became the president of the municipality. In addition to the municipality’s website, we experimentally launched a we-bsite 48 hours. It is concerned with giving quick responses to our citizens.

For the first time, the mu-nicipality gave our citizens an opportunity to create budget

for 2013. Everything we do is public, starting from radio bro-adcasts of the Assembly to the complete work of the Municipal Council.

*How important is it to have a good, competent, skillful and accurate team which serves the ones who elected it?

All changes and progress come from good people, from your team. And everybody un-derstands that. If you have a good team, everything is possi-ble and feasible. Our municipal team focuses on solving social issues and investments in the de-velopment of the municipality. That’s what we promised to our citizens before the elections and that’s what we must achieve.


Interview

*What did you achieve as far as social issues are concer-ned?

According to this year’s budget, 300 000 RSD are inten-ded for one-time aids for social-ly vulnerable citizens. We allo-cated 1 700 000 RSD for these issues for budget rebalance.

This is social responsibility and it is something that should not be ignored.

Besides 2 000 000 RSD for social issues, we allocated ad-ditional funds to provide Roma students with snacks, textbooks and school equipment.

We helped all socially vul-nerable categories of citizens together with the Center for So-cial Work and the Red Cross by providing them with basic gro-ceries. Everything we did was done in cooperation with the Center for Social Work and Red Cross; there were no presumpti-ve estimates, nor political or pri-vate favoritism.

*What are municipality’s activities when it comes to em-ployment?

Together with Development Agency of Backa we included 150 of our citizens in education. They were trained to write pro-

jects and master other techniqu-es and skills, which are neces-sary to attract investors and be competitive on the market.

Together with Development Agency of Backa and Univer-sity of Novi Sad, as partners from Serbia and International Agency Memfis, as a partner from Italy, we are also planning to open an incubator in our mu-nicipality, where citizens could educate and start new develop-mental projects, thus increasing the number of employees in the-ir companies. So we won’t be working only on attracting and bringing investors, but also ca-pacity building.

*What plan do you have for attracting investments?

Since the moment I became the president, representatives of local self-government have attended every seminar or tra-ining. A few days ago I myself attended one study visit. I am still learning, because learning is unavoidably a lifetime pro-cess. We are all trying to take our personal abilities to another level, because the market does not give a second chance. The market is not only Serbia. Mu-nicipalities in Serbia are not the

only ones trying to attract inve-stors. We compete against Mol-davia, Belorussia and Ukraine.

It is not enough to say that we want investors, we want in-vestments. It is necessary to cre-ate pre-requisites which will be recognized by investors. Thus, the municipality of Srbobran will become a place where they can realize their economic in-terest. If those pre-requisites are not created and recognized, there will be no investments. Money and market do not speak the language of sentimentality – they are very cruel.

The advantage of the mu-nicipality of Srbobran has is its good geographical position. It is located 45km from Romania, Hungary and Croatia. When you say that to investors, first they don’t believe you, then they look at the map and when they are co-nvinced, we start negotiating.

Industrial zone still needs to be reconstructed. We got most of the approvals and are waiting for a few more. We started so-lving infrastructural and utility problems. I believe that we will work hard in the following pe-riod and that we will succeed in creating all pre-requisites in one-year period in order to make Srbobran a good destination for investors and investments.

In 2015 we will have Wor-kers Olympics for the second time, as an only municipality in Vojvodina. That will be an op-portunity for us and our local self-government to attract inve-stments.

*How important is it that citizens recognize themselves as municipality’s partners in the process of its development?

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President of the Municipality of Srbobran at the meeting with director of Roma Inclusion Office


InterviewThe goal of every local self-

-government, as well as ours, is reducing the number of unem-ployed people and poverty. I cannot and do not want to avoid this responsibility.

So far the municipality of Srbobran hasn’t had employees with full-time jobs within the City Council. Now we reached a decision which changes that, so the burden of responsibilities will be equally distributed. Wi-thin our local self-government we will open offices which will be available to our citizens. That is the beginning of what was promised them right after we were elected – a faster, easier and better communication with local, provincial, republican in-stitutions, but also foreign states and funds.

Civil sector and all pressure it puts on the local self-govern-ment are very important and stimulating. A large number of our citizens visit my office. No one was stopped in that or asked which party he or she belong to.

We introduced another no-velty. As the municipality’s pre-sident, together with my team, I have addressed my citizens once a week since we were elected.

Now it will be once a month. So, they do not have to come to my office; they can speak to me in the premises of the local com-munities.

We called all associations from the territory of our muni-cipality and asked them to give their suggestions as far as their funding from the budget is con-cerned. That was the first such offer they had from the self-go-vernment, so they were very sur-prised. We had a public discus-sion with presidents of those associations.

Besides that discussion, ci-tizens have the possibility of creating our budget on the Inter-net, as I already mentioned.

Clearly, there can be a few people who are not satisfied among those associations and citizens, because we are a small municipality with a modest bud-get. But I will be the most satis-fied if they are all equally unsa-tisfied, because that would mean that the cake was distributed equally and that no one received less.

*Finally, what resources of your municipality would you single out as the primary ones?

I hope that the first place in resources will soon be occupied by industrial zone which covers 2000 ha of land.

As far as tourism is con-cerned, outstanding resources are Beljanska bara, river Kriva-ja and Canal DTD for hunting and fishing. Soon we expect the beginning of hotel’s reconstruc-tion.

We plan to employ our eth-no salas, as well as the develop-ment of an ethno settlement at the location where the river Kri-vaja flows into Canal DTD.

We also have oil fields. I often like to say that you should-n’t go to Texas, but to Srbobran and see our oil fields.

Moreover, there is also our cultural heritage, such as castle Dundjerski and Lenka’s Ring award.

The municipality of Srbo-bran has not recognized and appreciated all these capacities and resources so far. So, this is something that we will really be working on.

In the following days we should adopt a marketing plan and program, which will include things we are most proud of – our cultural events, which must not be forgotten.

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Representatives of Srbobran Municipality and Roma Inclusion Office at a meeting


* Why did you choose this profession?

- I decided to do this job primarily because I was unem-ployed when I saw the job ope-ning. Before this job, I worked as a health mediator on a project in the municipality of Zabalj. The project had lasted for about six months, after which I beca-me unemployed. The calling of a pedagogical assistant seemed as an ideal opportunity to conti-nue where I stopped as a health mediator, the only difference being that now my priority are children from pre-school age to the eighth grade.

*Do you like your job? - I have always wanted to

work with children, to help them in studying and direct them on the right track, so that they co-uld realize how important it is to be educated, because educa-tion primarily means escaping poverty.

* Who is supporting you? - It wasn’t easy for me at

the beginning - no job is easy,

but the hardest thing is working with people. I had a great sup-port from Marija Aleksandrovic and Jelena Jovanovic, who insi-sted on me working as a peda-gogical assistant. I started wor-king in the elementary school in Curug. I had, and I still have, thank God, a great support of the employees and director Sve-tlana Rajic, who participates in every aid for Roma children and understands all problems I encounter.

In cooperation with the em-ployees, the Roma Inclusion Of-

fice and local self-government, I manage to provide children with books, equipment and clothes.

* What are your work obli-gations and daily work tasks?

- My daily tasks include providing children and students with additional support in ac-cordance with their needs. I help teachers, pre-school teachers and associates in order for them to improve their work with chil-dren and students; I establish cooperation with parents and at the same time I cooperate with the headmaster and institutions in charge, organizations and lo-cal self-government.

* What do you think is the biggest problem, when it comes to working with children?

- Our biggest problem in school is mostly irregular at-tendance. When the weather is nice, children come to school, but as soon as it starts raining and snowing, children do not attend school regularly, because the settlement they live in does not have a road. The mud they walk through is knee-deep, they don’t have proper shoes and even the children who do have proper shoes end up muddy and dirty and do not come to school in that condition.

The second problem is po-verty which can be seen eve-rywhere; children often go to work with their parents, pick corn, work on the field in order to survive.

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SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN FROM CURUG

Zivka Fan, pedagogical assistant

Petar Nikolic, outside Matica Romska, presents Zivka Fan with a certificate for Roma language teacher

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Education


Education* What kind of families do

children you work with come from?

- Their families usually have four, five or more children so one of the problems I face is that parents can educate only one or two children, because they cannot afford to educate all of them.

* Are you satisfied with your cooperation with parents?

- Cooperation with parents and children is excellent; I spend every day in one of Roma settlements in Curug and there are three such settlements. I talk to parents on daily basis, I try to help if they have any problems and I tend to influence childre-n’s return to school. I constantly talk about how important edu-cation is, how privileged our children are and how important is it to use that, especially now during the Decade of Roma.

I think I managed to reach

people and I am proud of the fact that children want to go to school; they constantly ask for my help in studying. I see that they want to make progress, to know more and to escape pover-ty.

* What is the most beautiful thing in this job?

- I love all children I work with and my greatest satisfac-

tion is coming to school and seeing them wait for me, run-ning to hug me. I have a feeling that I have changed something and that those children are real-ly happy at school, next to me, that they trust me and want and wish to be educated and achieve something in their lives.

Dragana Dimitrov

Zivka Fan with her students

Zivka Fan with her students

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Education

We learned from the li-brarian Dragana Dimitrov that this family is not the only one living in those conditions, that there are many families in San-gaj who live like that. “This is children’s second home. They come here first to do their ho-mework, read a book, and then to hang out and have fun”, she said.

The opening of the libra-ry “Trifun Dimic” is the result of a cooperation of the local community “Sangaj”, the Go-vernment of AP Vojvodina, the Roma Inclusion Office, Open Society Fund and Matica Rom-ska. The Library’s fund inclu-

des more than four thousand books in Serbian and several hundred in Roma. “It is not a coincidence that the Library was opened in this settlement”, Dragana Dimitrov explained. “It is because there are many children here who do not have appropriate conditions for stu-dying at home and cannot count on parents’ help in studying.

At the very beginning of her work, the librarian Dragana realized that her task was not going to consist of issuing bo-oks only, but also helping chil-dren in studying.

“When I met the kids I no-ticed that they had many gaps

in their knowledge. Also, I no-ticed that it was quite frequent for a fifth-grader not to know how to sum, subtract or read. Every day I make contact with the school pedagogue, as well as with teachers - we exchan-ge experience; sometimes a te-acher calls to inform me of an upcoming test and ask me to help certain students, to make sure that that test goes well.

Teacher Dina Zavarko is satisfied with the cooperation with the librarian, but also with children’s knowledge.

“The change is noticeable. Since they started going to the library, the children have been doing homework regularly and the librarian is in regular con-tact with teachers. If there is any confusion regarding the manner of help for children, particular-ly in senior classes, the teachers are always there to help and gu-ide the librarian. That is parti-cularly noticeable and obvious in teachers of junior classes; for example, my student didn’t have homework for three days because the library didn’t work for three days. So, they give children great help with their homework. “

The most frequent obstacle in the acceptance of Roma chil-dren is the lack of hygienic ro-utine; also, they often have lice. That is why they get regular ba-ths in the library; we found out from Dragana Dimitrov that

A LIBRARY ADAPTED TO CHILDREN’S NEEDS A twelve-year old student of the Elementary School “Veljko Vlahovic” from Sangaj, Aleksandar, likes

coming to the library. He has been coming to the library every day for two years. Together with his librarian, he studies, practices math and Serbian and does homework.

Aleksandar does not have enough space for studying at home, because he lives with his parents and five brothers and sisters in a single room.

* What do you like the most here? Aleksandar: “I like learning because it is quiet here. Strong

silence. “* Did you get any higher grades? Aleksandar: “Yes, now I have Ds and Cs. When it is sunny

outside or rainy and cold, we come here to play with friends, hang out, talk and do homework. “

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Education

they make sure that Roma chil-dren are always clean and neat. “Luckily, we have two bathro-oms in the library, so the first thing that we do with children from financially vulnerable fa-milies is to take them to their baths. Then, no child can study if he or she is hungry. Thanks to the help of the Roma Inclu-sion Office, the director of lan-guage school “Lingua” and our own efforts, we provide food for those children. Then we start studying with them and try to have other children respect them. That is very important for us, because we know that the situation from the library will be carried over to the scho-ol and the street.

Teacher Dina Zavarko says that they have been successful-ly overcoming that hygienic ob-stacle on their way to complete socialization of Roma children with the help of the librarian Dragana and educator Marija Spasojevic.

“The library also did a gre-at job here, because the libra-rian deals with that segment of

life which parents should be dealing with, such as washing their hair, treating them for lice, teaching them about ba-sic hygiene, everything we te-ach them at school. But we still cannot do so much, we cannot bathe them, we can only wash their hands and faces. So, they get all that in the library, which is very important.

Even though they still do not attend school, five-year old Sandra and her older sister and

brothers spend their time in the library, because there is not enough space for all of them in their small house.

Sandra: “We bathe and eat here… I get dressed and Draga-na says that I am pretty, and I also had a haircut here.”

Dragana Dimitrov is a te-acher of Serbian language and literature. She comes from a poor family, just like the chil-dren who visit the library. That is why she understands them and helps them to deal with the-ir difficult childhood.

“When the working hours are over, I simply cannot leave the library. I go home but they are still in my thoughts, even though I am criticized by my family members who say that it is only a job, that I am unable to separate it from home, because they are part of my life. Some-times there are extremely pain-ful situations; one of the most painful ones happened when a user of our library was so hun-gry one afternoon that he didn’t hesitate to go to a dumpster and find what other children had eaten and thrown away.“

“We provide them with food in the library, but tomor-row they are hungry again. Their parents provide them with nothing. No matter how hard we try to find permanent solution, we cannot. “

The majority of those chil-dren live in difficult conditions in families with several mem-bers, some of which do not even have a single meal a day, a place to sleep, electricity or wa-ter. True moments of happiness are rare in such difficult condi-tions. In order to change that, the librarian Dragana Dimitrov

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Educationdecided to celebrate each chil-d’s birthday. Nine-year old Ste-van or Giga, as his friends call him, celebrated his birthday for the first time several days ago.

Stevan: “There were mu-sic, cake, all my friends came, it was fun and I was happy.”

Birthday cake, cookies, juice and birthday invitations were prepared by the librarian and the educator. Dragana says that celebration of children’s birthdays is extremely signifi-cant for their socialization.

“We did that for many re-asons. We were extremely sorry that his birthday passed unno-ticed ten days ago and that no one congratulated him; he him-self didn’t know and neither did we. We found out by accident. We called a few of his friends; actually he called them and we knew that this would have per-manent effect - that children would start accepting him in a different way. He was always left out and everybody noticed that he lacked discipline, which was probably his way of sho-wing dissatisfaction. So chil-dren started noticing him and appreciating him as an equal.

Librarian Dragana knows that children who spend time in the library do not have many moments of happiness and tha-t’s why she treasures every smi-le she gets from them.

Dragana:”This job is very painful, extremely responsible, because we have twenty chil-dren here every day, particular-ly because these children have problems with discipline... But it is very nice to know that I can help people from this position and when I do something for a

child, I know that I am the first who did that and I know that the child will come back with a smile and be satisfied and that something will become better in his life.

She often explains to chil-dren that their living conditions are not their result, but the re-sult of their parents. Every day she sets her own example to prove them that success can be achieved even in the hardest conditions. The most important is the goal, she says.

Dragana: “If we live in dif-ficult living conditions as chil-dren, it doesn’t mean that we will live like that always. In or-

der to live better, we must have a good job and in order to have a good job, we must be edu-cated. And that is the road we must take in order to achieve something in our lives.”

The opening of a Roma li-brary “Trifun Dimic” in the po-orest settlement in Vojvodina, Sangaj, led to the fulfillment of one of the goals - giving Roma children a quiet corner and an opportunity to try to fulfill their dreams with the help of the so-cial community and employees in the library.

Nevena Vrtulek

Ten-year old Marko Dimovic lives with his father in premises of an old sport club. He attends fourth grade of the Elementary School “Veljko Vlahovic“, he is an excellent student and spends all his free time in the library. He says that he likes working on the computer best, because he does not have one at home. That is why he can’t wait for a school bell to ring at the end of a final class so that he can come to the library.

Marko: “I love coming here because all children come here and I love learning something new, read and hang out with friends, because this library is different and its librarians are better. Here I do my homework and we play on the computer, we draw and so-metimes make folders.

Marko’s dad Dragan Dimovic is unemployed and has diffi-culties earning money to survive. He is more than satisfied with library’s work and the fact that his son can spend a high-quality afternoon while learning lots of things, just like his peers in the city.

Dragan Dimovic: “Since I live alone with Marko and the chil-dren attend school in the morning, Marko spends most of his after-noons in the library. And from a social point of view, I don’t have to light a fire in the winter until he comes home, because he spends his time in the library. Now, what else do I have from it? It means a lot to me that Dragana submitted my documents which she asked me to take out for the school equipment to the Roma Inclusion Office.

Laura is thirteen and she attends the seventh grade. She says that poverty does not prevent her from getting straight As.

Laura: “I come here because I get help in studying, I do my homework more quickly and I make progress in school. We read books and carry out educational workshops. I have always been an excellent student, but now I am better and more sociable in school. I am interested in the Roma language and books; I ask those who speak Roma, if I need any help.


At the conference of the Co-uncil for Roma Integration in AP Vojvodina, which was held in September, Council’s presi-dent Petar Nikolic pointed to a problem that Roma university students faced in student dormi-tories due to the late application of Measures of affirmative ac-tion for the enrollment of stu-dents of Roma nationality on the first year of studies and wrong estimate of the Ministry of Edu-cation, which made a decision, without previously consulting National Council of Roma Na-tional Minority and provincial Roma Inclusion Office, i.e. any-one who is directly connected with application of Measures of affirmative action, to fund 2% of Roma students from the state budget, which proved inadequ-ate. A significantly larger num-ber of Roma applied for the open competition.

And finally, when the Roma community succeeded in educa-tional integration and encoura-ging a larger number of its young people to enroll on colleges and faculties, the state says – we did not plan such a large number of you.

A number of those who succeeded in enrolling, because they are a part of those 2%, still did not receive the Decision on enrollment, which is the reason why they lost the opportunity to apply for accommodation in stu-dent dormitories.

The conference was atten-ded by Dusko Jovanovic, direc-tor of the Roma Inclusion Office of APV, who submitted a report about the work of the Office in

the previous period and pointed to the problems in the conduc-tion of the Measures of Affirma-tive Action.

Director Jovanovic sugge-sted that the Council of Roma

Integration, together with the Office, should organize a con-ference which representatives of the Ministry of Education, Provincial Secretariat for Edu-cation, Administration and Na-tional Communities, rector of the University of Novi Sad and representatives of colleges in Vojvodina would attend. The conference would include a pu-blic discussion on the Measures of Affirmative Action and pro-blems in their conduction.

The Council unanimously accepted this proposal and active participation in the organization of this conference in Vojvodina.

The meeting was also atten-ded by Dragana Dimitrov, di-rector of program “Inclusion of Children of Roma Nationality in High Schools In AP Vojvodina”, who became in charge of this program after the Council’s pro-

posal, which is a partner on this project. The leader of the project is the Provincial Government, i.e. Secretariat for Education, Administration and National Communities. She presented to

the audience the results the stu-dents who receive scholarships achieved through this project and she emphasized that out of 400 students almost half of them had very good and excellent gra-des, which shows that Roma stu-dents should be supported and the results will certainly follow. She also pointed to difficulties the project team faced and asked for logistic support of the Coun-cil.

BRIEFLY FROM A CONFERENCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR ROMA INTEGRATION

Objective and tasks of the Council are:

- to propose measures and activities to the Govern-ment of AP Vojvodina and provincial organs of admini-stration in order to integrate Roma in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina;

- to follow, monitor and assess measures and activi-ties in process of Roma in-tegration in AP Vojvodina, which are conducted by the Government of Vojvodina and provincial organs of ad-ministration,

- to establish cooperation with the National Council of Roma National Minority;

- to propose meetings in order to find best solutions in process of Roma integration in AP Vojvodina;

- to monitor the realiza-tion of process of Roma inte-gration in AP Vojvodina

Director of Roma Inclusion Office Duško Jovanović

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The conference included a discussion about the question of safety in the north of Vojvodina, more precisely in the municipa-lity of Kanjiza, as well as in the municipality of Mali Idjos. Ste-van Nikolic from Subotica po-inted to frequent thefts and ho-use burglaries in Horgos which Roma were usually accused of. He then asked the Council for Roma Integration and the Offi-ce to act immediately. Director Jovanovic said that he attended a meeting of citizens of Horgos, which was organized by the lo-cal community and confirmed that Roma were unfairly accused of those crimes.

He informed the Council that the Office started an ini-tiative of holding meetings in local communities of Horgos and Martonos organized by the

municipality of Kanjiza, where representatives of the munici-pality, chief of police station, representatives of municipal sa-fety structures, as well as repre-sentatives of other institutions, organizations and people from

Roma settlements would come to discuss problems.

President of the Council gave tasks to Council’s members and concluded the meeting.

Dragana Dimitrov

Council for Roma Integration in AP Vojvodina was formed in 2005 by the Government of AP Vojvo-dina (the Executive Council APV).

The Council, as a temporary working body, has a president, deputy and nine members. The Council’s president is Petar Nikolic and Romeo Mihajlovic is his deputy. Nine members are

members of Roma national community, who show extraordinary results in the improvement of the po-sition of Roma national community, but also great knowledge and experience when it comes to ways of solving important issues of Roma community.

During the meeting

Stevan Nikolić

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THE STATUS OF ROMA IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA UNTIL 1989

1. Introduction

For the first time after Fe-bruary 1948 Romanies become de jure equal members of so-ciety. It was guaranteed by the Constitution of 9th May from 1948. However, the low socio--economic level of a substantial part of Romanies represented for the state and its government not only economic, but mainly ide-ological problem. This procla-imed social equality of citizens enshrined in the Constitution and their real and planned living standard was in sharp contrast with the actual achieved level of Romany population. In the pe-riod 1948 – 1989 the civil servi-ce attempted to solve this discre-pancy with several concepts for which it was common, that the State took Romanies under your patronage and excluded from the cooperation those, whom these solutions should be allocated, that is Romanies themselves. Just during this period there was a great moral devastation of so-vereign Romany ethnic group.

2. Theoretical definition of the problem

The basis for the wrong pro-cedure was deliberate classifi-cation of Romanies as members of social, to be more precise so-cio-pathological group of inha-bitants, not ethnic group which has the right to grow and deve-lop their specificities. The cultu-ral and ethnic specificities were then considered to be undesira-ble manifestations of retarda-tion. Assimilative pressure cau-sed considerable damage, but, on the other hand, the objectivity

is to be noted that it also brought the positives. These were mainly related to the emphasis on elimi-nating of illiteracy and impro-ving the qualification of Roma-nies as well as providing them commonly inaccessible health and social care. Despite of this, however, it is necessary to note that just the attitude of the state system in the years 1948 – 1989 to so-called Romany issue can be considered as one of the main reasons for the current socio--economic status of Romanies, their low ethnic self identifica-tion, and not least a high degree of social distancing of non-Ro-ma majority from Romany mi-nority. According to ethnologi-sts Arne B. Man, A. Jurová and others „right government policy accenting the material assistance to Romanies, at the same time ignoring the” human dimension „(identity, desires, ideas about life, value systems, a reflection of coexistence with the majority population), caused the gradual devastation of their positive con-sciousness, the loss of personal motivation, apathy. The whole

post-war development of the bulk of Romany population in this respect can be described as a process of the loss of culture, so-cial and moral retardation. The change of state access in relation to Romanies was manifested it-self, but as a matter of priority it was not the current result of reflection of these policies. That change became a consequence of changes in the ideological lo-oking at function of the state and its citizens.” From the second half of the fifties, the authori-ties begin to intensively discuss how to solve the so-called Gyp-sy issue to the future. There are consulted two radically different approaches: ethnic and assimila-tion. Regime of that time tried to rearrange the society and chan-ge its natural stratification, thus, the ethnic identity of Romanies began to deny and the policy of social assimilation was adop-ted. The issue connected with the identification of Romanies, which arose just in relation to re-fusal of ethnic acceptance, resul-ted in the formulation „person of Gypsy origin, Gypsy”. So much

Roma from Europe


Roma from Europecriticism of the discriminatory Act of wandering Gypsies, ho-wever, remained in force and continued up to 1950. In March 1952 the Commission of the In-terior issued a directive on mo-dification the circumstances of persons of Gypsy origin, which is requested and assumed assi-milation of Romany population not by sanction means, but the solution of their employment, education, provision of housing, re-education through an action on the change in their traditio-nal way of life. The responsibi-lity for implementation of these guidelines was in the hands of national committees. There were no objective or subjective right conditions to fulfil the expected intentions to remove the social and cultural backwardness of Romanies by the universal help of the state and in particular by the re-education accompanied with the permanent denial of ac-ceptance of their ethnic identity. On the one hand, the continuing of discrimination against Roma-ny ethnic, although not open and obvious, on the other hand, in many ways significant economic and social preference of this eth-nic group provoked the aversion of the majority population. As a consequence of accumulated and unresolved problems, when in practice as in a vicious circle the social, health, educational, housing and other problems of Romanies were accumulated, was the release of the act on per-manent settlement of itinerant persons, which was approved by the Parliament in October 1958 under № 74. The Act was imple-mented in 1959 by police opera-tions similar to raids carried out in previous periods. From day to day it had to be dismantled whe-

els of nomadic chariots, Roma-nies were obliged to settle where they have just been caught and municipalities were required to provide them an alternative ac-commodation. The act was very insensitively affected mainly Valachian (Olachian) Romanies. The nomadic life formed part of their traditions and suddenly they were forced to change their way of life forever. It is sure that today we are facing the consequ-ences of that forced migration, because the enforced settlement realized through the coercion ac-ted for that matter as a crimino-genic factor. In terms of theory and political practice of the for-mer political system the leveling of social differences up to egali-tarianism was logic. It was based on the fact the very nature of this system. Not calling Romanies to social advancement should the-refore be considered as discri-mination. Toleration of nomadic life would mean the toleration of extreme poverty and according to the rest of society the undigni-fied or even unfair way of life. This act was not only against fundamental rights of freedom of movement and residence, but

it was also an unworkable and absurd for lack of jobs and ho-using opportunities in local con-ditions. As a matter of fact, the inventory spaces should become a permanent place of residence of Romany family and national committees were required to of-fer them several options for ho-using and job prospects, which could not be absolutely possible at that time. Although the con-cept of assimilation has failed, many Romanies have managed to break out of a backward way of life, to gain a professional qu-alification, or to solve their ho-using problem. The persistence of the problematic situation of Romanies and then, when no-madism has already been dispo-sed, led since the early sixties to considerations on the new con-ception. Problem that could not be solved in the framework of previously adopted legislative changes of Romany issue, was the high share of Romany po-pulation in the region of Eastern Slovakia.

prof. dr Vladimír GecelovskýSource: authors archive


Social care

INTRODUCTION

Protection of children and minors with behavioral problems is an all-inclusive process which includes more participants among whom the center for social work has a significant role at the local level. Data show that the number of children and minors with beha-vioral problems has been continu-ously increasing during previous years, which resulted in a greater engagement of the center for so-cial work as an organ of custody in the work with this target group. At the same time the center has to work permanently on the promo-tion of its own capacities.

The subject of this paper is the analysis of the current practice of centers for social work on the territory of AP Vojvodina in the area of protection of children with antisocial behavior and conflicts

with law, analysis of movement of the number of children users of centers in a three-year period (from 2009 to 2011), as well as the range and types of the impo-sed penalties. A research has been carried out for the purposes of analysis, whose goal was to acqu-ire an insight into the current prac-tice, needs and problems that cen-ters face, as a basis for defining recommendations for the promo-tion of work. The research was directed towards the collection of data from the following areas: qualifications of professionals for work with minors and their need for professional training, project engagement of centers, activities and services, cooperation in the local community, difficulties cen-ters’ experts face in this area, as well as their recommendations for the promotion of cooperation and quality of work.

Methodology

A questionnaire was created for the purposes of research. It was distributed electronically to addresses of 41 centers for social work on the territory of AP Vojvo-dina. 38 centers submitted filled--out questionnaires, which consti-tutes 93% of the total number of questionnaires sent. In addition to the application of the questionna-ire, an analysis of annual reports about the activities of centers for social work was carried out, in or-der to obtain insight into the num-ber and structure of children with antisocial behavior and conflicts with law, as well as the range and types of the imposed penalties on minors in the given period.

Content The first part includes the

analysis of roles of the center for

ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITIES OF CENTERS FOR SOCIAL WORK IN AP VOJVODINA IN THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH

BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

SUMMARY

The subject of this paper is an analysis of a current practice of centers for social work on the territory of AP Vojvodina in working with children and minors with behavioral problems and in conflict with law. The analysis presents results of research conducted in order to gain insight into the state of practice, ne-eds and problems of centers for social work in this area, as well as recommendations for improvement of work. The research refers to the period 2009-2011 and it includes a few areas: expertise of employees of centers for working with minors and their needs for professional training, project engagement of centers, activities and services, cooperation in the local community, difficulties that centers’ experts face in this area, as well as their recommendations for the improvement of the quality of work. The analysis showed that there is a continuous increase of children with antisocial behavior and conflict with law in the given three-year period which was incorporated in the research. Moreover, it showed that the expertise of cen-ters’ employees was not satisfactory, thus leading to conspicuous need for professional training in the entire process of work – from prevention to work with children and minors who already manifest beha-vioral problems. It was also showed that a relatively small number of centers was engaged in projects in this area in previous years, that approximately only one third of local self-governments in APV currently funds activities/services intended for this target group and that there is a solid cooperation of centers with actors in this process at the level of local communities.

Key words: center for social work, minors with antisocial behavior and conflict with law, AP Vo-jvodina

Marina Vukotic, associate for research Sanja Grmusa, associate for social protection and expert activities

Provincial Institute for Social Protection, Novi Sad


Social caresocial work in work with this tar-get group, while the second part shows results of the analysis of annual reports about the work of centers and the research conduc-ted. The first part will be publi-shed in this issue and the second part will follow in the next.

1. PART ROLE OF CENTER FOR SOCIAL WORK IN THE

PROTECTION OF CHIL-DREN AND MINORS WITH BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

AND CONFLICTS WITH LAW

Center for social work as a part of the system of social pro-tection has an important role at the local level in the area of work with children and minors with beha-vioral problems and conflicts with law. This role is reflected in the prevention, i.e. prevention of oc-currence of such problems, on one hand, and reacting to the already manifested behavioral problem.

In this line of work center for social work acts in accordan-ce with Law on social protection, Family Law, Regulations on or-ganization, normatives and stan-dards of work of centers for social work*, Law on minor offenders and criminal-legal protection of minors and Regulations on con-duction of educational measures of special obligations.

Preventive role of center for social work consists in early di-scovering of children and minors who are at risk of manifesting be-havioral problems, in following and analyzing needs and problems of this target group in their local community, initiating the deve-lopment of missing services, de-veloping inter-sector partnership and preventive programs which should contribute to the satisfac-tion of needs of children who are at risk or in conflicts with the law

and their families, working on the development of volunteer capaci-ties in the communities and initia-ting campaigns directed towards the strengthening of civil aware-ness and responsibility. Of course, the engagement of other systems is also important in the area of prevention: healthcare, education, police, justice, organization of ci-vil society and other. Thus, deve-lopment of partnership with these systems at the local level is gre-atly significant.

The role of centers for social work is very important for wor-king with children and minors who already manifested delinqu-ent behavior, especially when it comes to children up to 14 years of age (not criminally responsi-ble), who are under the care of this service.

Regulations on organization, normatives and standards of work of centers for social work determi-ne the activities that the center for social work performs in public ju-risdiction: cooperates with the pu-blic prosecutor or judge for minors when choosing and applying edu-cational requests, conducts me-diation between a minor offender and a victim of offence, files re-port about submitting educational request to the public prosecutor or judge for minors, attends the ac-tivities in the preparatory process against the minor offender, if ap-proved by the court (interrogating the minor offender and other sub-jects), writes proposals and asks questions to subjects being inter-rogated, presents its opinion to the court dealing with a criminal pro-cedure against a minor, regarding facts related to the minor’s age, facts necessary for the evaluation of his/her maturity, examines the environment the minor lives in and other circumstances which are important for his/her personality

and behavior, attends meetings of the board for minors and the main search in the criminal process aga-inst a minor offender, informs the court in charge of the conduction of institutionalized educational measure and organ of interior af-fairs when the implementation of measures cannot start or continue due to minor’s rejection or escape, takes care of the implementation of educational measures of special obligations, checks the implemen-tation of educational measures of increased supervision by parents or guardians and provides help in the implementation of help, checks the implementation of educational measures of increased supervision in other family and provides help for the family whe-re a minor is placed, implements educational measure of increased supervision by guardian organ by taking care of minor’s education, his/her employment, separating him/her from the environment that has a detrimental influence on him/her, special treatment and arranging his/her circumstances, takes care of the implementation of educational measures of incre-ased supervision with compulsory extended stay in the institution for education of minors, submits to the court and public prosecutor for minors a report on the course of implementation of educational measures, proposes to the court the decision about the costs of implementation of educational measures and performs other ac-tivities defined by the law.

Moreover, center for social work provides help in reintegra-tion of minors, after the imple-mentation of institutionalized me-asures and penalty of a prison for minors.

* „Sl. glasnik RS“ br. 59/2008 i 37/2010) u članu 4 stav 2. alineje 7-20


HOW TO BEAT AN ENEMY – DIABETES?

The number of diabetics is rapidly growing and according to estimates, this number will rise to more than 550 million in twenty-year time. The biggest rise of diabetics is expected in deve-loping countries. According to estimates of the International Fe-deration for Diabetes, about 370 million people suffer from this disease. There are more than 600 thousand diabetics registered on the territory of Serbia, of which 280 thousand are in AP Vojvodi-na and 50 thousand in the city of Novi Sad.

Type I and Type II

Diabetes Type I represents a complete inability to generate in-sulin. It is commonly caused by damage of certain cells of pancre-as. Type II is the cells’ resistance to pancreas effect. Type I is usual-ly hereditary and it cannot be pre-vented, unlike diabetes Type II.

What is the most frequent cau-se of diabetes Type II?

The risks for the development of diabetes Type II are primarily

family anamnesis, increased blo-od pressure, increased blood su-gar level, obesity, inadequate diet and inadequate physical activity, especially in combination with 45 plus age. It can be developed in women who had pregnancy issu-es related to reduced tolerance to glucose or gestational diabetes.

How to recognize diabetes Type II?

Symptoms include increased need for liquids, frequent urina-tion, hunger, and disorder in nerve conduction, which is manifested as tingling sensation, numbness, burning sensation in fingers or on skin. These symptoms are not ty-pical of this disease only, so it is best to pay attention to risk fac-tors and regularly control blood sugar level during regular doctor appointments.

Strictly follow doctor’s instructions!

After the diagnosis has been established, it is important to strictly follow doctors’ instruc-tions. If those instructions include

physical activity and diet, then we must not neglect them. In most cases, these two things can regu-late blood sugar levels without using medications. Regular sugar control is necessary. If the physi-cal activity and diet do not pro-duce desired effect after a certain period of time, doctor can also introduce medications, which can also reduce sugar levels. Insulin is introduced as a last measure.

Diet

The diet that people who suffer from diabetes type II must follow is not different from a diet of healthy people, including several rules that must receive necessary attention. Doctor will prescribe three main courses and three snacks during one day. Pa-tients must adhere to this, in order to maintain the sugar level con-sistent. Of course, the choice of groceries is extremely important.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are obligatory

All vegetables can be con-sumed, but as far as fruit is con-cerned, it is necessary to restrict the consumption of grapes, date palms, figs and watermelons. Fresh groceries are important due to the increased need for vi-tamins. Fruit, as a source of vi-tamins, protects from unwanted effect of increased sugar level. It is necessary to have a varied diet.

Carbohydrates should not be left out

The same ratio is retained, just like with healthy persons; however, sugar, sweets, white flour (white bread and pasta) and rice must be avoided. All of the-se have their own replacements.

Health


Instead of sweets, fresh fruit sho-uld be consumed, and honey and natural sweeteners (e.g. Sorbitol) should be used for sweetening groceries. White flour is repla-ced with whole wheat flour and its products. The same applies to

white rice which is replaced with brown rice.

Use of fat is prohibited

It is replaced with different types of oil (sunflower, olive, se-same and linen oil). Meat must

be low-fat: chicken, turkey, veal, low-fat beef and north-sea fish. Pork is strictly forbidden. No food should be fried – everything must be boiled. Frying is allowed only in Teflon pans with little oil, while deep-frying is forbidden. Roasting is also allowed.

Browned flour is also forbid-den and thickening is done with mashed potato or in any other su-itable way.

Be careful with salt and spices

Food should not contain too much salt, because that is one of the risks of high blood pressure, which, together with diabetes, can cause serious disorders. Spices should also be used moderately.

Zita Farkaš

“Protect Our Future”

World Diabetes Day, 14th November, was celebrated in the Assembly of AP Vojvodina. The host of this year’s convention was the vice-president of the provincial Assembly, who is in charge of the area of healthcare, Professor Dr. Branislava Belic. The ceremony was attended by assistant to provincial secretary for healthcare Dr. Danijela Stankovic, representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, Novi Sad City Administration of Healthcare, Association of Vojvodina Societies for Fight against Diabetes, numerous renowned doctors and diabetics.

The vice-president of the Assembly of AP Vojvodina, Professor Dr. Branislava Belic addre-ssed the audience and expressed her hope that every future celebration of the World Diabetes Day will go in a better atmosphere – with a smaller number of new patients and less problems which diabetics encounter. Assistant to provincial secretary for healthcare Dr. Danijela Stan-kovic said that the very fact that there is a great number of patients suggests that diabetes has a special place in the Vojvodina’s healthcare policy.

Under a slogan “Protect Our Future”, campaign of the World Diabetes Day in 2012 cele-brates the fourth anniversary since the five-year focus on the significance of education about diabetes and its prevention. Considering that the data on the number of diabetics are so alarming that it is possible to say that it is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, it is important to appeal to population’s awareness in order to achieve the desired results of the campaign which are given in three crucial messages:

- Conduct continuous education for the widest population; - Influence the change of lifestyle and bad life habits, which will have an effect on the entire

health of the population; - Influence the reduction of discrimination against diabetics and their marked status in the

society.

Health


Citizen association “Mul-ticultural Banat” from Kikinda was founded in 2004 as a non--governmental and unprofitable association. The association was created in order to prese-rve Roma national identity and respect human and minority rights in education, informing and culture. The association’s goals: public advocacy for the preservation of language, cultu-re and education of members of this national community, edu-cation of citizens and especially children and young adults, or-ganization of activities and se-minars, workshops and forums about the respect of human and minority rights and other.

“Multicultural Banat” has so far been a leader of many projects which served Roma people.

The association’s president Aleksandar Stojkov did not hide his great experience in working with his own people and said that there was no area in which his association was not active and tried to make progress.

Considering that he is em-ployed as a pedagogical assi-

stant, he said that he can best recognize a problem that Roma children have in education and try to solve it with its organiza-tion.

He has helped his people solve housing problems, mostly in legalization of their illegally built buildings.

Stojkov emphasized that children’s health was the most important and that he tried to establish cooperation with he-alth mediators; however, they did not respond, even though it was truly necessary.

He also said that children’s rights were violated several ti-mes, which made him take ac-tion to solve those problems in cooperation with parents. “The-re were several such problems in the elementary school, but I wouldn’t like to talk publicly about it. There are still some problems and we are preparing to report some of them. The majority of them are related to violence against Roma chil-dren, but it still remains to be determined whether or not they were based on nationality.“

President of this associa-

tion promoted Roma culture through lectures he held in ele-mentary schools and high scho-ols.

As an answer to the qu-estion what poses a problem in work, Stojkov answered:

“Problems are numerous and evident wherever Roma are present. The majority na-tion recognizes them very well, but does nothing to solve them. Action plans for the education of Roma have not been adop-ted yet, even though I propo-sed them through the Strategy of Local Sustainable Develop-ment of Kikinda.”

Stojkov is unsatisfied with the work of other NGOs, as well as with the coordinator for Roma issues: “Roma organiza-tions do not have enough ca-pacity and are not sufficiently familiar with the work of NGO sector; they were founded for their own purposes and not for goals that were registered in their statutes.”

Coordinators in local self--governments are inadequately professional and are very gene-ral in their work and, due to po-litical affiliation, their hands are tied and they cannot succeed in solving all problems that need to be solved. Most coordinators in Vojvodina have their own NGOs, so they do not cooperate with other organizations, which creates a fight for leadership in the local community and opens the possibility for other organs of local self-government to ma-nipulate with Roma organiza-tions, because they do not hold

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together and each does what it wants since there is no coope-ration.

“No one solves the pro-blems, because no institution supports us. We have to do

everything ourselves. The law is clear, but nothing is done in practice and no one cares about it. When Roma’s rights are vio-lated, in order to conduct the law and accuse someone… It is all very difficult…”

We asked if the association was active even when it did not realize any projects. Stojkov said:

“Members of Roma popu-lation know me very well and I help them 24 hours a day, whe-never they call and ask for help, whether it’s 6 in the morning or 11 at night, so you do not have

working hours when you have this kind of job. The work mo-stly consists in printing of requ-ests, complaints and certifica-tes for school, filling of forms, acquisition of documents neces-sary for social welfare, acquisi-tion of birth certificates, espe-cially for those who were born in another municipality, which I manage to do by cooperating

with coordinators from those municipalities, usually from Zrenjanin and sometimes Novi Sad and Subotica. Usually pa-rents of Roma children who are my students come to see me. They come to school, because they know my working hours, so I help them as a pedagogue and a teacher and as a represen-tative of my association. Once a month I go to the settlement and sometimes several times a month, if necessary.”

Proud on all projects which have been realized so far, be-cause the results can be seen easily, Stojkov emphasizes that he is particularly pleased when a married Roma decides to go to school and finish high school or faculty. That shows that there should be no obstacles to stop us in the process of education.

“I am proud that I was able to help many people finish school, and I still do it and al-ways will.”

On behalf of his associa-tion, Aleksandar Stojkov says that Roma should agree and that their strength lies in con-cord.

Dragana Dimitrov

Stojkov is unsatisfied with the work of other NGOs, as well as with the coordinator for Roma issues: “Roma organizations do not have enough capacity and are not sufficiently familiar with the work of NGO sector; they were founded for their own purposes and not for goals there were registered in their statutes.”

Coordinators in local self-governments are inadequately professional and are very general in their work and, due to political affiliation, their hands are tied and they cannot succeed in solving all problems that need to be solved. Most coordinators in Vojvodina have their own NGOs, so they do not cooperate with other organizations, which creates a fight for leadership in the local community and opens the po-ssibility for other organs of local self-government to manipulate with Roma organizations, because they do not hold together and each does what it wants since there is not cooperation.

“No one solves the problems, because no institution supports us. We have to do everything ourse-lves. The law is clear, but nothing is done in practice and no one cares about it. When Roma’s rights are violated, in order to conduct the law and accuse someone… It is all very difficult…”

NGO


Culture

“EYES OF PLAIN” Institute for Gender Equality of AP Vojvodina presented the second revised edition of contemporary po-

etry of Vojvodina women poets called “Eyes of Plain” on Thursday, November 15th in the Ceremonial Hall of the Government of AP Vojvodina.

The book was discussed by the compilation’s editor and poet, Olivera Sijacki and direc-tor of Institute for Gender Equ-ality, Vesna Sijacki. After that, authors who attended the book promotion presented and reci-ted their verses to the audience.

Affirmation of Vojvodina women poets

Vesna Sijacki was the first who addressed the audience. She emphasized several re-asons why the Institute decided to print this anthology. As the first reason, she gave the insti-tutions’ responsibility to make the artistic creativity of Vojvo-dina poets, who write in diffe-rent languages, under various influences, more visible.

“This anthology is a public and official acknowledgement for poetic creativity of Vojvo-dina women, because their en-deavor is not at all easy and simple. In addition to poems, the anthology includes poets’ biographies, which are impres-sive in both professional and private way and represent all their faces and roles”, director of the Institute said alluding to the title of the recently promo-ted biography of a renowned drama artist, Mira Banjac.

According to Vesna Sijac-ki, the anthology represents a reward for poets’ efforts, but also editor’s efforts, because “she did her best to gather all

Vojvodina women poets betwe-en a book’s covers”.

Magic power of poetry

Editor of the anthology Olivera Sijacki emphasized the magic power of poetry at the beginning, saying that it is “the best connection between people and their emotions” and as such it is “her greatest love”.

“In the fertile Vojvodina plain where everything grows, poetry is not an exception. I wanted to save that rich Vojvo-dina poetic treasury from wa-sting and oblivion. This antho-logy is my present to all people who enjoy poetry and it is, at the same time, the fruit of my own enjoyment.”

Music and poetry in a duo

The third part of the book promotion included ethno mu-sic and poetry in a duo. Poets recited their verses, while the breaks between the recitals in-cluded the performances of university students of ethno-musicology at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, in class of Professor Dr. Nica Fracila. The concert was prepared by Vesna Ivkov, MA, teaching assistant Vesna Karin and demonstrator Vladimir Dabic.

Colorfulness and diversity brought by the anthology were followed by the concert.

Female music band perfor-med a song from central Serbia

(Wind is blowing from Mora-va), a song of Bunjevci from Backa (Let’s sing, let the whole room moan), a song of Danu-be Germans from Backa (Auf der schwabische Eisenbahne), a song of native Serbs from Backa (I sold my earrings) and a song of Vlachs from Serbia (Mandra mea). Ana Zornjan performed a song of Slovaks from Backa, Tej noci so mi pri-snilo.

Ergensko kolo could also be heard, performed by accor-dionist duo, as well as Subotic-ko kolo performed by a duo of an accordionist and tamboura ensemble.

Pair dance from Vojvodina, Gypsy Girl was performed by Martina Karin, Goran Milosev and Aleksadra Aleksandrovic, also accompanied by accordio-nist duo.

D.J.

The first edition of this book, published in 1998, in-cluded the poems of 63 wo-men poets and 50 years of their creativity. Unfortunate-ly, most of it was burnt in a fire in 2000, which happened at the Novi Sad Open Univer-sity.

The second edition is re-vised and expanded with po-ems of 58 women poets.


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Roma voice in anthology

The anthology Eyes of Plain included a poem Night and Day by poet Maja Familic, which was published in her last collec-tion of poems Jar of Hopes- Khoro azurcarimasko, a bilingual Serbian-Roma edition. Her poem represents a voice of Roma culture and tradition in this anthology.

Words of Maja Familic “Language is culture and culture is language. Having left

their homeland India, the Roma were forced to be well-acquain-ted with the cultures of all non-Roma nations they lived with for several millennia around the world.

Roma nation has a clear mark of Indo-European climate above their facial features and I did not choose accidentally and, being artistic, graphically illustrated the character of a Hindu woman for the front page of my collection of poems “Jar of Ho-pes - Khoro Azucarimasko”.

Using your mother tongue is a basic human right, because you thus contribute to its development. Language is a means which serves as a basis of social living. Roma language is lag-ging behind as far as standardization is concerned, but is has a priceless value - national, cultural and historical significance. Thus, the state authority should protect the preservation of the Roma language as a cultural good.

Without writing, Roma cannot create national, collective and cultural integration, which is why it is very important to hear Roma voice in the anthology of women poets in the Cere-monial Hall of the Government of Vojvodina in Novi Sad.

The anthology “Eyes of Plain” is a testimony of public and official acknowledgment for my poetic and cultural contribution to Roma population.”

Night and Day

After a thousand years,I return with the footsteps

Of my ancestors.

I am welcomed by the soundOf forged strings

And there in the shoal of pond grass

A shadow of humiliation is withered.

Could it still be there?!

Where is the humanity of a frosted morning

That breaks the petalsOf Magnolia just blossomed?

A little girl collects themWith a spring zephyr

And makes – a new flower.

Buxom in youthShe is like – an old woman.

The bells weep…

Are we still not human?Is there still

A demon rising from the skullAnd dividing us on voids?

On night and day...

Poet Maja Familic with anthology “Eyes of Plain”

Poet Maja Familic recites her verses at the book promotion

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Successfull Roma

WITH ALL HIS HEART ON THE GOAL Even as a child he could see himself in sports. Back then he was a little bit of a football player, a little bit

of a karate kid. When he was twelve years old, he learned about handball at the sports classes. And he fell in love with this sport. Although he had the predisposition to play back , on his first training his friends from the club convinced him to stand at the goal. Stanko Petrovic still stands at the goal defending the colors of hand-ball club “Metalac” from Futog. According to Stanko, his liking for this sport was born on his first training, and it quickly grew to true love, which became stronger during years.

Stanko Petrovic, handball player

Silver medal as lodestar

Even as a member of cadet team “Radnicki” from Jasa Tomic, he was invited to be on a wider list of the national team of Serbia. When he was seventeen at the tournament in Hungary, he won the second place as a member of the national team, having lost from the Hungarian team in the finals.

“That medal was not only my first, but my biggest success. It encouraged me in those moments when my will was not strong enough. It was my motivation and lodestar. I would often say that its silver shine made me lucky.”

Education and sport, hand by hand

Having finished elementary school, he enrolled on the High School of Traffic in Zrenjanin. He spent one year defending the goal of Zrenjanin’s “Proleter”.

When he finished high school, he came to Novi Sad. Since he had enrolled on a school which lasted for three years, his choice of higher education was limited. When he was supposed to enroll on Higher School of Professional Business Studies, he realized that it was not for him after all, that he could not see himself in it.

“I had already applied and paid the cost of taking the entrance exam, but then something changed in me. I called my parents and told them that I wasn’t fit for it, that sport was my only love. My parents supported me. I found a High School of Traffic in Zemun with the help of my old school in Zrenjanin. There I finished the fourth year. When I came back to my hometown, I started training for the senior team of “Radnicki”. My biggest wish was to play for the first team from my hometown. I had the complete support of my coach for my irregular school attendance and that meant a lot to me.”

When he was about to finish his obligations at the fourth year of school, he came back to Novi Sad for the preparations for the enroll-ment on the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Novi Sad.

“At the preparations I met the current assistant coach of handball club Vojvodina Vladimir Cvijan, who was then a coach of Mili-

Camp won – love won

Handball camp “Let’s grow up” is one of well-known camps for young athletes, not just in our country, but in Europe too.

For five years Stanko would choose camp between summer holiday at the seaside and sports camp. He would go there with a smile and would come back with a smile, not caring about hot tem-peratures which are not exactly ideal training conditions.

His choosing camp, instead of sea, fun and rest, is a clear proof of his great love for this sport. Besides great sports experiences, the camp brought him friendships, which take a special place in his heart.

Parents and liberal approach to upbringing

“Even when I was a child, my parents would treat me as an adult, as a true person. They respected my choices and my opinion. Together we would decide about everything, taking into consideration good and bad sides of my options. I am very grateful to them for that, because on one side, they taught me to express my opinion freely, but also to respect opinions of others and their advice.”

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Successfull Roma

cioner from Klisa and teaching assistant at the subject Handball at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. He recognized me from the matches in the previous period and talked to me about my sports career. I told him then that I would stay in Novi Sad and continue playing handball, if everything went well with the enrollment on the faculty. Luckily, I enrolled on the faculty I wanted and became a student funded by the state budget. After the enrollment, I met with Cvijan. I made a deal with him and chose club Milicioner from Klisa. I played for them for one year. After that, the club was shut down due to financial problems and I went back to Metalac from Futog, which was in the same league as my previous club.”

Club “Metalac” where Stanko still plays managed to enter the First Federal League of Serbia. This club has been playing in that league for half a year and soon it will go on a break it deserves.

Trainer of professor?

As far as his future plans are concerned, even though handball is his biggest love, Stanko puts education and graduating in the first place. Now he is at the fourth year, majoring in Professor of Physical Education with handball as his main sport. He says that he is still not sure whether he would work as a trainer for adults or chil-dren and youth.

“I am trying to realize which of those two options would be

a greater challenge for me. The options are equal at the moment. I occasionally incline towards one, but then I feel the same about them. So I am still choosing between those two options.”

D.J.

Energy and strength of Dar-ko Stanic as a role model

Goalkeeper of our coun-try’s handball national team Darko Stanic is one of sports role models of Stanko Petro-vic.

“What impresses me most about him is his great energy at the court. Besides, he managed to get back into shape after going through hell – failing his doping test. I don’t think that everyone can do that and I think that it ta-kes strong will to do it. That’s why I would single him out. He is not the only sports role model I have. Considering that I watch not only hand-ball, but also other sports, I try to take and adopt good things from every successful athlete.”

Choosing healthy life

“Sport is a choice of healthy life. Youth often brings bad choices. Alcohol and drugs are becoming widespread nowadays. So, sport is a way for young people to stay in the right track. They develop their body in the right way, but also their mental abilities; it encourages team spirit and socialization.”

Stanko Petrovic with Serbian national team on a tournament in Hungary

Handball Club “Metalac” Futog

At Difovijada in Sokobanja

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Documents

A Monthly Periodical of The Roma Inclusion Office The Roma ... 22/engleski.pdf · Merima’s mentor, Dr. Alek-sandar Stojanovic, said that he was satisfied with their coope-ration