Šimonovce and Hostice- successful villages in Gemer, Slovakia

For years, Slovaks, Hungarians and Roma have co-existed in Gemer. Economic and social situation is not easy in this region since the region is well-known for its high unemployment rate of its citizens. Many of the unemployed – mostly Roma - had been working in agriculture especially at the local cooperative farms for years. After closing of those farms, it becomes very difficult for people to find jobs. However, Roma in Simonovce are lucky. Local mayor, Mr. Emil Madarász, with his fatherly attitude gives them a helping hand and helps them any way possible. Together with his vice-mayor of Roma origin Ernest Lakatoš they do not complain about how bad the situation is but think about future possibilities and how to improve the current status.

Thank to them, Šimonovce village is a little bit different than the others. You will not find shabby shacks nor abandoned garden. All the houses are nicely painted and maintained. Some of them look like from a fairy tale indeed. Mayor keeps supporting the citizens to being creative. And this support has already brought its fruits. Two successful projects of local civic associations (CA) are already ongoing. One of them, CA Luč is aimed at breeding and production of rabbits. 30 families from the village were given a chance to improve their food situation by breeding the rabbits. Money for initial expenses 10 000 USD was provided by PDCS and Ekopolis from the USAID grant. This money was used to buy material to build rabbit hutches, tools, rabbits and rabbit food. Straw, hay and a bowl of water. Well, it is a pleasure to look at clean and well-kept hutches. Štefan Čavnický is also pleased with the outcome of his efforts. This young man, cook and waiter by profession, is currently unemployed and therefore really grateful about the possibility to breed rabbits. As he expressed himself: “Such opportunities to get involved in could be more. If I get a possibility, I am willing to start my own business in animal breeding”. Willingness and enthusiasm of Simonovce’ citizens to do something creative and useful is really enormous.

Further 30 families were given some vegetable seeds and a possibility to grow potatoes on their properties. This is because of another project which continues long-lasting tradition of soil cultivating and vegetables growing in the region. CA Duha – the creator of the project – has gained 10 000 USD from PDCS and Ekopolis grants. Idea of the project is that in spite of the fact that majority of inhabitants has their own gardens, they do not have enough means to start cultivating the soil. Citizens were given the opportunity and nowadays we can already see the outcome – really rich harvest. These Roma families jointly claim: without this possibility their life would be much harder since most of them live on social benefits only.

Another outcome of the joint effort of the mayor and the citizens is beautiful physical appearance of the village created mostly by the flower-islands which decorate the whole village, also sewage system is fixed, kindergarten and basic school buildings are reconstructed, lawns are cut. Clean and cozy everywhere. Indeed, it is possible to live differently. More culturally and meaningfully. Incredible, you might think when comparing the social situation of Roma citizens in some other places in Slovakia.

In a near-by village Hostice local people under the leadership of mayor Ondrej Berki and his deputy mayor František Rácz (both of Roma origin)are also very diligent. They also try to help their citizens. František Rácz together with CA Romsky dom prepared a project where a team of 7 masons is equipped and prepared. This team then fixes 12 family houses which are in very poor state. As the mayor of the village Ondrej Berki said: The houses are being fixed to last 10 more years. One of the fixed houses belongs to Irena Ráczova who has a large family – 11 people altogether. Her house was in really bad shape without any prospects to save some extra money from social benefits. Now it is already fixed because of the project. Racz family are overjoyed. Similarly, Mrs. Ildikó Berki and her family. Berkis would have never been able to fix the house themselves. Author of the project, František Rácz, has also suggested to use the rest of the project money to buy some colors and paint the houses since there are about 20 trained painters in the village. Local Roma are definitely not scared to work and they help wherever they can and wherever they are needed. However, without the assistance of charismatic mayors and their teams, all of this would not be possible. Local citizens of Šimonovce and Hostice are very aware of this and these people are respected authorities to them. Citizens are willing to cooperate because they see that these people are devoted to them. Šimonovce and Hostice have set an example to other localities in Slovakia which fight with similar problems.

Andrea Kosková and Lenka Rapošová , Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia