Roma Education Fund has been supporting Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Hungary since 2011. Khetanipe Association became a grantee of REF in 2015 with two programs located in the Pecs Municipality in Southern Hungary. Khetanipe Association supports Roma children and youth in enhancing their social life and improving their living conditions through culture empowerment, education, and outreach. The association runs a number of projects in the Pecs municipality while maintaining a close connection with the communities they work with. In addition they work with several regional civic organizations, universities, and Roma self-governments.
REF supported two community centres in the outskirts of Pecs, in the localities of István-Ákna and Hősök Square from August 2011- August 2019.
Khetanipe Association’s Community House in István -Ákna hosts the Pécs Toy Library which plays an important pillar in the community life. Families can gather, play and borrow toys three times a week and participate in the organized parental activities such as, “Your Story” reading sessions.
In addition to the Toy Library, the REF financed programs also include a primary school desegregation program and implemented study hall tutoring sessions in the community centres, where mentors are available to tutor children and work on skill development. REF is happy to report that both programs with REF-implemented models have recently become institutionalised with funding from the State and Khetnaipe’s central budget.
The community centres have brought forth positive development in the lives of the children and caretakers in the community. Below you can find some of their stories:
“Angelina is seven years old and has been a regular participant of the István-Akna Community House, educational programs and development workshops for many years. Angelina is an affectionate little girl however she comes from a disadvantaged situation and requires additional support. Despite her state, she is very curious and friendly and loves to play. Her task awareness and task management skills are evolving; it is harder for her to partake in situations requiring long-term concentration and she is currently repeating first grade in an effort to further develop these skills. Dobble, a fast-paced card game, has become Angelina’s favourite game to play. She enjoys the game so much, she seemingly wants to play it everyday. In my view, due to her family circumstances, and lack of a more stable agenda, this “ritual” of playing Dobble in her daily life provided her with a sense of security. She also experiences a series of successes by winning more and more. Her stamina and concentration and visual skills have improved significantly during play. With the opening of the Pécs Toy Library and through the game lunches we have organized, we have become even more motivated to learn new skills and skill development games. We are happy that despite Angelina’s delayed progress in schools, her classroom also carries the game Dobble, where she is able to challenge her classmates to a game and even older students – she recently won a game against an eighth-grade student!”
– Lajtai Kíra, Special Educator,
“Nicholas has been a regular participant of the István-Akna Community House and early development program since he was one and half years old. He is currently three years old and due to his young age he needs a lot of personal attention. From the beginning, his behaviour was characterized by excessive impulsivity, outbursts of anger, and aggression towards his companions. Since spending time in the community center, and through socialization with others, we have seen many positive changes with Nicholas. He is now more willing to listen to adults’ requests, he sets a good example and warns his peers if they don’t abide by the rules, for example, we often hear him warning his friends, ”that’s bad, don’t do it”. After an activity, Nicholas helps us by putting the toys away and he is more open to compromise in cases of conflicts with others (eg. looking for another similar game, trading games), and more willing to follow the rules in general”.
– Anna Balogh, Nurse,
“I have been working as a special education teacher for one and half years at the Khetanipe Association István-Akna Community Center. Initially last year, I started to work with the individual and small group development of children and the organization of playful leisure activities. However, since the opening the Pécs Toy Library, I now oversee the management of board games in the afternoons and the rental. In my experience, the parents in our community are eager to help out and be involved in the Toy Library rentals. I think it is a positive change that there are more volunteers, pre-school children, and even senior students, who are more than happy to take part in playful, and skill developmental activities. Through personal attention and one on one involvement the children are more motivated to do homework and are increasingly involved in learning together. I really believe that exercise games relieve stress during the day, stress at home, and the attention we give the children and personal conversations we have contribute towards a sense of balance.”
– Lajtai Kíra, Special Educator
