Czech Govt Romani Affairs Commissioner and vice-president of the lower house visit socially excluded locality
On Monday, 15 March, Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková visited the socially excluded locality called Borek in the town of Česká Třebová. The area is one of the very most problematic in the Pardubice Region and requires immediate aid.
Fuková was accompanied by a vice-president of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Olga Richterová. The aim of their visit was to learn what the reality of life in Borek is and find ways to support its inhabitants.
Among the problems discussed were youth school attendance, drug use, and the strengthening of social services at the Borek housing estate. The Naděje (Hope) organization is doing its best to solve many of those problems and has been working in the region for more than 30 years.
The visit included a meeting with Naděje staffers and with a representative of the Agency for Social Inclusion, Roman Matoušek. “Part of today’s program was a meeting with the mayor and vice-mayors, during which I outlined my idea for how their collaboration could work with nonprofits, institutions and schools. We found the subjects that are important to working with the Romani minority and not just with them, because the work in the excluded locality naturally has an impact on the entire municipality, and Česká Třebová seems to be a municipality that is interested in solving problems for the development of the town per se,” Fuková told ROMEA TV, which accompanied her on the visit.
“Here the pathological phenomena are similar to those in every other such locality. There is addiction to drugs and gambling, and there is domestic violence. These subjects are not much discussed publicly. The engagement of Romani people themselves is also essential to working in Borek with that community. It is necessary to create support groups and to support locals in their emancipation,” Fuková said.
According to Richterová, education is important. “While many young people in the locality have attended school for the nine years that are compulsory, they have not completed their basic educations. We spoke with Vice-Mayor Válková, staffers from Naděje and a representative of the Agency for Social Inclusion, Roman Matoušek, about the necessity to make it possible for them to complete their basic educations together with a certain form of intermediate education and specific prescriptions for how to bring such offerings to Česká Třebová. The most important thing is to facilitate studying directly in town, commuting is an enormous barrier and in the experience of the locals, young people who go to boarding school drop out after two or three months,” Richterová said.
Fuková and Richterová toured the locality and spoke with the clients and staffers of the Naděje organization. The politicians expressed their appreciation and support for the efforts of the nonprofit organization and its work to improve the situation at the Borek housing estate.
