Author: Lucie OrackovaLocation: PragueLucie is a sixteen year-old Romany girl who lives in Prague.A long, long time ago when the Earth was still as young as everything that was growing or living on it, on the eighth day God created seven children. They were not all the same, not at all. Two, a boy and […]
John Erwin
My daughter is smart enough
Author: Marketa Vaculova/Elena MirgovaLocation: OstravaElena is a lively shorter woman, a brown-eyed brunette, and a mother of two. She takes care of children in a pre-school."This happened many years ago in a small village in Slovakia. My parents and I moved there when I was about ten.There were only four Romani families. We were never […]
I got my second wind
Author: Martina HudeckováLocation: BrnoPavel Oracko and I were sitting and sipping coffee in his kitchen, a place where visitors usually do not get to see."I already liked the violin when I was in nursery school, ” Pavel said. “My older brother was taking lessons, and when I saw him practice at home I really liked […]
So instead of teaching, I learned
Author: Lucie ConkovaLocation: Usti nad LabemLucie Rohanova talked to me in our office In the 7th Elementary School in Predlice. She was a bit nervous, but I had the feeling that if there were more people like her in the world, there would be no need to talk about indifference or racism."For my training I […]
You also have to be prepared to tell your own story
John ShattuckU.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republicin conversation withJohn W. ErwinDirectorThe Stories Exchange ProjectU.S. Ambassador’s ResidencePrague28 November 2000John ErwinWhat about you? What did you learn here?John Shattuck:Well, I think I learned more patience, and I learned to listen. Americans are often much too impatient. We tend to jump from one thing to another. We also […]
Romany families can be decent like anyone else
Kveta ConkováPragueJuly 2000Jana was a beautiful girl from a Czech family. She lived with her mother, stepfather, and an older and a younger brother. Tthough her parents were divorced, Jana grew up in a peaceful household. She still gets together with her Dad and his second wife, who has always treated her husband’s children with […]
I’d lost my taste for apples
Emilie HoráckováPragueJune 2000 It was a beautiful morning. I had had a good sleep. The sun was pouring its warmth all over the countryside, and I was in a good mood because I didn’t have to go to work. I enjoyed that feeling a lot. I made some coffee and was thinking about cooking lunch […]
I’ll never let anyone slander the Gypsies
Zdenka SvobodováPragueJuly 2000I heard this story from Tomáš Szalay, an eighteen-year-old student whom I met at a festival of Hungarian films. Afterwards we sat down in a park on the Kampa and had a chat in Hungarian – a language in which the word "Gypsy” does not have a negative connotation. “I was born in the Czech […]
Can those boys still be considered skinheads?
Lucie HrdlickováPragueSeptember 2000Standa Tiser is a boxing coach. A former national champion, he has been coaching young boys, mostly Roma, for a few years now. He’s a Rom too and knows how difficult it is for Romany youngsters from Zizkov to get motivated to do any sports properly – let alone boxing – , and to turn up regularly […]
We weren’t in the U.S. during segregation
Ludek ŠtastnýPragueJuly 2000The events described in my story took place this summer in the Rewaston settlement where we have a cottage. By reading the story you’ll learn something about us, about our neighbors, and also about Roma. The other day we were having a chat with one of our neighbors, hoping that he might have […]
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