Empowering Roma mothers to break the cycle of illiteracy
3 August 2006
THE JASZSAG REGION, Hungary — Before
she started studying with the Mesed Project, Agi Racz was ashamed of
the fact that she could not read -- and afraid to try to learn how.
"At first I had doubts, fears," said Ms. Racz, a mother of four and a member of the Roma ethnic minority.
But with the encouragement of the Mesed literacy project volunteers and other participants, she overcame her anxieties.
"I felt good with my friends, and it helped me to get over my
feelings of shame," she said. "If someone couldn't read she got
encouragement from the others. They said, 'Never mind, go on.' I
realized that I can do it, that they won't laugh at me."
Ms. Racz is one of some 40 participants in the Mesed project, which
was started by the Baha'i community of Hungary in 2003 with the goal of
teaching reading and writing to disadvantaged Roma women.
Currently operating in eight towns and cities, the project is
distinctive for its use of storytelling in the teaching of reading and
writing. The word Mesed is an acronym for "Meselo Edes Anyak," which
means "storytelling mothers."
The
project aims to help Roma mothers to overcome their fears of reading by
encouraging them to read and tell stories to their children -- thereby
not only giving them encouragement in the path to literacy, but also to
create a culture of reading at home -- and so help break the cycle of
illiteracy between generations.
"Many of the Roma women lack basic skills in reading and/or the
confidence to read aloud," said Furugh Switzer, the director of the
project. "They usually become mothers at an early age and the distance
between them and book learning increases.
"They tend to develop feelings of inferiority which, in turn, affects
their view of life and of their own self. They are not in a position to
help their children with school work, neither are they able to transfer
enthusiasm and appreciation for books and book learning, and a cycle of
illiteracy is perpetuated," said Ms. Switzer.
Hajnal Racz, a participant of the project and a mother of three,
described how initial feelings of shame and embarrassment were replaced
by a sense of confidence.
"In the beginning it was strange that we had to read," said Hajnal
Racz, who is not related to Agi Racz -- Racz being a common surname
among the Roma. "We tried not to make mistakes, but being anxious we
made more mistakes. But, after a while, we realized that we don't need
to be ashamed. Halfway through the project our reading improved a lot
and by the end of the project we could read quite well."
In 2003, Mesed was selected as one of the five projects that were
presented at the European Parliament as a supporting program of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's
(UNESCO) Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children
of the World.
The project has also drawn notice from local officials. Leko Belane
Malika, the deputy mayor of Jakohalma -- one of the villages in the
region of Jaszsag where a large population of Roma reside and one of
Mesed's main areas of focus -- recently described the facilitators as
"dedicated professionals who take it to their heart to bring about
equality which is a key question in today's world."
"I think this is a pioneering effort in this field," said Mr. Malika. "And I would like to express my gratitude for this work."
The Roma, which constitute roughly six percent of Hungary's
population, are considered to be the most disadvantaged and most
discriminated against minority group in the country. Literacy rates for
the Roma are distinctly lower than for the Hungarian population at
large, according to the United Nations Development program. This is
especially for people over 45. While 97 percent of that age group are
literate in Hungary as a whole, just 77 percent of Roma men and women
are.
What matters more, perhaps, are the statistics on educational
attainment for Roma children. According to Balazs Wizner, writing in the
Hungarian Quarterly last year, about 36 percent of Roma children failed
to complete elementary school in 2000, versus 5 percent for other
Hungarian children. That gets worse as they move up the educational
ladder. In 2001, approximately 20 percent of the Roma entered secondary
school, versus 73 percent nationwide.
By stressing the literacy among mothers -- and focusing on reading at
an early age -- Mesed hopes to break that cycle by providing a course
of free weekly literacy classes.
"At a basic level it empowers women," Ms. Switzer said. "It affects
the mother's relationship with books and learning by creating a positive
association which, in turn, and naturally, will be passed on to her
children. Women begin to see themselves as active agents of change."
Participant Andrea Racz said the course had indeed helped her see the
importance of motherhood. "The role of a mother is very important in a
family," she said. "If in a family the mother feels good, then that
family is a happy family because a mother not only thinks about the day
to day life of a family, but she also prepares them for life. We are
mothers, but we raise future mothers and fathers."
One of the main goals of the project is to create a forum where Roma
mothers can feel safe and comfortable to express their feelings,
grievances and hopes. "The most important thing," said Andrea Racz, "was
that we had found a new family because the atmosphere was very warm."
Ms. Switzer described the process of bonding and sharing that took
place between the mothers. "The mothers started by sharing experiences
from the childhood," she said. "Having found an accepting, loving and
secure milieu -- an experience otherwise unprecedented in their life
within a deeply prejudiced society -- they poured out their hearts and
shared their past experiences."
The first phase of the project focuses on the development of basic
literacy skills through the reading of children's books -- and the
teaching of moral virtues as contained in them.
Each week the mothers receive and practice with a new children's
book, which they then take home and read to their children every night
during the week. In this way, skills that are learned are immediately
put into practice.
"Our task in this was that when we went home we read the story to our
children," said Andrea Racz. "Every night we read to them. They eagerly
waited every night to see what story they would get."
In all, the mothers read 15 books, which are given to them as gifts,
and which ultimately becomes a small library for the family in each
home.
"Research shows that the more children are read to before they go to
school," said Ms. Switzer, "the more likely they are to be academically
successful. Thus the Roma children will become the mutual beneficiaries
for this project. They will enter school mentally more equipped for the
written word and will have a positive association with books and
reading.
"They are also more likely to be supported by their mothers at home
who, by now, have gained a sense of pride in their ability to read and
are more equipped to help track the progress of their children at
school," said Ms. Switzer.
Julika Kovacs, a mother of three, described her children's
enthusiastic response to reading. "They always waited for me to arrive
every week asking what new story book I brought. They always read, all
three of them, and fought with each other to be the first one to read."
The emphasis on educating children in virtues is directly linked to
the books. The mothers are taught to use the stories they read in their
day-to-day life to teach children moral and spiritual qualities, such as
honestly, trustworthiness, kindness and generosity.
"When there were behavioral problems with my little son or he didn't
understand something," said Andrea Racz, "I read a story to him and
talked about the main characters in the story and we discussed how they
behaved and whether it was proper behavior or not. There were situations
where all I had to say was, you know 'Franklin Helps' [the name of the
book] and he knew what I meant."
Participant Marika Farkas said the act of coming together to read has
a positive effect on her whole family. "Every week...the whole family
sits together to read. It brings the whole family together. Mother,
father and the children sit together and read and in this way the home
becomes a warmer place because of these stories."
So far ten groups of mothers throughout Hungary have completed the
first phase of the project, which was funded by the Baha'i community of
Hungary. The Mesed project plans to expand, and the next step is to
organize trainings for facilitators who will then act as coordinators
for the Mesed meetings. Once a core number of women have been trained,
the project will start experimenting with phase two: the development of
writing skills.
"By all means I recommend the course," said Andrea Racz. "Roma and
Hungarian mothers alike, get to know each other, and think together, and
they will see how nice it is to think together, and from this they will
see that not only is it possible to live together, but we must.
"Let us all be proud that we are mothers, that we make every effort
for the benefit of our children," she said. "For the children the only
task should be learning, learning, learning."
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