From Nyírmártonfalva around the world

Dóra Jónizsné György holds educational sessions for the children of the Aranyhíd School in Nyírmártonfalva. The Aspect Group trainee from Debrecen aims to develop the cultural sensitivity of the pupils. Each session is based on getting to know different nationalities while the children can solve interactive exercises on the topic.

Dóra, who also works as a language teacher, says she has traveled a lot in her life. “As a child, I myself experienced that there are just a few opportunities to break out from Nyírmártonfalva. As an adult, however, I encountered the world beyond the village border. I want the children I work with now to know that too.”

Dora’s main goal is to help the children in this tight-knit community broaden their horizons and to break down their prejudices towards other national and ethnic groups. “In their close environment, they see the same people day after day, and they rarely meet others, so they may have stereotypes about foreign people, and foreign cultures. What I would like to achieve is to at least raise their interest, reducing discrimination and making them more open to other ethnic groups.”

She runs weekly interactive sessions for her pupils. Each time, they talk about a country and its stereotypes and curiosities. Dora’s sessions are inclusive: “I try to foster cooperation, everyone can play.” The children also make a poster with the information they receive. But “the focus is not on the final product. I want it to be the work of their hands. They should experience talking together about topics that they would probably never talk about otherwise.”

Dóra had personal motivation to work with the Roma community. Because of her background and upbringing, she is socially sensitive to this issue and has been involved in it for a long time. “I came across the Aspect Group internship program thanks to a friend. When I read the call for applications, I immediately felt that this was a project I had to be involved in!” – she said.

Her determination to do much more and work on the subject in the future has only become stronger in the last period. Moreover, in the Alternative Communities Association, she has found people who will help and support her to achieve her ideas.

“The biggest realization is that I am not alone.”

– Dóra concluded.

In the Aspect Group’s training and internship program (funded by EU), after training, twenty interns started to implement their own projects. We interviewed them in our series.