The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-09-01 / 9. szám
Page 8 THE EIGHTH TRIBE September, 1980 A PRIZE WINNING CONTEST ANNOUNCED BY THE RÁKÓCZI FOUNDATION: How To Preserve Our Hungarian Heritage Abroad? The Rákóczi Foundation, in the pursuit of its goals, announced a literary contest on the subject title: “How to Preserve Our Hungarian Heritage Abroad?” Purpose: To define the meaning of Hungarian Heritage for second and third generation Hungarians and offer ideas on how to develop and preserve among them a spiritual affinity from which not only their culture can be enriched but the Hungarian cause could profit as well. Why such a contest is needed? According to statistical data over 1,500,000 people of Hungarian origin live on the North American continent. Of this group only ten percent have had first hand, personal experience with the land of their ancestors. The average age of this ten percent is between 65-75 years. Even the first generation parents seem to care little about preserving the Hungarian Heritage of their children, because only 6 percent of them send their children to Hungarian week-end school. The second generation parents care even less since only 1 percent bothers to send their offsprings to schools where they can learn Hungarian, not to speak of third generation parents whose children may well be written off as total loss for the Hungarian community. The number of our boy scouts and girl scouts is but a fraction of the potential strength of their respective age groups. Of the 6-12 years old only 3 percent, and from among the 12-16 year old children only half percent belong to the scout movement. If we want to prevent what amounts to a gradual self-annihilation of the Hungarian community in North America (and elsewhere) urgent action is imperative to wake up and keep alive the Hungarian spirit in our second and third generation youth even if they cannot communicate in Hungarian any more. We, the older generation are mainly responsible for this sorry state of affairs, because in the past decades somehow we have either neglected the problem or failed to find the right approach toward our young people. Thus, they are on the verge to become generations lost, perhaps forever, for the Hungarian cause. We must unite committing ourselves to resolute action to prevent such a veritable catastrophe. We appeal to all those who share our concern, those who are members of a “spiritual Hungary”, be they writers, specialists or students of the Hungarian diaspora living anywhere. Our future existence is at stake. We are searching for ideas to find solution to a problem the solving of which is paramount to our survival. Specifications: Volume: Minimum of 25 double spaced typewritten pages. Language: Hungarian, English or any other Western language. Awards: 1st prize: 2,000 U.S. dollars; 2nd prize: 1,000 U.S. dollars; 3rd prize: 500 U.S. dollars. Extra awards will be given, according to merits, to the authors of pieces found worthy to be published completely or partially in the Hungarian press. Furthermore, valuable books will be given to the authors of the ten best works beside the prize winners. Deadline: December 1, 1980. Who can participate? Practically everyone, regardless of age, sex and citizenship. Both individuals and study groups using either their own names or a code word. Jury: A Committee of specialists and scholars solicited by the Presidential Council of the Rákóczi Foundation. Utilization: The selected works of the contestants will form the basis of a symposium at the Congress of Hungarian Youth to be held in the spring of 1981 when the names of the winners will be announced (and subsequently widely published in the free Hungarian press.) Address: Rákóczi Foundation, P.O. Box 67 Station “L”, Toronto, Ont. M6E 4Y4 Canada On the envelope please mark: Hungarian Heritage Contest. The Los Angeles Branch of the Transylvanian World Federation will sponsor a “Transylvanian Night” on Saturday, November 22, 1980 at the Santa Anita room of the Hotel Bonevanture. Everyone is invited to attend this affair.
