William Penn Life, 2007 (42. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2007-01-01 / 1. szám
Magyar Matters Scholarship recipient experiences Roma culture during internship Claudia Garman was this year's recipient of the Samuel C. Gomory Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the Hungarian Room Committee of the University of Pittsburgh. The award is granted to a full-time student at the university to assist in meeting expenses of summer internships in Hungary. Wltatfollows is Ms. Garman’s account of her experiences. by Claudia Garman As this year's Hungarian Room Committee scholarship recipient, I would like to thank each and every person who helped make this scholarship and my trip to Hungary possible. I am a second-year law student at Pitt, and I am specializing in international human rights law. After my first year of law school, I wanted to do an internship with the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) in Budapest. The ERRC is a human rights organization that advances the rights of Roma (also known as Gypsies) through strategic litigation, international advocacy and policy research. Since the ERRC is a nonprofit organization, I did not receive any compensation for my work and would not have been able to intern with them without the Hungarian Room Committee scholarship. I am originally from Berlin, Germany, and my knowledge of Roma was unfortunately limited to the stereotypes commonly held by Europeans. My internship taught me how to address and rebut these prejudicial views. My work consisted of legal research, including the case of a Roma torture victim in the Ukraine. My research took me to several Roma villages (also known as tábors), and for the first time in my life I saw a slum. The Roma in that particular tabor were living in huts made out of trash on muddy ground without any running water or electricity. In that same village the people showed me great hospitality, in spite of their poverty. I also traveled throughout Romania to several Roma villages in Transylvania. One of my most memorable experiences of the summer was attending a Pentecostal baptism in the mountains. The pastor of the church was one of the kings of Roma in Romania. It was an amazing weekend full of singing, eating and praying. As this Roma community still wore traditional outfits and head scarfs, I was given a skirt by the Roma princess to wear during the weekend. When I arrived in Mera, Romania, I felt like I was back in Hungary. Mera is outside of the city of Cluj and very close to the Hungarian border. The majority of the people were Hungarian nationals and the houses and gates in town looked like traditional Hungarian homes. I also traveled throughout Hungary, although not for official research. Instead, I traveled to get to know Hungary and its culture a little better. So, I took trips to Pécs, Kalocsa and Eger. Each town had its own charm. While I enjoyed traveling around Hungary and its neighboring countries, I was always glad to come "home" to Budapest. There was something about the city that made me feel very welcome and comfortable. The people were always helpful, the food was delicious and the architecture was breathtaking. My summer was fantastic and I feel very priviledged that I had the opportunity to live in Hungary for nearly three months. What made it even more special was that I was able to help advance Roma rights and travel to Roma villages to meet with Roma in their homes. This experience has deepened my wish to be a human rights lawyer, and I am hoping to continue my work for Roma rights after graduation. Köszönöm szépen! Police official admits mistakes were made in handling protests from The Budapest Sun BUDAPEST — Hungary's most senior police officer defended the actions of his officers in Budapest during the street violence in September and October, but admitted that, with hindsight, mistakes had occurred and that investigations had uncovered evidence supporting some allegations of excessive force. Lt. Gen. László Bene, police high commissioner, said the violence--unprecedented for over half a century in Hungary— had a "cathartic" effect on the country's law enforcers, who were ready and willing to learn from the experience. Speaking to the Hungarian International Press Association on Nov 29, he pledged widescale changes in terms of how the police would deal with any future violent protests. Attention would be paid to identifying and extracting ringleaders of crowd violence in the future, and to the psychological preparedness of officers, who in recent weeks had suffered prolonged bouts of highly stressful work, said Budapest police chief Péter Gergényi. He also took a swipe at the Hungarian electronic media, alleging that TV stations had refrained from showing scenes of violent protesters after the first night of troubles because footage from that night had been used to identify criminal elements. Repeated showing of rough policing, without showing the violence from the other side, gave the public a slanted view of events, he said. William Penn Life, January 2007 13
