In order to encourage children from the Roma-Egyptian (RE) community to express themselves in literature and raise awareness about the importance of coexistence and tolerance, the NGO "Alfa Center" organized creative writing workshops with young people from the aforementioned community, led by children's writers Goran and Milica Radojičić. Their essays were collected in the collection "Words to Coexistence and Tolerance", which was promoted at the Public Institution "Zahumlje".
"The central motif of the workshops was 'AllPeace in Us'. The idea was for children to present the significance and uniqueness of their culture through essays, along with the importance of accepting all the differences in a society. This is how a collection of 11 essays by children of the RE population from Nikšić was created," Alfa Center announced.
The authors of the essays are: Fljorijeta Berisha, Sermina Hajrushi, Abedin Delija, Lorijana Radovic, Almedina Keljmendi, Florian Berisha, Hamdi Malaj, Albertina Shala, Arba Shala, Svela Shala and Samira Zeqiri. Each essay was translated into Romani with the help of a translator and court interpreter for the Romani language, Elvis Berisha.
At the collection promotion, Dragana Petrović, project coordinator, spoke about the significance of the project, as well as the importance of promoting tolerance and understanding in our society, while MA Goran Radojičić shared his experiences from the workshops held and spoke about how creative writing can be a powerful tool for developing critical thinking and building a more tolerant society.
In his speech, Elvis Beriša addressed the importance of the Romani language and culture in the process of understanding and communication between different communities. After the speech, the authors read their essays, and Elvis Beriša read them in the Romani language.
The "Alfa Center" project was financially supported by the Fund for the Protection and Exercise of Minority Rights of Montenegro, and assistance in the implementation of project activities was provided by the "Mileva Lajović Lalatović" and "Braća Labudović" elementary schools, the "Zahumlje" public institution, and the Educational and Information Center of the Municipality of Nikšić.
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