The summer camp organised by the National Roma Government opened on Monday in the locality of Velence situated in Fejér County where five hundred disadvantaged and Roma children will enjoy a summer holiday in the next few weeks, thanks, inter alia, to the funding of HUF 15 million provided by the Ministry of Human Resources.

Secretary of State for Social Inclusion at the Ministry of Human Resources Zoltán Kovács said at the opening of the camp that as the Erzsébet Programme provides the opportunity of going on holiday and relaxation for tens of thousands of people nation-wide, by virtue of the ongoing cooperation between the National Roma Government and the Ministry and the funding provided, hundreds of children may enjoy a summer holiday on the shores of Lake Velence.

He was of the opinion that those participating in the summer camp will also be able to use their experiences in their own communities and that their participation will motivate other children.

The State Secretary stressed that their various initiatives are all inter-linked. He referred to the Provisions-Teddy Bear Scholarship Programme soon to reach its conclusion, as part of which more than 17 thousand children were awarded equal opportunities scholarships and were given assistance.
Flórián Farkas, President of the National Roma Government emphasised that children will visit Velence from every county of the country in five rounds; children who have excelled themselves in sports, in their studies or have set an example with their behaviour. He said that applications for participation in the summer camp exceeded the available places ten-fold; the participating children were therefore jointly selected by the schools, teachers and representatives of the National Roma Government.

The President of the National Roma Government said that children may spend their well-deserved summer holiday in the camp free of charge, with several meals a day; something that their parents would never have been able to afford. He added, the era has finally come to an end „when the public funds intended for the summer holidays of Roma children were used for the pool-side gaiety of Roma adults".

(MTI)