We are currently working in one village, Zemplinska Teplica, Slovakia and are holistically focused on education, housing, healthcare, employment and spirituality. In partnership with the village, we are beginning to address generational poverty and social inclusion issues. We expect to continue working with the Zemplinska Teplica community until our projects are self-sustaining, at least through 2030.
The Village of Zemplinska Teplica
The village of Zemplinska Teplica is in the Zemplin region of eastern Slovakia. It is a small, beautiful village with a population of approximately 1,800 people. Approximately 600 of its citizens are Roma, who typically live in poverty on the edge of the village in substandard housing.
Some say that the Roma are lazy or they don’t have the stamina to work a full day. Others say that the Roma just don’t have the intelligence. I say they just need to be given a realistic opportunity to succeed, just as I was. I am Roma with roots in Zemplinska Teplica. I recently graduated with honors from the University of San Diego. If we all work collaboratively, dedicating ourselves to the common good, great things can happen in Zemplinska Teplica. It just takes a village.
– Blake Brown, Foundation Director
We have been active in Zemplinska Teplica since 2018. Initially we did most of our work with the Village’s social workers and community center workers. They are lovely people to work with! The Foundation has provided clothing, purchased household items including stoves, refrigerators and washing machines, supported individuals to enable them to access the healthcare that they needed, assisted with educational programs and encouraged parents to enroll their children in early education programs. We have purchased playground equipment for the kindergarten, assisted with new uniforms for the youth soccer team and worked with the Village to support a new primary school resource person.
We recently purchased a former neighborhood grocery store which is located at the crossroads between the majority portion of the village and the Roma portion of the village. We are in the process of determining whether to remodel the building or build something new. We plan to use the building as the hub for our activities in Zemplinska Teplica. Also under consideration is building a hygiene center at the rear of the building including bathrooms, showers and a laundry facility.
We have leased approximately 200 m2 (2,150 sq. ft.) on the first floor of this building. We plan to construct a teen tech clubhouse here – a place where teens from the village can develop new skills through hands-on activities exploring their interests through project-based learning. The focus of the clubhouse will be on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, the arts and math. The clubhouse will give the teens access to tech education and mentors while building the confidence they need to be more successful in school and in their future work. The clubhouse will use a combination of self-directed learning and structured workshops guided by staff, mentors and youth peer leaders, focused on empowering the youth to develop new skills. The clubhouse will contain leading-edge technology for the youth to create and innovate while pursuing their interests such as: creating digital art; producing professional quality music and animations; designing mobile applications; robotics; writing and illustrating stories and films; and designing 3D games.
Over the next few years, we plan to begin working closely with the village to improve housing. For most of the Roma in Zemplinska Teplica their housing is substandard including the lack of sanitary systems and large families occupying very small spaces. Research has shown that inadequate housing has a significant, negative impact on the education of the youth. Thus it is imperative that the substandard housing in the village be improved.
We are also mindful that significantly intertwined with education and housing is employment. In collaboration with the village we will look for opportunities to increase employment. Social development entities, where wages are partially government subsidized, will be a focus as will job-training activities with employers in nearby Kosice.
“Let us face these problems together; let us not cause hope to shipwreck; let us together make a mosaic of hope!”
– Pope Francis