Children's event aims to strengthen ties with minority
Felsőszölnök, 17 October - Nearly 100 children enrolled in four bilingual kindergartens from the Porabje region in Hungary, home to the Slovenian minority there, and a kindergarten in northeastern Slovenia met in a Hungarian village on Thursday to promote learning Slovenian and strengthen the ties between the homeland and minority.
Felsőszölnök, Hungary
A total of 99 children from bilingual kindergartens in Hungary's Porabje region and a kindergarten in northeastern Slovenia meet in a bid to promote the Slovenian language and strengthen ties with the Slovenian minority in Porabje.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Felsőszölnök, Hungary
A total of 99 children from bilingual kindergartens in Hungary's Porabje region and a kindergarten in northeastern Slovenia meet in a bid to promote the Slovenian language and strengthen ties with the Slovenian minority in Porabje.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Felsőszölnök, Hungary
A total of 99 children from bilingual kindergartens in Hungary's Porabje region and a kindergarten in northeastern Slovenia meet in a bid to promote the Slovenian language and strengthen ties with the Slovenian minority in Porabje.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
The event took place at the Slovenian Model Farm, a minority centre in Felsőszölnök near the border with Slovenia. It was held for the second year in a row by the Association of Slovenians in Hungary and Slovenia's Education Institute.
Last year, the event featured children from four bilingual kindergartens in Porabje, whereas this time around the organisers invited children and staff from a kindergarten in Murska Sobota as well. They already knew each other well since the Porabje children took part in a summer camp organised by the Slovenian kindergarten this year.
"Our aim is to allow the children to get to know each other and hang out and to focus on the Slovenian language," Lara Tivold, an assistant kindergarten teacher in Felsőszölnök, told the STA.
The head of the Association of Slovenians in Hungary, Andrea Kovacs was one of the several participants who stressed the importance of such events for keeping the Slovenian language and culture alive in Porabje.