"Cerain 2009 - summer schools for Roma children in Serbia & Bosnia-Herzegovina"

1. SUMMER MUSIC SCHOOL
FOR ROMA CHILDREN
CERAIN
v 2009
NOVI SAD (SERBIA) – BANJA LUKA (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)
www.terraforming.se/cerain

2. CONTENTS
1.1 Contact with Roma Association
1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA - preconditions for the project
1.2 Children Musicians
1.3 The Experience of Emigration
1.4 Experience Gained by Working on Integration And Familiarity with the Western Balkans
1.5 Frame “Creative Force”
1.6 Decade of Roma People
2.1 Inspiration
2. GOALS
2.2 Education
2.3 Support and Recognition
2.4 Mapping
2.5 Networking and Matching
2.6 Advocacy
3.1 Students of The School
3. IMPLEMENTATION
• 3.1.a Promoting the School
• 3.1.b Students of the “Cerain” School
• 3.1.c Motivating the Children to Participate in the School Programme
3.2 Programme
3.3 Lecturers
3.4 Cooperation with the University and Student Trainees
• 3.5.a Principle of Openness
3.5 Organization of the School
• 3.5.b Principle of Free Discussion
• 3.5.c Daily School Schedule

3. 4.1 Music as a Universal Language
4. METHODOLOGY
• 4.1.a Blues Story
• 4.1.b Music Genres
• 4.1.c Work In Symphonic Orchestras
• 4.1.d Musical English Language
4.2 Modern Pedagogical Tools: Multimedia and Workshop
4.3 Roma and “Non-Roma” Children Together – a Multiethnic Character of the School
4.4 Role of Student Trainees
4.5 Study Visits to Institutions of Culture
4.6 Guest Lectures of the Representatives of Government and State Institutions
4.7 Guest Lectures of Well-known Musicians and Other Role Models
4.8 Leitmotif: Various Professions
4.9 Performing Together in a Public Concert
4.10 Our Method of Work Has Been Universally Successful
5.1 Roma Organizations
5. PARTNERS
5.2 Cultural and Educational Institutions
5.3 Government and Local Authority Institutions
6.1 Knowledge and New Experiences
6. ACHIEVEMENTS
• 6.1.a Children – Students of the School
6.1.a-1 Identity of the Full Right Members of the Society
6.1.a-2 Encounter of Roma and Non-Roma Culture
6.1.a-3 Practical Knowledge in Fighting the Discrimination
6.1.a-4 Need for Education
6.1.a-5 Self-Organizing
6.1.a-6 New Knowledge from the Field of Basic Culture and Education
6.1.a-7 Motivation of the Children Musicians to Continue Schooling
• 6.1.b Student Trainees
6.1.b-1 Gaining Practical Experience for Future Professions
6.1.b-2 Intercultural Dialogue
6.1.b-3 Project Organization and Work Experience from the Cultural Projects
• 6.1.c Lecturers
6.2 Advocacy
• 6.2.a Roma Problems are Problems of the Overall Society…
• 6.2.b Meeting With the Institutions of Government and Other Authorities
• 6.2.c Work With the Institutions of Culture and Education
• 6.2.d Media Coverage and Attention
6.2 Mapping
6.3 Networking and Matching
7. FURTHER WORK IN THE AREA

4. SUMMER MUSIC SCHOOL
FOR ROMA CHILDREN
CERAIN
v 2009
AUGUST 17 - 22/2009 NOVI SAD (SERBIA)
AUGUST 24 - 29/2009 BANJA LUKA (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)
“Čerain” Summer Music School for Roma Children is a project of the
Serbian Youth Organization in Sweden, which was developed and
carried out from March to September by “Terraforming”, a group
of independent cultural workers, and it was financially supported
by the Swedish Institute. In cooperation with the local Roma as-
sociation and the University the summer school for Roma children
was organized in Novi Sad and Banja Luka where by the language
of music the basic concepts of human rights were presented to the
-
children. They were inspired and encouraged to continue their
school education by putting a special emphasis on building their
self-confidence and making them aware of the fact that they are
full rights citizens who has the same rights as all others.
“Čerain” is a Roma word that means “the guiding star”.

5. 1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA - PRECONDITIONS FOR THE PROJECT
The Roma people are undoubtedly one of the most threat- Within the programme “Creative Force” The Swedish Insti-
1.1 Contact with Roma Association 1.5 Frame “Creative Force”
ened social groups in the Western Balkans. It is especially tute (SI) supported Swedish cooperation projects with coun-
hard on Roma children. We got acquainted with the Roma tries in the Western Balkans. The overarching theme of the
situation in more details through our contacts with the Roma project was children’s and young people’s opportunities for
Association “Čerain”, founded by a group of Roma musicians cultural experiences and for their own creativity.
from Novi Sad who for ten years have been working on pres-
ervation of Roma culture and tradition, as well as on projects SI has given priority to projects promoting democracy in the
aimed at helping Roma children develop their rights and op- field of culture that take up diversity and equality from the
portunities in the society. There is also a children’s orchestra perspective of a child/young person, focusing on the rights
within the “Čerain” Association. of children and young people, facilitate and enhance chil-
dren’s and young people’s opportunities for cultural experi-
ences and their own creativity in innovative ways.
The Roma children musicians are incredibly gifted and re- The programme “Creative Force” matched our ideas, values
1.2 Children Musicians
gardless of their young age (between 11 and 16 years old) and plans, thereby making possible realization of our project
they already perform in professional Roma orchestras in idea.
restaurants and cafes. These orchestras normally consists of
three generations of musicians – grandfathers, fathers and
grandsons playing together – which is a tradition passed
on from generation to generation. The children musicians At the time Serbia was a presiding country within the Eu-
1.6 Decade of Roma People
spend nights in cafes entertaining guests and by day they ropean decade of Roma people. Within frameworks of that
sleep instead of going to school. Many of them never get to action Roma population started to organize themselves bet-
ter through associations, Offices for inclusion of the Roma
finish primary school because of that. people and by cooperation with various NGOs. Local social
actors – including both Roma associations and government
institutions – started to engage themselves showing a great
The Roma situation in the Balkans, and our emigration ex- interest for working on issues specific for Roma population.
1.3 The Experience of Emigration
perience of fighting for establishing ourselves in society, In that context we wanted to make use of momentum by giv-
overlap in many aspects. Just like Roma people, we, who ing our contribution to that field.
arrived to the Western Europe from the former Yugoslavia,
also had to prove ourselves and fend for ourselves, overcome
obstacles of mutual prejudices, distrust, and it was only due
to our persistence, education and good results in work and
career that we managed to become the full rights citizens in
our new homelands.
1.4 Experience Gained by Working on
Integration And Familiarity with the
We wanted to apply our experience gained from many years
Western Balkans
of working on the issue of integration and emancipation in
Sweden and Holland to the Roma children in the Western
Balkans. We are familiar with methodology, models and in-
struments necessary for the work with issues like the ste-
reotype’s, building the self-confidence, integration in new
cultures and societies, self-organization, - the issues which
the large groups of newcomers and immigrants have been
dealing with before in Holland and Sweden. We possess also
a deep and essential knowledge of the social situation, and
the mentality and culture in the Western Balkans.

6. 2. GOALS -
Since we have a unique advantage of having a “double iden-
We wanted to make Roma children stronger by inspiring tity” (Swedish and Dutch on the one hand and Balkans-Yugo-
2.1 Inspiration
them and teaching them that many obstacles can be over- slav on the other) and the fact that we understand the lan-
come by work and learning. We wanted to encourage their guage, mentality and valuations of “both our worlds” down
enthusiasm, and teach them about their rights, potentials to the minute details, we wanted to make a unique effort to
and opportunities by expanding their knowledge, awaken- make use of our field work experience and get a helicopter-
ing their curiosity and - above all - by building their self-con- view of needs and potentials that can be useful for the fur-
fidence before the future. ther work.
We attached great importance to getting acquainted with the
2.5 Networking and Matching
Apart from the obvious goal to teach children some new and most important social actors who are concerned with “our
2.2 Education
important matters through the school programme, our main sphere of interest”: organizations and institutions of culture,
goal of our educational part of the project was to teach Roma education, and government, political organizations, NGOs,
people, as well as the cultural institutions and the decision Roma and other associations, journalists, artists, cultural
makers about the ways of solving problems which Roma workers, influential people, pedagogues, professors etc. so
people encounter: prejudice, discrimination, social isolation, that we could get a clearer picture of who and how could co-
passive mood in cultural and social interaction etc. We par- operate on this project now and in future. Besides, we want-
ticularly insisted on training of our student trainees, as well ed to perceive and link together various complementary and
as other partners in the project, in order to create a core, a compatible social actors and help them start mutual coop-
well-trained team that could continue these activities in the eration – locally, but also abroad.
future.
One of the important goals of ours was to make the ideas
2.6 Advocacy
By composing a programme which focuses on Roma chil- and valuations we wanted to affirm and promote be heard
2.3 Support and recognition
dren, by working by methods which fully concentrates on and understood by as many people as possible. That is why
Roma children and their needs in the way that is familiar, we put a greater emphasis on detail and frequent reports of
understandable and interesting to them, and by respecting our work through our web site and Facebook, press releases
their opinion, ideas and creativity we wanted to support and press conferences, media and public appearances. Apart
their sense of their own identity, emphasizing and affirming from publicity, equal importance was attached to embedding
their right to full rights, their responsibility in taking active of the project and the ideas behind it into institutions of cul-
role in the society, and their equality with all other people. ture, education and government and the very Roma people
and their organizations in particular.
By offering equal cooperation on this international project
supported by the Swedish Institute, we wanted to pay due
respects to Roma associations and social actors who are con-
cerned with problems of Roma people, for all their work, and
to help them realize a part of their programme goals, encour-
aging them to continue their work.
Working on field, meeting “ordinary people”, visiting Roma
2.4 Mapping
associations, NGOs, institutions of culture, education and
government, and political organizations, getting acquainted
with journalists, teachers, the media and artists, and follow-
ing the public atmosphere, interests and mood on the spot,
we wanted to make a detailed analysis of situation, needs, ac-
tivities, possibilities and potentials of improving and devel-
oping work on further promotion of human rights in general,
particularly the human rights of Roma population.

7. 3. IMPLEMENTATION -
For our field of work we chose Novi Sad and Banja Luka - two big, but not the biggest cities. Both cities are regional centers,
but often in the shadow of capitals (Belgrade and Sarajevo respectively). Partly, the idea was to link Serbia and Bosnia-Her-
zegovina by this kind of mutual projects, too.
3.1 STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL -
3.1.a PROMOTING THE SCHOOL
First of all students of the summer music school were en-
1. ROMA ASSOCIATIONS
gaged in cooperation with local Roma associations. It was
the Roma Association Čerain that helped us recruiting the
students for the summer school by informing its members
about the school programme in Novi Sad through its organi-
zational channels and by agitating for it.
In Banja Luka we cooperated with the Federation of Roma
in Republic of Srpska – an umbrella federation of Roma as-
sociations. There we spread information about the school
programme by posters and advertisements in the premises
of local Roma associations. In this way we mainly found stu-
dents of Roma nationality.
2. MEDIA APPEARANCES, ADVERTISMENTS
Some of our students were engaged by media appearances.
AND POSTERS, CONTACTS WITH SOCIAL WORKERS
In the preparatory phase of the project we appeared on TV
and radio a couple of times (more than once in programs in
Roma language). We used these opportunities to inform the
public about our project, as well as to invite all interested
children to sign up. Several newspapers, both in paper and
Internet editions, published articles with the similar con-
tents.
Apart from that, we put up our posters around the city, par-
ticularly on the notice boards of schools, culture and art as-
sociations, and youth centers. In this manner we engaged a
part of Roma students who are not members of any of Roma
associations, as well as the most of our non-Roma students.
Besides, several social workers who work with Roma peo-
ple in smaller residential areas were animated to agitate in
Roma families informing children about the programme of
our school.

8. 3.1.b STUDENTS OF THE “CERAIN” SCHOOL
NOVI SAD
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: We had total of 23 students in Novi Sad.
ROMA AND ”NON-ROMA” STUDENTS: 13 of them were Roma, and 10 of them were non-Roma students.
FEMALE AND MALE STUDENTS: We had 4 girls and 19 boys. Sex balance was improved by the student
trainees who were females – all five of them, one of them being a Roma.
AGE: Students in Novi Sad were mostly from 11 to 16 years of age: the youngest student being 8, and the
oldest one 18.
BEING INTO MUSIC: All students can play some instrument or they have already been actively into music in
some other way. Fifteen of them used to or still attend some form of music school. All Roma children have been
actively into Roma tamburica music.
SCHOOLING: Seven of Roma children regularly attend school (six being students of elementary, and three of
secondary school), but five of them quit school before they finished their elementary education, and five of
them did not continue their education after finishing elementary school. All non-Roma children regularly
attend elementary school.
CHILDREN WORKERS: A large number of our Roma children have been performing professionally in Roma
orchestras in pubs around Novi Sad thus actively earning their money.
REGULAR ATTENDANCE OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL “ČERAIN”: In Novi Sad we had a concept of an open,
free, but not obligatory “Čerain” school and thus we reckoned that some of the students would attend only one
part of the programme. However, the most were present during the whole programme of our school, and just a
smaller part of them only attended the lessons that were of special interest to them. A part of children started
to attend the school only on the second or third day (invited by other students or later informed about our
school through media) but kept regular attendance until the end of programme.
ROMA AND NON-ROMA CHILDREN & STUDENT TRAINEES
25
Non-Roma Students
20
15
Roma Students
10
5
Novi Sad Banja Luka
0

9. BANJA LUKA
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: We had total of 15 students in Banja Luka.
ROMA AND ”NON-ROMA” STUDENTS: All 15 of them were Roma students, but we had 11 student trainees
-10 of them non-Roma and one being a Roma.
FEMALE AND MALE STUDENTS: We had 4 girls and 11 boys. Among student trainees there were 3 male and
8 female students.
AGE: Students were mostly from 10 to 14 years of age: the youngest being six and the oldest being 14.
BEING INTO MUSIC: Four children have been playing actively some music instrument, and several of them
“wanted to learn to play an instrument.” All of them like singing and they are generally interested in music.
None of the children has ever attended a music school or any other music course.
SCHOOLING: All children are regular students of elementary school.
CHILDREN WORKERS: Almost all of our Roma children have worked at fairs and amusement parks thus
earning money for their parents.
REGULAR ATTENDANCE OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL “ČERAIN”: Since the children were staying at the Stu-
dent dormitory during the whole course of the summer school, they all attended the whole programme from
the beginning until the end.
GENDER: CHILDREN & STUDENT TRAINEES
25
Female
20
15
Male
10
5
Novi Sad Banja Luka
0

10. 3.1.c MOTIVATING CHILDREN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SCHOOL PROGRAMME
NOVI SAD BANJA LUKA
The most of Roma children students of the summer school Roma children students of summer school “Čerain” in Banja
“Čerain” in Novi Sad come from villages or small nearby Luka came from two undeveloped small towns: Prnjavor and
towns. It means that they had to make special efforts to travel Derventa - 50 and 80 km away from Banja Luka, respectively.
from home to school and back. Though we provided most of The children were selected and organized by local Roma as-
them with transportation it still meant 45-60 minute drive by sociations in Prnjavor and Derventa, Selection was done by
car in one direction. The children were enthusiastic and will- the following criteria: a) children allowed by their parents
ing to come, especially as the course went on and we got to to come to Banja Luka for a whole week; b) children from
know better each other. However, it must be pointed out that the socially most threatened families; c) children who are
the most of Roma children in Novi Sad come from relatively successful at school d) children interested in music. Thus
well-to-do families, which must be understood in the context we had fewer children who have been actively into music in
of the fact that Roma people are among the most threatened Banja Luka than we had in Novi Sad. On the other hand, the
social groups in society. Our Roma children have relatively children in Banja Luka come from poorly educated families
normal living conditions (in comparison to the most of Roma from the very bottom of social ladder. These children live
population): they live mainly in their own built houses pro- in very poor economic conditions, they don’ t have regular
vided with water and power supply, they have regular meals, and satisfactory meals, they don’t have enough or adequate
they are dressed in the same fashion as their non-Roma clothes, or appropriate personal hygiene and hygiene hab-
peers, they are clean, and they have been encouraged and its, and probably live in unfit and unsatisfactory dwellings.
motivated to attend our school by some of their elders in the Part of problem was the fact that first of all parents had to
family (a parent or a grandparent) or local social workers. A allow their children to leave their homes for a whole week.
couple of adult members of Roma Association “Čerain” were On the one hand parents were worried about their female
coming every day following the whole programme of our children (that is why the girl students that participated in
school, too. They took their children to lessons, and helped our programme mostly came with their brothers or cousins),
us in work by their presence. Thus grandfathers, fathers and on the other they needed their children for work in local
and grandsons were sitting together in school benches. Be- fairs. However, the children who attended the school had full
ing musicians themselves the adult Roma people were also support of their parents and representatives of local Roma
curious about and sincerely interested in lessons we had in associations. Their main concern was to provide a trip for
the programme, sometimes even taking part in discussions their children during their summer vacations and fill it with
with children and lecturers. All of that made our Roma chil- any such contents. Our children in Banja Luka have almost
dren in Novi Sad feel motivated, good and comfortable in the never traveled anywhere for vacations, thus this trip to Banja
summer school Čerain. As they told us at the end, also the Luka was very exciting for them. Taking all in consideration,
non-Roma children felt comfortable and natural, enjoying the children in Banja Luka were very motivated and eager
that unusually mixed group with Roma children as majority - to participate in the programme of our school and after hav-
something they never have experienced before. ing got to know each other better in a day or two, they were
relaxed, extremely happy and actively took part in lessons.

11. 3.2 PROGRAMME -
Programme of the summer school comprises five thematic blocks:
1. MUSICAL THEORY
2. MUSICAL HISTORY AND MUSICAL GENRES
3. INTERNET AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION AND INFORMATION
4. HUMAN RIGHTS
5. MUSICAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE
All these thematic blocks were presented through more fragments by several different lectures and lecturers. Subjects were
mutually interwoven and lectures followed on from each other merging together.
Thus e.g. a part of music theory lecture on symphonic orchestra instruments was presented on Musical English language
lessons. Lecture on Work of Symphonic Orchestras followed on from that one merging with it. A part of Musical English lan-
guage lessons was presented while we were lecturing on the blues as a music genre, and lecture on Human Rights merged
with the one on the blues music and African Americans and so on.
In the course of the summer school programme the following lectures and workshops were held:
• Basic Concepts on Human Rights;
• Discrimination and Schooling;
• Prejudices, discriminations, diversity, tolerance;
• Musical English;
• Music and the Internet;
• The Beginnings of Music and What Does It Mean to Be a Musician?;
• EU and Human Rights;
• Rock’n’roll Story (Rock Music History);
• Blues Story (History of the Blues Music and Fight of African American People for Their Rights);
• Tamburica Music History (History of the Roma People in the Balkans);
• World Orchestras and Conductors;
• Music and Computers;
• Music Genres and Trend of Fusion of Different Music Styles – Music Is Free;
• Music Production – Work of Music Producer and Work in Music Studio;
• Police Work on Fight against Discrimination;
• Concept of “Ombudsman” and How to Protect Your Rights?;
• Pictures and Sounds – in the Gallery of Matica Srpska;
• How and Why Did I Become a Musician?;
• Rights of National Minorities and Work in Cultural Associations;
• History of Fight for Human Rights;
• Work of Social Services and Children’s Rights;
• Trafficking – What Is It and How to Fight Against It?;
• Theatre Art and Profession;
• Percussion Orchestra;
• Presentation of a Selected Museum Exhibits through Use of Various Art Techniques;
• Non-conflict communication;
• Technique of Self -Presentation;
• What is Dorm Life Like?;
• Series of Lectures and Music Concerts “My Instrument”:
- Violin;
- Clarinet;
- Guitar;
- Piano;
- Trumpet;
- Voice (Opera Singing);
Apart from lectures, we had also some sport-recreational activities in Banja Luka: karate, football tournament, table tennis,
volleyball, walks through city streets and walks in nature.
We also had some special programme activities consisting of study visits to institutions of culture.

12. 3.3 LECTURERS -
All our lecturers are excellent experts in their fields, talented pedagogues,
and they all worked with the children with a great enthusiasm.
REGULAR LECTURERS OF SUMMER SCHOOL ”ČERAIN”:
Professor of music and violinist in the Professor of Latin, ancient Greek and
Predrag Novović - Stockholm, Aleksandar Stanišić - Novi Sad,
Swedish Royal Opera Orchestra; English, and pianist;
Journalist, pop musician and vocalist Music producer, guitar player and peda-
Dejan Cukić - Belgrade, Mustafa Čengić - Bologna/Italy,
(ex: Bajaga i Instruktori –one of the most gogue (ex: Zabranjeno Pušenje –one of the
popular pop bands of all the times in the most popular punk/new wave bands in
former Yugoslavia); the former Yugoslavia);
Professor of the English language, guitar Percussionist and pedagogue for children
Vladimir Kajević - Sarajevo, Toni Pešikan - Sarajevo,
player and blues musician (Don Guido with special needs;
band);
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Bass guitar player and blues expert;
Radoslav Živković - Stockholm, Karlo Janović - Novi Sad,
Diplomatic Training Programme;
Roma musician violinist; Human rights and projects of international
Jovica Nikolić - Novi Sad, Nevena Bajalica - Stockholm,
cultural cooperation;
The Internet and multimedia expert,
Miško Stanišić - Stockholm,
pedagogue and musician;

13. Some of the lecturers were members of the regular teach- Within the school programme our lecturers were recruited
REGULAR AND GUEST LECTURERS LOCALLY, REGIONALLY, & INTERNATIONALLY
ing team. They gave lectures referring to the basic subjects locally (from Novi Sad and Banja Luka), from other cities in
(fields) of the planned school programme in Novi Sad and the region (from Belgrade and Sarajevo), and finally inter-
Banja Luka. Others were guest lecturers that we met and nationally (from Sweden and Italy). Thus the lecturers from
engaged during our fieldwork, whose expertise fit into the Bosnia-Herzegovina gave lectures in Serbia and vice versa.
broader objective of our project. The lecturers who came from Sweden and Italy were born
in Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina, and since they know the
language, and the situation in the field, they understood the
basic purpose and idea of the project very well.
GUEST LECTURERS WHO HELD SPECIAL LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
REFERRING TO THEIR EXPERT FIELDS:
Police Colonel - Lecture on police work
Kosta Stefanović - Novi Sad, Dušanka Miholić - Banja Luka,
and fight against discrimination; of the Republic of Srpska - A workshop
Curator Chief of the National Museum
on drawing museum exhibits;
Provincial Ombudsman - Lecture on pro-
Dr Petar Teofilović - Novi Sad, Bojan Arula - Banja Luka,
tection of rights of citizens with a special
Social worker, expert in protection of
overview of the rights of Roma people; ficking - Lecture on children’s rights and
children’s rights and fight against traf-
problems of Roma children;
Provincial Ombudsman Officer - Actor in the Children’s Theatre – A
Svetlana Lazić - Novi Sad, Velimir Blanić - Banja Luka,
Lecture on the children’s rights; workshop in theatre;
Provincial Ombudsman Officer -
Ankica Dragin - Novi Sad, Stevo Havreljuk - Banja Luka,
A workshop on what and how does the Minorities Associations –
Chairman of the Board of the National
Ombudsman Office work; Lecture on National Minorities rights;
Office for Inclusion of Roma students - Curator in the Gallery of Matica Srpska -
Aleksandar Jovanović - Novi Sad, Tijana Palkovljević - Novi Sad,
Presentation of the rewarded video spot A workshop on colors and sounds on the
on discrimination against Roma people works of the famous Serbian painters
and a lecture on motivation of Roma arranged by the Gallery of Matica Srpska;
children for schooling;

14. 3.4 CO OPER ATION WITH THEUN IVERSITY
AND STUDENT TRAINEES -
Student trainees in Banja Luka
Some student trainees were selected by credentials of uni- school, which were implemented in the course of the project
versity professors we contacted in the preparatory phase of by the students of pedagogy. Through talks with and inter-
the project, and others contacted us directly by answering views of children these students gathered the material for
our advertisements on the Facebook. We cooperated with pedagogical analysis of our work, the results of which will be
students of pedagogy, journalism, sociology, social work, psy- available to us after being presented to the university profes-
chology, and music academy within the project. Their task sors.
comprised: working directly with children students of our
summer school, giving some lectures, and work on organiza- The enthusiasm and understanding we encountered at the
tion and contacts with local institutions of culture. On the University in Banja Luka surpassed all our expectations. The
other hand, we taught students about work on international prorector for international cooperation at the University,
cultural projects, project management, communication and the dean of the Art Academy, and assistant professors at the
organization. The idea was to leave a well worked out net- Music Academy were extremely helpful to us: first of all by
work of trained and inspired young people who would con- enabling us to organize a large part of the programme of our
tinue this work in the future after the end of the project. summer music school in the premises of the Art Academy
at the University. Besides, University PR helped us to inform
We have to point out that universities did meet our requests. the media about our project, and eventually to hold a press
We had a particularly good cooperation with Institute of conference in the University Ceremonial Hall together with
Pedagogy both at the University in Novi Sad and the Univer- the prorector for international cooperation at the University.
sity in Banja Luka. By cooperating with them we developed
instruments and methods of following up the work of our

15. A discusion about Riccardo Muti’s conducting
3.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL -
tures. Some of the lectures, especially those given by famous
Our summer school in Novi Sad was open to all interested and acknowledged musicians, had a great attendance of the
3.5.a PRINCIPLE OF OPENNESS
children, meaning that the school was open not only to “the students of the University at Banja Luka, the students of the
elect” children, nor only to Roma children, nor it required Music Academy in particular. Thanks to all that, Roma chil-
filling of some application forms. Everybody who attended dren had an opportunity to meet many new and interesting
lectures was welcome. Further on, the school was not obliga- young people, which enabled Roma and non-Roma youths to
tory: lecture attendance was a matter of choice depending get to know each other better and become friends.
solely on interests, curiosity and personal wishes of the
children. The programme and timetable were publicly pub-
lished (on noticeboards and our webpage) allowing children We insisted on the principle of free discussion both in Novi
3.5.b PRINCIPLE OF FREE DISCUSSION
to choose what is of interest to them and when to come ac- Sad and Banja Luka, meaning that everybody had the right
cordingly. By doing this we particularly attracted non-Roma to raise one’s arm to ask a question or state one’s comment
children. They came to the lectures that were interesting to or opinion any time during the lectures, workshops or study
them, possibly feeling a bit uneasy since it was the school visits. To our great content, both children in Novi Sad and in
for Roma children, but after seeing for themselves how good, Banja Luka accepted the principle in the flash using it all the
creative and interesting the school atmosphere was, mostly time. Consequently, we had many excellent and interesting
kept their attendance until the end of the programme. More discussions.
over, on the next day many students used a principle of
school openness to invite and bring along their friends thus One scene in Novi Sad has impressed in our minds. Namely,
expanding the number of the school students in form of con- during the lecture on discrimination in schools an excellent
centric circles like circles on the surface of a pond. :) discussion developed in which Roma and non-Roma children
started to name their examples talking about personal expe-
The same principle went for our school in Banja Luka, but riences. Roma and non-Roma children were complementing
since our Roma children came from other towns long away each other speaking openly, objectively, self-critically, thus il-
from Banja Luka, they couldn’t invite their friends to join us. lustrating this complicated issue from their point of view. It
On the other hand, principle of openness was used by our was a positive confirmation that it was so fruitful to mix the
student trainees who often invited their friends to the lec- children.

16. 3.5.c DAILY SCHOOL SCHEDULE
NOVI SAD
Those children who live in the very city of Novi Sad came to After lunch we would walk through the centre of Novi Sad to
school by public transport, but for the most of children we the Youth Theatre, where the other part of a schoolday was
had to organize transport by vans and cars, since they live in organized. Walking as a small physical activity and exercise
nearby towns and villages. was ever welcome. Change of environment made already
tired children awake arousing their interest and improving
The schoolday began at 11.00 h every day From 11-11.20 h their concentration. It was a great advantage that premises
we would gather round in the school yard of the Music School in the Youth Theatre were air-conditioned, which provided
“Isidor Bajić”. The schoolyard is an enjoyable green park with excellent and indispensable refreshment in unbearable heat
thick shades of trees, which was very pleasant in hot sum- in Novi Sad. Recently renovated small hall of the Youth The-
mer days. We would sit on the park benches and had a re- atre is a typical theatre hall with stage, spotlights, curtain
laxed conversation with the students about everyday mat- and comfortable armchairs for the audience. Partly the idea
ters, mostly about their plans and thoughts for the future. was to take children into such places and to hold workshops
Juice drinks and fresh fruit were available to the children all all together on the stage – which gave everything more ex-
the time and they would grab a glass of juice the minute they citing appearance and context. There we also had musical
came to school because of summer heatwave. equipment, a projector, as well as a big film screen, and more
quality sound system. That is why those multimedia presen-
The timing of lectures was not fixed. Thus if some discussion tations in which the sound and pictures were an important
flared up, we would let it last for as long as possible, delaying issue were mainly held in there. Besides, lectures of the most
the beginning of the next lecture. Only the timing of lectures eminent and the most interesting guests were usually held in
of guest lecturers was strictly fixed (e.g. lecture of a repre- the theatre hall, because of its bigger capacity.
sentatives of police or of Provincial Ombudsman).
Around 15.00 h new refreshment would be brought into the
Lectures and workshops were held in the premises of mu- theatre: sandwiches, cookies, biscuits and juice drinks. Those
sic school from 11-14.00 h. There we had a simple, ordinary cookies, and biscuits were prepared specially for our sum-
classroom at our disposition, but we equipped it with a pro- mer school “Čerain”, every day different kinds, and definitely
jector, sound system and the Internet connection. There was helped us gained golden points with the children. We taught
a piano in the classroom, and we would bring amplifiers, gui- them so literally, that knowledge is “sweet”. After that we
tar and double bass according to need. The students were would make another break walking to the next stop. Namely,
sitting in circle, because we wanted to avoid classical situa- it was time for our study visits to some of institutions of cul-
tion of a teacher being on one and students on the other side ture in Novi Sad. Some of the student trainees would be sent
sitting in school benches. Roma and “non-Roma” students earlier to announce our visit and the curator of a museum
were sitting mixed together with student trainees, other would be already waiting for us even at the entrance, ready
lecturers, and most of the time a couple of adult members to guide us through it.
of association “Čerain”, who attended the lectures together
with the children. It was partly due to the fact that it is one of After all that we had to see children off to the appointed places
the most famous music schools in Serbia, and further afield, where drivers were waiting to take them to their homes. We
celebrating a 100 years jubilee, that we chose these premises would have a cup of coffee with our student trainees evaluat-
for a part of the activities of our school. ing the results of that day. Usually it was the time when we
would meet some of lecturers arriving from abroad, and then
Around 13:30 h lunch and juice drinks would be brought, we had to deal with their accommodation and acquainting
which we served in the schoolyard. Even during lunch we them with the working atmosphere. Days were too short, -
would continue discussions from previous lectures - not that pretty soon a Pannonian evening would come, and with ever
we planned it, but the children were sincerely interested and present uneasy feeling that it must have been something else
spontaneously continued the discussions started earlier. to be done - we fell asleep dead tired.

17. BANJA LUKA
Daily school schedule in Banja Luka was very different form the students trainees, and the others would go back to class-
the one in Novi Sad, namely, we had to take care of the chil- rooms to go on with their work.
dren for 24 hours. Five students “trainees” were sleeping in
the secondary school dorm with children in shifts, looking At 14.00 h we would serve brought lunch in the park or class-
after them by night and organizing them in the morning. A room. After the lunch we would have one more item – mostly
day would start at 08.00 h with waking up, morning hygiene a music concert or a jam session – or simply let the children
and breakfast. Then we would walk for about 20 minutes try themselves on music instruments. After that it was usual-
through city parks by the river Vrbas to the University cam- ly time for a study visit. Depending on the distance, we would
pus. This summer was very warm, and that is why we pro- walk through the city or take all children students to the des-
vided the children with a lot of water, juice drinks and fruit tination by a van. Some of the student trainees would meet
throughout the day. us there with a host who would take us and be our guide.
The premises in the Art Academy where we organized our Around 18.00 h we would come back to the Dorm, to have a
lectures consist of several classrooms with different charac- longed- for dinner. Although it was unbearably hot in Banja
teristics, so we used one or the other depending on the form Luka, children seemed not to be tired at all, that is why af-
of a lecture or a workshop. In the big “ceremonial” classroom ter the dinner we would organize football tournaments for
we organized concerts of classical music arranged by the the boys on a sport court of the Dorm, while girls we more
students of the Music Academy. And in the smaller one we interested in mixing with the teachers and student trainees
installed music equipment, a DVD player, TV set and sound cheering the boys on.
system. Thus there we held multimedia presentations, jam
sessions, and children also had an opportunity to try them- Around 21.00 h children would take an obligatory shower
selves on the various music instruments. The big park of the and after that they were free. All the excitement, mixing
University campus enabled us to have numerous activities in with other people, and loads of impressions throughout the
the open: ranging from discussions and lectures, to games day would eventually knock them out and by 23.00 h most
and running. of them would have already fallen asleep. Most of the time
we had meetings with the student trainees during the din-
Brunch would be brought in at 11.00 h: sandwiches, dough- nertime or later while the children were under showers.
nuts and juice drinks. Then we would make a break spending There we would evaluate our day’s work. We were fortu-
time in the park. Since we had a group of children with very nate enough to have a lot of student trainees who helped us.
various predisposition (e.g. one boy suffered from epilepsy, Otherwise it would have been very difficult for us to do all
the other was mentally challenged child) sometimes we our practical duties and solve all problems that had to be
would leave a couple of kids in the park to rest with some of solved on the run.

18. 4. METHODOLOGY -
4.1 MUSIC AS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE -
Our basic pedagogical method comes down to one thing: “music as a universal language”. Music is familiar to all people,
it communicates directly by feelings breaking down the barriers of prejudices. Music awakes feelings shared by all people,
and thereby they recognize similarities and commonalities between them.
It is due to the fact that music is especially familiar to young people, and that it is often very close to the very centre of their
sphere of interests that we used music as a metaphor when presenting complicated and abstract concepts to children. We
also used music to build ties and trust between the children and us working in the pedagogical team, as well as among the
children themselves.
Subjects we were lecturing on through music were the following: prejudices, tolerance, discrimination, human rights, free-
dom of speech, encounter between different cultures and their symbiosis, culture as a part of identity, creativity and art as
an expression of freedom, or a method of realizing freedom and one’s own personality etc.
Similarly, through subjects referring to music we were trying to make children understand and accept the idea of schooling
education as an indispensable element for realization of one’ se own personality and one’s rights in society.
Here are some examples:
This group of lectures was about the history of blues mu- selves with the black people who had been deprived of their
• BLUES STORY
sic in the USA. These lectures were interwoven with a story rights. They were very impressed by the fact that it was pos-
about black slaves brought from Africa bereft of all rights sible to fight for one’s rights by music, too.
and freedoms and forced to work for white slave masters.
Following the development of blues music we followed the
development of fight of African-American people for their
freedom and realization of their basic human rights. The
example of black and white musicians playing jazz together
showed how in the American society of that time, in spite of
racism and deprivation of rights of black people, black mu-
sicians had gradually been accepted and established in the
society because of their outstanding musical talent. By play-
ing together in mixed orchestras black and white musicians
set an example and showed that life together based on mu-
tual respect and equal rights is possible and necessary. More
over, we showed how the musicians had actively worked on
advocacy and embedding of idea of equality in all people,
criticizing society in their songs thus instigating positive
changes to come.
These lectures were extremely well accepted by the students
of our school. Though we were very careful never openly to
suggest that, the Roma children very easily identified them-
Karlo Janović lectured about the history of Blues,
and the fight of African-American slaves for freedom

19. An interesting phenomenon was important for our choice of
• MUSIC GENRES
a method of work: by preferring different music genres, in
a way students of our school identified themselves at once
with different social groups in society. Most of the Roma chil-
dren were familiar only with Balkan folk and Roma music,
while most of the non-Roma children were more acquainted
with modern pop music. There were also a few of them (both
Roma and non-Roma children) who have attended classical
music school thus being familiar with classical music. This
picture perfectly reflected the social status, education and
position in the society of the social environment they come
from.
A part of the school programme was meant to present dif-
ferent, so far new and unknown music genres and styles to
the children. Thus we acquainted the children with the folk
music of new and unknown cultures to them by presenting
Indian, South American, Chinese, Australian music, as well
as various kinds of fusion music, such as world-fusion, jazz-
rock, ambient music, electronica and so on. At the same time
we were arguing for the thesis that there is only one music,
and it is free, without borders, each its genre being worthy
of respect. We taught that different cultures have always in-
fluenced each other leaving its own trace in music, and that
musical beauty, rhythm, harmony, dancing, charm, talent,
knowledge and skill of a musician have been present in all
music styles and cultures. We gave some examples of com-
bining the different music styles: e.g. modern western elec-
tronic music with a lot of beats and samples combined with
the acoustic instruments typical of folk music of the Middle
East or Africa playing the lead parts. We also held workshops
in which we “composed” music, combining samples of eth- explaining to and teaching each other in a friendly way about
nic/folk, classical, and electro-pop music on the computer. the music styles they prefer. Through music we developed
a true intercultural dialogue between Roma and non-Roma
The results of this work could have been seen very soon children, a dialogue full of respect that showed that there is a
through socialization of the students: instead of grouping lot of positive and interesting things to be learned from each
themselves according to different kinds of music they prefer other.
- thus reflecting the different social structures of society they
belong to - the children started to “cross the borders of their Besides, the fact that we all have different music tastes of-
social differences” with a great enthusiasm and curiosity ac- fered us an example for practicing respect of pluralism of
tively trying to communicate with other children by helping, opinions and ideas.

20. In this part of programme a work of great conductors at re-
•WORK IN SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRAS
hearsals of well-known world symphonic orchestras was
presented to the children through a series of short movies.
The point was to show that a successful (music) result re-
quires discipline, practice, a lot of effort and work, organi-
zation and agreement, and it can only be achieved by mu-
tual respect and cooperation of all orchestra members. E.g.
children could follow a development of a symphonic work of
classical music – starting from the rehearsal where a young
conductor commands music virtuosos much older than
him; they watched how musicians persistently repeat one
short musical part without question, aspiring all together to
Predrag Novović lectured about the work in worlds
achieve a perfect result, and finally after numerous rehears-
famous symphonic orchestras
als, children could hear how magnificently performance of
that music sounds when played by a big symphonic orches-
tra in full splendor.
We must confess that we were a little bit skeptical about how
strong, concentrated and interested children would be to un-
derstand that what we wanted to teach them by this part of
the programme, partly because it was concerned with a “bor-
ing” classical music. While in Novi Sad we had some students
who have had some kind of general music pre-knowledge,
in Banja Luka we had a group of children who probably met
for the first time with classical music. However, all our fears
vanished into thin air the minute we saw that children’s
eyes were widely open watching films and lectures with the
greatest interest. They took an active part in discussions
about that and commented on persistence and efforts made
by musicians shown at rehearsals. The children were truly
impressed.
It is an old pedagogical trick to make students interested in a
• MUSICAL ENGLISH
“boring“ and “hard” subject until then, making it interesting
and attractive, by wrapping it up in the contents that is inter-
esting and familiar to children. Thus we did not have an “or-
dinary” English within the school programme, but a special
“music” English. The contents of lectures comprised music
theory terms (notes, harmonies, music signs), musical in-
struments, taxonomy of musical instruments (wind, bowed
instruments, percussions), exotic instruments (ranging from
Australian didgeridoo to Japanese koto). We had some exer-
cises in which students would listen to sound samples and
then they would try to guess which and what kind of instru-
Musical English - Aleksandar Stanišić
ment they listened to – all, of course, in English.
lectured about musical instruments
Soon it turned out that the English language was very in-
teresting to children, for they were taught about topics that
are very interesting and familiar to them. More over, it also
turned out that English came easily to them and that it “was
not that terribly hard” as they had thought before. Finally,
they realized what the point in knowing English is - as one
student put it: “When we meet our fellow musicians from
abroad we will be able to understand each other and play
together.”

21. 4.2 MODERN PEDAGOGICAL TOOLS:
MULTIMEDIA & WORKSHOP
We used modern pedagogical methods:
-
Digital teaching tools: multimedia presentation, the internet, interactive teaching tools, computers, DVD, media play-
ers, digital musical instruments, digital recording tools, and so on.
Workshop as a method of a work: active participation of students in work, combination of game and learning, “per-
sonal experience” of teaching subject matter, “feel and try” using “hands-on” method and so on.
The exhibition of children’s drawings in the National Museum in Banja Luka
Teaching tools: Video, multimedia presentations, computers and Internet
Digital and acoustic instruments
- differences and similarities

22. 4.3 ROMA AND NON-ROMA CHILDREN TOGETHER
- A MULTIETHNIC CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOL -
One of the essential conditions for the success of the project in the region, multi-ethnic character of the project was of
was engaging Roma and “non-Roma” children and student extreme importance to make all participants of the project
trainees in the programme of the school. We wanted to give feel comfortable, accepted and free.
them chance to get to know each other well – which is the
best method to break down prejudices. So we created an at-
mosphere of a permanent intercultural dialogue as an open
and respectful exchange of views between two groups that
led to a deeper understanding of the other’s world percep-
tion.
That multi-ethnic and multi-confessional region of the Bal-
kans - that complex and sophisticated range of complicated
divisions and groupings, both locally, nationally, confession-
ally, culturally, and socially - cannot be explained in a simple
manner, nor there is enough room in this report for that.
Instead, we shall conclude that the summer school “Čerain”
had a multi-ethnic character in a broader sense of the word.
Among our Roma students there were both Orthodox Chris-
tian and Muslim children there.
Our teachers and student trainees were also from various
ethnic backgrounds: there were Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks,
Jews, Macedonians and Hungarians. Given ethnic tensions
Percussion workshop with Toni Pešikan

23. 4.4 STUDENT TRAINEES AS ROLE MODELS -
Student “trainees” who worked with us in summer school,
among other things, had to promote schooling education by
their own example and by their active contact with children,
thus showing that it is the right way to the future for every
young man, thereby being role models, too.

24. 4.5 STUDY VISITS TO INSTITUTIONS OF CULTURE -
Art gallery Banski Dvor in Banja Luka Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad
A great part of our programme consisted of study visits to
institutions of culture. In the course of the project we vis-
ited the Gallery of Matica Srpska, the Museum of Vojvodina
and club “Sklonište (Shelter)” in Novi Sad, and Banski Dvor
building (City Hall), the Gallery of Banski Dvor, the National
Museum, the Children’s Theater, the broadcasting board of
Television of Republic of Srpska, Centre of National Minori-
ties and Kastel (ruins of medieval old town) in Banja Luka.
Everyday teaching process was also organized in some im-
portant and well-known institutions of culture: at renowned
music school “Isidor Bajić” and at the Youth Theatre in Novi
Sad, and in the premises of the Art Academy of the University
at Banja Luka in the city of Banja Luka. We wanted to take
children into beautiful spaces. Workshop in the National Museum in Banja Luka
Owing to us, most of the Roma children entered those insti-
tutions for the first time of their lives, which is of extreme im-
portance. Besides, the children were accepted everywhere
with respect, love and special attention.
Unfortunately, it should be understood that it is high unlikely
that those children would have been admitted into the insti-
tutions at all without us, and what is even more regrettable
– it would have never occurred to the children to try to enter.
The programmes of institutions of culture mostly don’t even
touch upon Roma children and they are not adapted for nor
are interesting to them.
That is why these study visits, and the way we were accepted
presented a unique experience for the children and were of
extreme importance in the context of forming a picture of
oneself being a full rights citizen. We wanted to show to the
children that every door is open to them, they are fully en-
titiled to that, and all those institutions are their homes, too.
Workshop in the Gallery of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad

25. Workshop in the Children’s Theater in Banja Luka The National Museum in Banja Luka
Banski Dvor Cultural Center in Banja Luka The Presidential Ceremonial Hall in Banja Luka
Kastel - the medieval old town in Banja Luka City park and the Vrbas river

26. 4.6 GUEST LECTURES OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF
GOVERNMENT AND STATE INSTITUTIONS -
Bojan Arula, social worker, lecture on children’s rights Ankica Dragin, ombudsman officer, held a workshop on what and
and problems of Roma children how does the Ombudsman Office work
Guest lectures given by representatives of government and various social organizations at our school were equally important
for building self-confidence and forming a picture of one’s own value.
The fact that a police lieutenant, the provincial ombudsman, and the social worker in charge of the central state project of
fight against trafficking and trade of children came only because of them and exclusively for them, left a great impression on
the children.
Police colonel Kosta Stefanović, lecture about the police work
on fight against the discrimination

27. 4.7 GUEST LECTURES OF WELL-KNOWN MUSICIANS
AND OTHER ROLE MODELS -
We were especially pleased by the fact that several famous
musicians accepted our invitation to give lectures at our
school, which significantly increased the interest of the me-
dia, consequently raising the rating of our programme in the
eyes of other collaborators. But the most important thing is
that the children had a unique opportunity to meet some fa-
mous musicians, listen to their lectures and mix with them.
The musicians showed a great enthusiasm and got along
with the children extremely well on their part.
Apart from celebrities, some other role models took part
in our programme. One of our guest lecturers was a young
Roma student who was near to graduate in pedagogy, being
an activist of the Office for Inclusion of Roma Students in
Secondary Schools at the same time. Legendary leader of the
most famous Roma tamburica orchestra, Jovica Nikolic, gave
a lecture on the history of Tamburica music as well as on the
history of Roma people in the Balkans. Among the student
trainees there were also two of Roma ethnic background. It
was important to make the children feel that Roma people
were not only in school benches, but equally represented
Aleksandar Jovanović, video maker and Roma activist,
among the lecturers.
lectured about the discrimination in schools
Mustafa Čengić, famous guitarist, today a music producer in Italy,
lectured about the music production
Vlado Kajević aka Don Guido, the frontman of the “Don Guido
Dejan Cukić, one of the most famous rock musicians & the Missionaries”, and teacher of the Musical English in the
of ex-Yugoslavia, lectured the History of Rock “Čerain” school

28. 4.8 LEITMOTIF: VARIOUS PROFESSIONS -
Everybody who was met by the students of our school was
asked to explain his or her profession and what schools they
had to finish in order to work in their professions. It was a
leitmotif recurring throughout the course of our school.
So every lecturer, from English teacher to music producer,
explained his or her profession and education. And so did all
our hosts and collaborators in the project: a museum cura-
tor, a theatre director, an ombudsman, a social worker, our
guide at the City Hall, an actor, editor of a broadcasting board
of TV station, and so on. All of them explained their profes-
sions and what it took in the way of education to get where
they were now.
Music concerts and lectures about musical
Besides, all of our student trainees had a special task to
instruments - students of the Music Academy
explain the profession they were studying, their motives for
it, and what they would like to do in the future. Professions,
such as psychologist, pedagogue, sociologist, social worker,
and journalist were presented to the children in that way,
and it was explained what it takes in the way of education to
become one of them.
Students of the Music Academy held concerts of classical mu-
sic to our students every day presenting their instruments
and providing motives for their choice of study. In that way,
violin, clarinet, trumpet, piano, guitar, percussion, as well as
opera singing were presented to the children.
How to become a TV journalist?
TV station in Banja Luka
How to become a cameraman? How to become an archaeologists?
the “Čerain” school in Novi Sad Museum in Novi Sad

29. 4.9 PERFORMING TOGETHER IN A PUBLIC CONCERT -
On the last day of our school programme in Novi Sad we orga-
nized a public music concert in the club “Sklonište”(Shelter)
where all participants of our school performed – both stu-
dents and lecturers. The Club “Sklonište” is a real air-raid
shelter that was used during NATO air attacks on Novi Sad.
But now it is leased out to the “Club of Good Music Lovers”.
It was almost symbolic that, just as the whole society has
turned towards optimism, the shelter was echoing with chil-
dren laughter and loud music instead of bombs.
The idea was to invite as many people, guests, and friends as
possible in order to show to everybody (to children them-
selves, too) how talented our children are, as well as to pres-
ent our school and show what we learned and how different
Roma children, the “Čerain” school students
music genres and styles could merge into single harmony.
Parents, friends and other interested people could have seen
and listened to students and teachers of summer school
“Čerain” on the stage. Musicians of different music styles
listened to each other with a great interest, curiosity and
respect to fellow musicians.
During the evening some of our students performed solo,
mostly playing classical music, and some in small orchestras
of various configurations playing Roma music later on. A
rock band “Take Five” formed by a couple of teachers of our
school also performed, as well as a famous Roma tamburica
orchestra “Luluđi”, which made the evening unforgettable
Roma tamburica orchestra “Luludji”
by their performance. Among the players of “Luluđi” there
were two grandfathers of our students. And as the evening
went on music orchestras and styles, as well as generations
mixed together in a spontaneous jam-session in their mutual
love for music playing until late at night.
One small and seemingly unimportant scene made a strong
impression to us. There was an old tamburica player by name
Brataš, a living legend among the Roma musicians, who,
among other things, wrote music for and played in “Skupljači
perja” (“I even met happy gypsies”) a cult film about Roma
people which was awarded a Golden Palm in 1968 at the
Cannes Film Festival and received an Oscar nomination
for best foreign language film, too. That evening he stood
the “Čerain” school teachers are rocking on
there quietly against the wall next to the keyboard player of
the band that were performing music of an American rock
band The Doors, watching with the greatest interest how he
played, what scales and what harmonies he used and what
his technique was. Although he is already 75 and there are
“no secrets” for him in Roma music and playing technique,
old Brataš is still curious and interested to learn new things
and new music styles whenever there is a chance for it. And
children students of our school followed all that with their
eyes wide open.
Brataš, a living legend of Roma music

30. 4.10 OUR METHOD OF WORK HAS BEEN
UNIVERSALLY SUCCESSFUL -
There were some differences between the preconditions of
our work in Novi Sad and those in Banja Luka, which is result
of specific, completely different conditions of living in those
two regions. While in Novi Sad our children live in relatively
“normal” conditions, our children in Banja Luka come from
the poorest layers of the society. While in Novi Sad all our
children have actively been in music, playing in Roma or-
chestras, and even attending music schools, in Banja Luka
our children for the most part have had no music education
at all because they come from illiterate or families with very
poor education, and the children have to work in fairs and
amusement parks.
However it turned out that our method of work through lan-
guage of music functioned extremely well and was excep-
tionally well accepted in both groups of students.
English lecture...? Or music lecture...? Both!
For us the most important thing was to teach children about
their rights, inspire them to continue their schooling educa-
tion, and to strengthen their personalities through musical
metaphors, lectures about music and visits to institutions of
Lecture about the music production...
culture - all that interwoven with these important messag-
And how to fight the prejudices and intolerance.
es. And it all proved to be very successful. Both children in
Novi Sad and Banja Luka actively participated in discussions,
were eager to learn and felt happy, being able to identify
Nevena Bajalica lectured in the basic concepts of
themselves with subjects of our teaching programme and to
human rights, prejudice, diversity & tolerance
recognize their own issues following our school programme
with a great enthusiasm.
There was only one difference: the children who have al-
ready been into music could have better understood music
part of our programme and developed more as musicians.
Yet the other children expanded their views about music and
in general, too. But the basic messages of our school were
accepted by all children with no difference.

31. Pictures on the wall in “Sklonište” (The Shelter Club): old Roma orchestras
from 1950’s - 1960’s. Those great guys are looking better then Little Richard or
James Brown! We saw the pictures of them playing for president Tito, Richard
Barton and Lis Taylor, King Hussein of Jordan, Resa Pahlavi etc.

32. 5.PARTNERS -
In the preparation and the implementation of the Project we have cooperated with the following partners in the field:
5.1 ROMA ORGANIZATIONS -
NOVI SAD: BANJA LUKA:
ROMA CULTURE ASSOCIATION ČERAIN ASSOCIATION OF ROMA NGOS OF REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA
www.bhric.ba
THE OFFICE FOR THE INCLUSION OF THE ROMA STUDENTS
ROMA ASSOCIATION PRNJAVOR
ROMA ASSOCIATION DERVENTA
5.2 CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS -
NOVI SAD: BANJA LUKA:
UNIVERSITY OF NOVI SAD UNIVERSITY OF BANJA LUKA
www.ns.ac.yu www.unibl.org
THE YOUTH THEATER NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RS
www.pozoristemladih.co.rs www.muzejrs.com
THE GALLERY OF MATICA SRPSKA CHILDREN’S THEATER
www.maticasrpska.org.yu www.djecijepozoristers.rs.ba
VOJVODINA MUSEUM BANSKI DVOR (CULTURE CENTER) BANJA LUKA
muzejvojvodine.org.yu
MUSIC SCHOOL “ISIDOR BAJIC”
www.isidorbajic.edu.rs

33. 5.3 GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL AUTHORITY INSTITUTIONS -
NOVI SAD: BANJA LUKA:
PROVINCIAL SECRETARIAT FOR EDUCATION - VOJVODINA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION END CULTURE
www.obrazovanje.vojvodina.gov.rs - REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA
www.vladars.net
PROVINCIAL SECRETARIAT OF CULTURE - VOJVODINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES OF BANJA LUKA
www.vojvodina.gov.rs www.csrbl.org
THE CULTURE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF NOVI SAD BOARD OF THE NATIONAL MINORITIES ASSOCIATIONS
www.gradnovisad.org.rs www.snm.rs.ba
MAYOR’S OFFICE OF THE CITY OF NOVI SAD OSCE BiH (BANJA LUKA)
www.gradnovisad.org.rs www.oscebih.org
POLICE AUTHORITY OF NOVI SAD
www.gradnovisad.org.rs
THE OMBUDSMAN OFFICE OF THE VOJVODINA PROVINCE
www.ombudsmanapv.org

34. 6. ACHIEVEMENTS -
6.1 KNOWLEDGE AND NEW EXPERIENCES -
6.1.a CHILDREN – STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL
All the children had have an interesting and meaningful activity to fill the long summer holiday’s months. A lot of our Roma
children had en unique opportunity to have a “real summer vacation”, leave their homes and visit other places.
6.1.a-1 IDENTITY OF THE A FULL RIGHTS MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY
The children attending our school have, no doubts, learned
many new things – each of them from his own prospective
and in accordance with his own predisposition and interests.
But, all of them developed a completely new and clear pro-
spective concerning the awareness of their own identities as
full right members of the society in which they live. Judging
by the comments of the children themselves, the greatest
impression on them was made by a part of the programme
concerning the concept of human rights, discrimination, di-
versity, and tolerance.
6.1.a-2 ENCOUNTER OF CULTURES
The second important and distinct moment for the children
students was the meeting of Roma and non-Roma culture
through communication and discussions with the other chil-
dren and the student trainees. This intercultural dialogue en-
couraged both parties and showed closeness thus overcom-
ing the many prejudices. This has certainly made a lasting
impression on the children, even if only subconsciously. This
includes the encounters with the institutions of the culture
and education: museums, theaters, universities, etc., where
these institutions and our Roma children both discovered
each other. The “Cerain” diploma

35. 6.1.a-3 PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IN FIGHTING THE DISCRIMINATION
The third, very practical part of the new knowledge, was ob-
tained through the visits of the representatives of the insti-
tutions of government, culture and local authorities to our
summer school. Practical advices of the ombudsman, social
worker, police officer and others, were accepted very seri-
ously and with unhidden enthusiasm. The children discov-
ered that there existed institutions to protect them, and that
the laws, jurisdiction and the government bodies, are “on
their sides”. Roma children who were used to the refusals,
restrictions and segregations, did understand that the dis-
crimination is not a “normal situation” but that, it is, in fact,
a criminal act, just the same “as if somebody steels your
mobile”, as proven during the discussions with the ombuds-
man. The example that was elaborated was that some Roma
children were not allowed to go to the public swimming
pool. The children then, went to the ombudsman office and
complained to ombudsman who afterwards intervened with
the owner of the pool, so the children were allowed to join
the others. That left great impression on the students of our
school.
Video interviews with the “Čerain” students:
impressions, conclusions, and the ideas for
the future
6.1.a-3 NEED FOR EDUCATION
The fourth issue was the awareness of needs for education.
Apart from the fact that we presented education as the best
way to fulfilling one’s personality, fight the discrimination,
and the way to implement our own dreams, the children got
an experience that learning and schooling did not have to
be a tedious and boring burden, neither the environment in
which they should feel inferior, stupid, nor unwelcomed.
6.1.a-4 SELF-ORGANIZING
We have continuously pointed out that by studying and mak-
ing efforts to improve yourself, our students could gain pow-
er and strength to fight against any problem. In particular,
we stressed out the importance of self-organizing, joining to-
gether, and explained how powerful and great results could
be achieved by fighting as “many voices together”. Examples
in our lectures included also our own experiences, lives of
the emigrants and the importance of joining with others with
similar problems and needs. The very example was also the
organization of our School, where together with the Roma
associations, universities, and other institutions – we proved
that good results could be obtained by joined efforts.
6.1.a-5 NEW KNOWLEDGE FROM THE FIELD OF BASIC CULTURE AND EDUCATION
All the knowledge that the children learned from the broad-
er basic culture fields, such as history, English language, the
other cultures in the world, about art and music in general,
also serve to raise the self-esteem and self confidence of a
personal moral.

36. 6.1.A-7 MOTIVATION OF THE CHILDREN MUSICIANS TO CONTINUE SCHOOLING
There is a specific problem with the Roma children musi-
cians, connecting with their motivation to continue musical
education. Many of them are musically very talented and
skilled instrumentalists. Although very young, they are able
to play with professional Roma orchestras. The problem is
twofold: the children should not work, especially not in pubs
during the night hours. The young boys do not develop nor-
mally in such environments - neither mentally nor physically,
and often become alcoholics as young as teenagers. Number
two: the children should go to school. Those talented ones in
most cases do not attend school, because they play during
nights and sleep during daytime.
Another aspect of the problem is that the programme and
methods of work in a conventional music schools are not
flexible, and not adjustable according to individual needs of
students. Several of our children tried to continue education
in the music schools, but the teaching programme offered
there was far beyond their technical playing skills, dealing
mostly with classical music at the very basic level, with in-
sufficient challenge, and unable to inspire the interest of a
student. As the children musicians exclusively play Roma
tamburica music they could not understand and accept that
what was thought at the music school could by any means be
of use to them. Therefore many of the talented children mu-
sicians had (of course very wrong) idea that they had already
reached their maximums as musicians, and were of the opin-
ion that they “knew everything” and that there was “no use
of further schooling”.
Therefore we paid particular attention to the musically most
talented Roma students, and a part of the lectures were de-
voted to this subject. We showed the students that the music
world is wider then their street, village or several local pubs,
by showing them the richness of the world music heritage,
music of different cultures, types, techniques and styles, par-
ticularly insisting on a fusion music in which traditional and
modern music are combined. Students musicians very well
understood the brilliant technique of Django Reinhardt (fa-
mous Roma jazz guitarist) although until that moment the
Nemanja, clarinet player
jazz music was absolutely unknown to them. They also un-
derstood how much effort the musicians of a symphonic or-
chestra make, and how much knowledge and skills is neces-
sary for those complicated, but overwhelming music works.
Their music horizons were widened in our summer school,
and they realized how much more there is to be learned. As
a result of that, three of our students, decided to prepare the
entrance exams for the secondary music schools and contin-
ue their schooling. And maybe, even more important is what
Stevan told us in Novi Sad:
“I understood, that as a child, I do not have to work in the pubs, but need to go to school!”
Stevan, tamburica player

37. 6.1.b STUDENT TRAINEES
6.1.B-1 GAINING PRACTICAL EXPERIANCE FOR FUTUR PROFESSIONS
Student trainees had the opportunity to practice in reality
their future profession and the academic knowledge obtain
so far. All of them had tasks connected to their professions:
students of journalism communicated with the media, stu-
dents of pedagogy did evaluation of pedagogical aspect of
our work, students of music academy held concerts and gave
lectures about their instruments, etc.
6.1.B-2 INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE
An important aspect of our work was based on the concept
of intercultural dialogue. With the practical work with the
Roma children, student trainees had an opportunity to learn
about the methods and instruments of implementation of
the human rights concept, interpersonal appreciation and
respect, to participate in the dialogue, and work on them-
selves.
Last day of the School all the kids recived
the “Cerain” diploma and the pencil set
6.1.B-3 WORK EXPERIENCE FROM THE CULTURAL PROJECTS
Special attention was paid to teach the student trainees
about the organization of the cultural projects. We explained
the process of the project from the very idea, establishment
of the project plan, searching for resources and subsidies/
grants, planning and organizing project implementation,
communication, marketing, budget etc. Our student train-
ees were very interested in this field and they had many of
their own ideas presented to us looking for advices and com-
ments. The best way of learning was through the practical
experience from our project. The students had an opportu-
nity to learn about our ways of work through their own en-
gagement. We hope that many of their ideas will be realized
in some excellent cultural projects in the future.
6.1.c LECTURERS
Majority of our lecturers are the professionals with great ex-
perience in teaching, giving public lectures, organizing work-
shops for young people and children. But for the most of
them, this was the first time that they were working focused
on the Roma children. That was a very valuable experience.
Also, it should be pointed out that by working in this project
many lecturers guested other countries and cities, (lecturers
from Serbia teaching in Bosnia-Herzegovina and vice versa,
and also from Italy and Sweden) which was a new experi-
Music producer Mustafa Čengić came all the way from Italy to
teach our students in Novi Sad & Banja Luka
ence.

38. 6.2 ADVOCACY -
6.2.A ROMA PROBLEMS ARE PROBLEMS OF THE OVERALL SOCIETY
During the implementation of the project we focused our
ideas in one message that we repeated over and over again
to the representatives of the media, organizations and insti-
tutions of culture, education, and government, political or-
ganizations, NGOs, Roma and other associations, journalists,
artists, cultural workers, influential people, pedagogues, col-
leagues and others:
Roma people are not a temporary or occasional “problem” of the society, nor an
exotic jewel to be shown from time to time at cultural festivals. Roma are a perma-
nent, natural and integral part of the society, and as such, all the Roma problems
are at the same time the problems of the overall society. In the same way, all the
problems of the society are the problems of the Roma population. Therefore these
problems can be resolved only throught the work on the structural and sustain-
able changes in all the segments of the society, and by the joined efforts of the
Roma and non-Roma population.
This statement was quoted often in the press, and we have sent that message many times through the TV and Radio broad-
cast programs that we participated in.
6.2.B MEETINGS WITH INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNEMENT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES
Probably the most important input of this segment of our
work was the advocacy with the different institutions of the
authorities, representatives of the executive bodies, deci-
sion-makers, and the governmental bodies and institutions.
During the preparatory activities for our project we were
welcomed by main, important representatives of the au-
thorities at the local, city, regional and governmental levels.
We met the Minister for Culture and Education of Republic of
Srpska, Secretary for Education and the Secretary for Culture
of the Vojvodina Province, Deputy Mayor of Novi Sad, Head
of the Culture Department of the City of Novi Sad, Executive
secretary of City Council of Banja Luka, etc.
We have presented our project, and our ideas and values that
guided us in our work. The proof that our messages and am-
bitions were taken seriously is the fact that the institutions
and the representatives of different authorities that we met
accepted our project with pleasure and enthusiasm. They
were very cooperative and helpful during the implementa-
tion of the project.
Provincial Secretary of Culture
- Vojvodina, Milorad Djurić

39. 6.2.C WORK WITH THE INSTITUTIONS OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION
In the same manner, we made efforts to point out the prob- one. He also promised that he would report and warn his col-
lems of Roma population and the methods of work with leagues about this and promised that in a shortest possible
those problems to the institutions of culture and education. time the map would be updated.
We collaborated with many such organizations: university,
theaters, music schools, museums etc. We made an impact That was probably the first time that the curator met with an
on their awareness about Roma people as full-righted part organized group of Roma children visiting his museum. But
of the society, but also as a consumer group that should be in the same time it was probably the first time for our Roma
taken in count when making culture program plans. children that they dared to complain publicly and to request
their place on the map of the country where they live.
Here, we would like to give just one example:
During the visit to the Vojvodina Museum in Novi Sad, we
were received and guided by the Museum Curator. In the Eth-
Vojvodina Museum
nographic department we noticed the map of ethnic minori-
- the map is going to be updated
ties of Vojvodina province. Curator explained that Vojvodina
is a multiethnic region with more then 25 ethnic minorities.
It was shown in different colors on the map where each of
them was inhabited. Our Roma students noticed that Roma
population was not presented on the map and asked the cu-
rator for an explanation. The curator was very embarrassed
and surprised. He did apologize by saying that it was a fret
failure, as the Roma population is one of the most numerous
6.2.D MEDIA COVERAGE AND ATTENTION
We had a very good response of the local media during the
TV, RADIO AND NEWSPAPERS
preparation and implementation of the project. We were
guests on the TV programs of informative and debating char-
acters, as well as in the morning programs. As far as we could
keep traces, at least 5 TV and 7 radio stations did broadcast
items about our project, including the main national TV and
radio channels in the top information programs: morning,
noon and evening TV News, and Radio News.
It should be underlined that we appeared as guests on TV
programs given in Roma language on several occasions. For
instance, we appeared in the most famous culture-debate
program, hosted by the editor in chief of the Roma TV edito-
rial board of national TV of Vojvodina. That 30-minute’s pro-
gram was entirely dedicated to our project.
Various TV and radio teams visited us regularly during the
implementation of the project, and broadcasted items about
our summer school, explaining about our work, including
the interviews with our children-students.
Apart for radio and TV, several items about our project were
also published by main local and regional newspapers, both
online and in their paper edition.
An Interview for the
National Television in Novi Sad

40. Several news portals published the information about our
INTERNET
summer school. News were spread on Blogs, and over the
popular web communities such as Facebook. We have made
special efforts to present our project on a modern, easy to
navigate and an attractive web site. We were busy updat-
ing our web site and the projects Facebook page, publishing
more then 70 articles during the work on the project. We
also used so-called “social bookmarking” through Stumble-
Upon and Digg. As a result of it, the information about our
project were available to a wide audience on the Internet.
For instance, our project appears as number one “hit” on the
Google if you search for “Roma children Novi Sad”, or “Roma
children Banja Luka”.
Deutsche Welle website
- an article about the Čerain project
Already during the preparatory works we collected a data-
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS TO MEDIA
base of the newspaper reporters, newspapers and media
services, that we thought are of interest. We regularly sup-
plied them with the basic information, developments and
news about the project. As the project was developing, ow-
ing to our cooperation with more and more institutions of
culture, education and authorities, and by recruiting some
famous people and celebrities as our lecturers, the interest
of media was growing.
We issued several press releases, many of them in coopera-
tion with press departments of universities, theaters and
ministries of education. At the end of the project in Novi Sad
Newspaper “Fokus” website
and Banja Luka we organized press conferences. Apart from
- an article about the Čerain project
our communication to the media, also the reporters contact-
ed us: by phone or e-mails, or approaching us in pauses be-
tween lectures and workshops in our school, interviewing,
or booking us for TV or Radio appearances.
An invitation for our press conference in Novi Sad were sent
to the media officially from the Secretary for Education of the
Vojvodina Province and was signed by the Secretary himself.
The conference took place in the very nice space of the Youth
Theater, well-established place for press conferences about
culture matters. More then 40 reporters from different me-
dia services attended.
In the same manner, the invitation for our press conference
TV Vojvodina website
in Banja Luka was sent out officially from the Rector’s Office
- an article about the Čerain project
of the University of Banja Luka. The press conference was
held at the University Ceremonial Hall, and was opened and
hosted by the Prorector for International Cooperation of the
University of Banja Luka.
The earlier described concert in the club “Skloniste” (“The
CONCERT IN NOVI SAD
Shelter”) was used, among other things, for communica-
tion of our ideas toward general public. Open character of
the concert, and the attention of the media that the concert
had coursed, once again gave us the chance to promote our
school, children-students, the project itself, and also to raise
the awareness of the values that intercultural dialogues in
the society in general has. Čerain - the official website

41. Articles about “Čerain” project were
published in mayor regional newspa-
pers: “Nezavisne Novine” & “Fokus” in
Banja Luka, and “Danas” & “Dnevnik”
in Novi Sad