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“Within the local context everyone should think in a global way. A NGO could do a perfect job for its community but this will not help the community effectively if this job is not made known to the entire society.  Media are the best way to inform the entire society for your work and to raise the support of the entire society for your goal.”

These sentences shared by Raycho Chaprazov – a Roma journalist from Nova Television – became the “golden massage” of the training “Communication through media” that took place in Veliko Turnovo from July 1st to 5th, 2008. Representatives of 12 Roma grassroots organizations all over Northern Bulgaria took part in the training and learned how to communicate with media and how to transmit their messages through media. The lecturer Fiona Lloyd, a journalist from Zimbabwe transmitted to the participants the skills and knowledges that marginalized and discriminated communities could use to interact successfully with media and to use media as their messangers. Engaging the participants in a set of interactive games, the lecturer presented the major tools to prepare a successful press-release, interview, and so on. Journalists from local and national media shared with participants their experience and this became one of the most interesting sessions according to the participants.

«Eleven out of twelve participants in the training were women – explained Teodora Krumova, deputy chair of Center “Amalipe” and coordinator of the training. They were strongly motivated young girls and I am sure they will apply everithing they learned during the traing and will help their organizations to promote successfully teh community work they do. For sure we need this in order to change the negative image of Roma community in the public space: Roma organizations all over the country have many good practices to show.» Moreover, some of the participant already planned future joint activities to promote Romani women's health in Bulgaria.

The training was organized by Center “Amalipe” with the support of the Public Health Program of Open Society Institute. A week befor it a similar training was organized in Stara Zagora by “World without borders” Association and Center “Amalipe” for Roma organizations from South Bulgaria.