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The first meeting with active Roma young people from Veliko Turnovo, Dobrich and Burgas, supported by the Emergency fund for Roma young students in high schools was held on 26th and 27th March among the already blooming scenery and fresh air in the holiday village "Monastery" in Lyaskovets. The meeting is part of the three-year program of Center Amalipe "Reducing the drop-out rate among Roma children" funded by the Foundation "America for Bulgaria".

The aim of the meeting was to discuss possibilities to include these young people in the school life, and specifically in the efforts for drop-out prevention and for encouraging their peers to continue into secondary educational stage. Besides young people, supported by the Emergency Fund, their parents also participated in the meeting. Teodora Krumova and Tanya Vanova were the moderators of the meeting.

It became clear during the first session "Who we are and for what we fight for?", That the young people also wish to participate in active school life, they wish to be heard, to be perceived as adults and receive more responsible tasks. "Thus, we feel proud to help the younger, to share our experiences and encourage them to continue their education, to try to make them feel proud and motivated by what they do" - Sasho Stoykov one of the students from the village of Rosen said . Teodora Krumova in turn explained the method "peers helping peers" or "students mentors" which will be implemented in the pilot schools within the project "Reducing the drop-out rate among Roma children" by the end of the school year.

All young people included in the program have completed one of the pilot schools and will have the opportunity to be involved in activities in these schools as mentors to their peers. Some of the other topics discussed during the meeting were the upcoming campaigns to motivate the graduating eighth-graders to continue into secondary schools as well as the further discussions with students and parents on early marriages issue. Many interactive games raised smiles, pleasure and satisfaction among the young people. The gave ideas, went into the roles, presented some of the problems as a play ...

On the question how we can help more children to go to school the student Ani Encheva from the village of Ravna Gora replied: "We will help our peers and show them our example. At least once a week we will devote two hours to hear them, to convince them that they can achieve what we have achieved! ". It was obvious that these young people are eager to help and showed that they can.