BUDAPEST, HUNGARY—In what now seems like another lifetime, tens of thousands of Hungarian students took to the streets of Budapest, sparking a nationwide uprising against that country's regime. The youth, soon joined by thousands more adults, demanded more democratic freedoms and called for the reinstatement of the country's deposed prime minister. Troops moved to crush the rebellion, and some 3,000 were killed in Budapest.
That was 1956.
In 1999, Richard Harrill, an American who had been a Peace Corps volunteer in Hungary, founded the Foundation for Democratic Youth (DIA), an organization aimed at fostering a sense of social justice and responsibility in a new generation of Hungarian youth. In the years since the 1989 transition to democracy in Hungary, says DIA Executive Director Rita Galambos, the country had begun to creep toward “a very cruel conception of society, where the youngest generations had a lot of opportunities their parents didn’t, and the parents wanted their children to have more opportunities in terms of consuming, but they didn’t really think about the other side, which was the giving part and the responsibilities part. Somehow, the democracy lesson was learned only halfway.” While young people around the world are so often associated with social movements, young people in Hungary still shied away from social action. Much had changed since what has come to be known as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Nearly 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union and the transition to democracy across eastern Europe, passionate social engagement that has long laid dormant is beginning to spread in a new generation of Hungarian young people, thanks in part to DIA. The issues at stake are perhaps less urgent than those sparking protests in the 1950s. But youth involved in DIA have come to clearly recognize the importance of their civic participation for the strength of their country's still-solidifying democracy.
Each DIA chapter has its own focus or volunteer project specific to the needs of its community, but the overarching purpose of the organization is to foster a sense of community service in Hungarian youth. Says DIA youth activist Judit Jaross, DIA’s aim is “to spread the good news of volunteerism, and to make people aware of the fact that they can be part of a change.”
Közöd! 2008
Közöd! The word means “involvement” in Hungarian. If you had been in Budapest one mid-April weekend, you would have seen it plastered all over town when nearly 350 young people from all over Hungary gathered to discuss their views on social responsibility, civic involvement and volunteerism.
The participants represented only a small fraction of the more than 2,000 youth activists involved in the Foundation for Democratic Youth (DIA). But the group of local DIA delegates who traveled to what is known as the “DIA Days” weekend was large enough to spread out in malls and train stations around the city to interview passersby about their own personal commitments to social responsibility. The youth collected the responses on small stickers, placed on tall cardboard kiosks, and ended the day with over 1,000 answers to their question, “What does social responsibility mean to you and how are you doing your part?”
Before and after the community survey, the youth engaged in team building and reflection. They kicked back with music, food, and celebrations.
This audio slideshow produced with DIA youth, captures the two-day event.
Fesztivàl Panyola
For several years, the small village of Panyola in eastern Hungary has hosted a three-day summer music and cultural festival. DIA youth volunteers from around country staff the event, sleeping in tents at night and assisting with festival details and clean up through the day. The festival is a feast for the senses. Regional cuisine and beer flow freely. The music never stops.
This audio slideshow provides a virtual visit.
More Than Ourselves
Throughout Hungary, DIA youth form small teams and carry out service projects in their community—from teaching art in a local orphanage to staging cultural and sports events across a major city. In the process, they meet community needs at the same time that they develop their own leadership and organizing skills—and build strong friendships.
Click here to see their audio slideshows about their volunteer work and fellowship.
In Their Own Words: Hungarian Youth Activists on Social Responsibility
“I think at earlier times in our history, in more traditional societies, there was a kind of social cooperation that worked very well. In [Communist] Hungary, before the political system changed, this was more regulated—it was compulsory for young people to belong to youth organizations. This gave them a sense of community that has totally disappeared over the last ten years. Now, the youth are pretty much on their own. Often, they have no opportunity to do cooperative work together. They cannot think creatively. They have a hard time finding jobs, finding their place in society, taking an active part in their community.
We have to learn how to cooperate. Young people should not just live and work in the formal community of the classroom—they need to learn how to get along in different fields of life. They need to learn how to work together, how to deal with conflicts, how to interact with their environment. To tell the truth, I think that social responsibility embraces a lot of different projects, ranging from environmental protection through different social and cultural aspects of life in which people learn how to cooperate, how to communicate. In this way, perhaps we will be able to see a better society.” - Gabi Vörös, DIA regional coordinator
In April 2008, eight DIA youth leaders sat down with WKCD to talk about their experiences working with DIA, and what they have learned about the importance of social responsibility. Their audio commentaries are a mix of Hungarian and English; we provide an English text for non-Hungarian speakers.
Click here to listen to their audio commentaries.
Bookmark with: 
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Reddit What are these?
