on may 30, 2009 ann celebrated her birthday by flying from san francisco to hungary. she spent two weeks with a community of hungarian gypsies who have converted to buddhism and consider themselves followers of doctor ambedkar. 

 

the jai bhim network is in the village of sajokaza, in northeast hungary. there ann spent time with the jai bhim crew, learning more about the movement in hungary, and how it connects to jai bhim india and to our international jai bhim movement. she also visited the dr. ambedkar high school in the nearby village of hegymeg, and the jai bhim network's two other school sites, in sajokaza and in ozd, meeting with the teachers and students of english, as well as the schools' support staff.

 learn more about the dr. ambedkar school

before flying from san francisco to hungary on may 30th, ann wrote,"i am eager to learn and to listen and to serve in any way i can. i am hoping to present the vision of our community english project in india, and to share my own experiences of communicative language learning/teaching, inspired by paolo freire's philosophy of a democratic classroom. there is so much global interest in learning english. the language classroom can be a space for the free exchange of ideas, for empowerment and social change."

dr. ambedkar worked for the dignity of his people, who were considered untouchable in indian society, and his vision was also for dignity and justice for all people. ambedkar's leadership is as revolutionary and inspiring today as it was more than half a century ago. jai bhim international is evolving.

the energy at the jai bhim network in sajokaza, hungary is impressive. over the next few months jai bhim international will be supporting their work, building friendships between our global communities. one international cyberproject in the works is building a team of global volunteers who will edit the english text for the network's  hungarian website, and also translate it into hindi. and we are exploring ways to provide long-distance mentorship for the staff and students of the jai bhim network's english language program. contact us to get involved: ann@jaibhiminternational.org jai bhim!

*more about the movement in hungary.*

 benu's story

 

 

more background at our older jai bhim hungary posting