Dikh He Na Bister meets every year with the facilitators to prepare them in the best way for the workshops in Poland. This year, the meeting was held in Paris, a good opportunity to also pay our tribute to Raymond Gurême’s place of rest. Our friends and partners from La voix des Roms assisted us in creating a very beautifully packed agenda so that the training had, besides daily educational sessions, interesting visits in Paris and surroundings.
The first day welcomed the group of facilitators, media team and participants for their first session, allowing them to get to know each other. The former participants managed to share their experiences, they exchanged good practices examples and the rest of the days revolved around planning of the event in Poland on 2nd of August. Other important topics have been discussed, with special care to the visit of Raymond Gurême’s monument and grave, both located in Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon.
We paid our tribute to his place of rest with white roses and we all remembered about his legacy, his company, his fight for justice, his simplicity. Raymond Gurême had traveled to the Dikh He Na Bister conference in the Polish city of Kraków and the commemoration ceremonies in Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial on 2 August many times. He came to talk to the young people and to remember his relatives and all victims murdered and mistreated in the Roma Holocaust. These are four photos with him, some participants and other Holocaust survivors from the years 2014, 2017, 2018 and finally 2019.
Raymond always made the long journey from France by bus and liked to mingle with the young participants, smoke some cigarettes, share stories of his long life of resistance and artistry. He was approachable and kind, and a true hero to hundreds of people from all over the world.
Résister!
The week in Paris allowed us visit Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, where we attended introductory discussions on antigypsism, with a glimpse of plentiful books dedicated to Roma culture, exhibitions and nice memories and photos of Raymond Gureme’s restless spirit.
We concluded our training with a round of reflection session, where all of the facilitators had their chance to express their thoughts, concerns and expectations. We built a team ready to be present in the challenging sun of Krakow, with youngsters from all over the world.
The project is funded by the EVZ Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office as part of the program YOUNG PEOPLE remember.
