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Project Roots 2007
Being together in the fatherland
Toni Dimkov
In accordance with the constitution and the programme of the Diaspora Directorate at the Ministry of Exterior of the Republic of Macedonia a tournament in footsal (small football) between the teams of the Macedonian national minorities from the neighboring countries and the teams from Macedonia took place from 2 to 9 September in Dojran. The direct occasion for organizing the event was 8 September – the Day of THE Macedonian independence. The tournament is part of the project activities of the Coordinative Body for Emigrants (KTI), where the Ministries of exterior, culture, education, the Agency for Emigration and the Agency for Young and Sports participate with their activities.
Ten teams were invited to participate at the Roots 2007 tournament in Dojran: the sport association “Kalabalak” from the village of Borje in Gora – Macedonian Community in Albania; the Association of Macedonians from Romania; “Banjalucani 2002” from Bosnia and Herzegovina; “Videlina”, Macedonian Community in Croatia; FC “Makedonija” from Australia; Macedonian Goran Community from Gora, Kosovo; FC “Nostalgija” from Australia; Macedonian cultural associations from Slovenia; and the association “Prohor Pcinski” from Piacenca, Itlaly.
“A meeting of this kind is organized for the first time here since this is the first time that there is budget created within the KTI project. The goal of the whole event is being together and socializing that would eventually result in conversations on problems that Macedonian minority is facing in the other countries, in which way and with what activities they overcome those problems in the countries they live. It is an interesting experience, how ones got certain rights in the countries they live while others do not get the chance to realize the same rights in other countries.
The tournament started on 2 September and ended on 9 September. At a formal celebration that took place on 8 September in Bitola, the winners were awarded trophies for their wins in the games. It is a tendency to make the tournament a traditional event, with an opportunity to increase the budget and to involve more teams from the diaspora in many different sports and a cultural programme”, explained Stevo Simski, manager of the Macedonian National Minority Department at the Diaspora Directorate at the Ministry of Exterior of RM. Besides the sports activities, the tournament included walks around Macedonia’s places of natural beauty. Macedonian emigrants had no words to express their gratitude for organizing a meeting of that kind. Such were their impressions. “The name of our association is “Nostalgija” because our parents left the country 60 years ago. The nostalgia is something that brings us back to our fatherland. We will never forget Macedonia. Neither will it be forgotten by our ancestors who had come to live in Australia. People stayed there, but their hearts are here, in Macedonia. The organization of the tournament cannot be described with words, but we will cherish it in our hearts and try to describe it to other generations who live in Australia”, says Cane Andreevski from Australia. He explained that the teams present at the tournament come from Wolongong and Sydney, but if the tournament becomes traditional, they ill bring the children from Perth, Melbourne and from whole Australia to come, see and feel the smell of their fatherland, Republic of Macedonia.
“At the tournament organized by the Ministry of Exterior of the Republic of Macedonia we came from Jabuka near Pancevo, Belgrade”, says Vence Jovanovski, president of the “Jabuka” branch at the association “Vardar”. “The tournament is organized f or the first time and I think it is of great importance to us since we can meet Macedonians who live in other continents and in other countries in the world. I met with Macedonians from Australia, Italy and Austria. We meet and start cooperating, writing to each other and visiting each other. We made contacts with the Macedonians from Romania and invited them to come and visit us in Serbia, then we will visit them in Romania. These meetings are very important and should be more massive and more frequent. There should be a cultural programme as well, a whole concept should be planned, to invite women as well, since there were only men that came at the tournament”, suggested Jovanovski.
The Macedonian national minority in Romania managed to get their representative at the National Parliament. The experiences from Romania were presented by Marjan Mihajlov, Macedonian from Stip who has been living in Bucharest for eight years now. “The Macedonian Association from Bucharest is a member of the Minorities Council in Romania, which is an advisory body of the Romanian Government. We have a representative at the Romanian Parliament, Liljana Dumitresku, representative of the Macedonian minority in Romania. She represents the ethnic Macedonians in Romania, which means that the Macedonians in Romania are recognized as a minority together with 18 other minorities. President of the association is Konstantin Dumitresku and two women, thanks to whom the Association of Macedonians in Romania exists. It was recognized because in the year 2000 they managed to insert the Macedonian minority in the Romanian constitution. This is also the year when the Association was founded. Now it has 22 branches, most active in Bucharest, Temishvar, Krajova, Bajlest, Urzikuca. There are about 3000 registered members in the associations, but my guess is that the number of Macedonians living in Romania is about 15,000. I can claim that because the last wave that arrived in Romania in 1848 (children refugees from Aegean Macedonia) had about 8,000 Macedonians, children and families. Since then, they have not returned anywhere else, but remained in Romania. There happen to appear certain problems regarding their registration in associations as they are registered as Greeks”, said Mihajlov. He also emphasized some of the problems that our minority faces in Romania:
“The Macedonians in Romania were considered vanished, especially those generations of Macedonians who came in Romania in waves to earn a living. In the period between the Balkan wars, after the Second World War, merchants who went to trade salt in Vlashko, Romania and stayed there. Today, their children and grandchildren are those who are active. Unfortunately, there are language problems. It is hard to speak it. Parents know their mother tongue, but the children either don’t or find it hard to speak it. Ms Dumitresku managed to get lessons in Macedonian in Urzikuca twice a week, but the problem is now that we cannot find a Macedonian language teacher to give the lessons”. Mihajlov emphasized the importance of the tournament from many aspects, not just the competitive aspect of it.
“This tournament means a lot from many aspects. Firstly, some of the children come to Macedonia for the first time. It is good to be together, to wake up the Macedonian feeling in us. To feel that we are indeed Macedonians. One thing is to feel Macedonian in Romania and a completely different feeling to actually be in Macedonia. Although most of the children are the offspring of some who had left the country 150 years ago, they say they feel like home in Macedonia. The tournament gave them the courage to say without shame they are Macedonians, that they have something to back it up with. They should know where Macedonia is” ,Mihajlov concluded.
Part of the KTI project is the preparation of textbook for learning Macedonian, which will be distributed in the diaspora. That would probably solve one of problems that has most often been referred to by the Macedonian minorities in the neighboring countries and in the diaspora. Of course, by organizing various sports events and cultural forms of socialization in the fatherland, the Macedonian national feeling will be increased, thus reducing the nostalgia for the country.
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