Storybooks handed over by Ildikó Orosz in Sátoraljaújhely

The 346th anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Rákóczi II was celebrated on 27 March. On this occasion, president of the Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education and the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association (KMPSZ), Ildikó Orosz, and former head of the KMPSZ Károly Berki visited the village Borsi.

The celebration of the prince’s birth anniversary traditionally began with a festive procession. In the castle of Borsi, state secretary Árpád János Potápi gave a ceremonial speech. Afterwards, the audience had the chance to see the performance of the region’s Hungarian schools, which was organized by the recently awarded ethnographer and choreographer, dr. László Diószegi.

For the first time the passengers of the pilgrim train, departing from Budapest, took part in the event. President Ildikó Orosz and former KMPSZ director Károly Berki laid wreaths on behalf of the Transcarpathian community.

After the event, Ildikó Orosz visited the youth centre of the Rákóczi Association in Sátoraljaújhely, where 100 refugees, among of which 55 children were accommodated. The president handed over 100 Ukrainian story-books for children, as well as dozen Hungarian as a Foreign Language for Beginners textbooks with the related workbooks.

As she explained: “Transcarpathian Hungarians are aware of the importance of fairy tales and native language education in childhood. This is the reason why we thought it would be essential to bring these publications for those in need. We hope that there will be an interest for the Hungarian language, and it will result in the strengthening respect and understanding between the two nation”.

M. M.