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Thursday, March 27,
2008
Photogallery
 We approached the school around 11:00 PM. It was on a quiet
street, and there were almost no lights on inside. But as soon
as I began to wonder whether we were in the right location, a
young man burst through the big doors and warmly welcomed us to
his school. He was a club leader and, as an older volunteer,
worked to prepare and monitor the children and youth that
participate in the Moonlight program. He brought us upstairs to
put down our belongings and to see the snacks they were
preparing. We quickly were ready to go down into the basement,
where the original Moonlight Club was being held.
The Moonlight Clubs were started as part of Club
21–Udruženja za Pozitivnu Komunikaciju (Association for Positive
Communication) in Serbia by Dezső Kiss, a retired teacher from
this very school, and operate in several schools in Subotica.
They offer children a safe place to be from 7:00 or 8:00 PM
until midnight every Friday night. But they are so much more
than that. Inside each of the previous schools we had visited,
50 or even 100 children were playing table tennis, foosball, or
darts or participating in gymnastics, arts and crafts, or
dancing. They return to school under a totally different
environment than the one they see during the day. Under the
Moonlight Club program, dedicated adults (teachers, older
students, or parents) provide creative activities and help
children to come into their own—in a safe and supportive
environment. The children also receive warm snacks and
nutritious food.
Many of these children have access to no other
after-school or extracurricular activities. After the recent
deaths of two young adolescents to heroin, Dezső is more
convinced than ever before (if that’s possible!) that these
programs are necessary for youth. And the volunteer leaders seem
to exude the same determination to provide this program to needy
youth.
Subotica lies only ten miles from the Hungarian
border and holds a fascinating ethnic mishmash of Hungarians,
Croats, and Serbs. More people here speak Hungarian than any
other language (and Hungarian is about as different from Serbian
as English is from Swahili!), with Serbian in second place and
Croatian in third (Croatian and Serbian are quite similar, but
one uses the Cyrillic alphabet and the other the Latin alphabet).
Dezső introduced me to several people, including
the Subotican minister of Sports and Youth, with whom he has
developed a strong partnership and supportive relationship, and
several local businessmen who make regular contributions to the
program. I also met other municipal officials who have given
strong support to the program. This organization is
community-based, community-supported, community-driven, and
community-engaged! For these very reasons, the organization is
poised to grow even more, relying on a cadre of volunteers and
hundreds more eager children.
Throughout the night, I was treated to a variety
of Moonlight programs and met with principals, Moonlight
coordinators, and several English teachers in four schools. I
saw hundreds of engaged children loving the games being played
and getting a great workout while enjoying their activities.
Moonlight has built in several mechanisms to make sure
competition is not overwhelmingly present and to develop
sportsmanship and teamwork.
The final treat of the night came after the snack
was given. As soon as the Akon song began to blare, I knew I was
in for something special. Three adolescent boys began to dance—street-style
break dancing!
Submitted by
Katy Love
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