“Football for equality”
This year on behalf of the 11th “Week Against Racism” (14-26th October 2010) the National Roma Centrum in cooperation on Saturday, 23.10.2010, organized sports performances at the main city square in Skopje. NGO Ambrela from Skopje also joined this event. Participants on the event were young people from Kumanovo and Skopje from various ethnic backgrounds. They were pupils and students from the primary and high schools in Kumanovo and Skopje. NRC prepared flayers as well as also we prepared a brief information leaflet about the FARE Action Week, which were handed out to the citizens of Skopje.
There were about 25 children involved that scattered around the city square and the near shopping mall where they handed out flayers and provided information for the curious about the Action Week, what it means and what does FARE stands for and what are its urges and goals. Several other children at the square performed with footballs various tricks. A statement was also sent to various printed and electronic media on a national level. We achieved positive results because the people were very interested in what we had to say. The children that performed at the square also received positive attention. This kind of realization of such an activity for using sports as means for transferring of a message is actually a pointer that sports represent a link between people that connects them regardless of national belonging or skin color, and it shows that to play a certain sport all you need is talent. Also this event has shown that decreasing of stereotypes and discrimination through sports is a powerful tool that easily gets through to people.