Solidarity is the key

As the winter ended, we gathered for our annual assembly to decide about our 2012 schedule. Our volunteers were asked to bring us a story about problems they want to solve. Fortunately we could find a place for every single idea, but right now I would like to focus on the one which became our GYSD-event.

This one was shared by Agnes, mother of two. Her son is 3 years old and her daughter is even younger, aged only 9 months. Children in this age are evolving incredibly fast both phisically and mentally. Practically this means that their clothes become undersized a few months after they were bought. Children also need their toys to be more and more complex as time goes by.

So the problem is: parents need to buy bigger clothes and more complex toys, and in the meantime they have barely used stuff they can't use anymore. But why should they buy new things and throw out them a short time after, when they could exchange? What we try to do is connecting the dots, and giving an opportunity to these parents to meet each other and exchange stuff.

Baba-börze (‘baba ‘bøːrzə) is the Hungarian title of our GYSD-event. Baba means baby, and börze means expo, market (the word itself can be found in many languages like the French “bourse”, Italian “borse” or German “Börse”).

It will be a stand-alone programme, but it is also connected to a bigger picture, as 2012 is the 'Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity Between Generations' in the European Union. Originally this initiation of the EU is ment to activise the senior generation, but as a youth organisation we concentrate on the 'Solidarity Between Generations' part and try to extend this definition to solidarity between All generations.

Our grandparents were born in the age when Europe was ruined into dust by World War II, our parents have grown up in the communist era, we have experienced the birth of the Internet, and the ones who were born after the Millenium will live in a world which seems like a sci-fi to our grandparents. The world has changed in the last 100 years so much, it is no wonder that we can't really understand each others point of view. Solidarity is the key to find what we have in common – even if we don't understand each other.

On the Baba-borze three generations (young parents over 25, their children mostly under 5 and our volunteers aged between 14-24) will participate. EDI members will help the parents and take care of the children, so it will be a great opportunity for them to learn a bit about solidarity.