The Zebra Program: Empowering Roma Youth to Overcome Poverty and Foster Social Inclusion

The Zebra Program is a multifaceted initiative aimed at disrupting the cycle of poverty during the vital developmental stage of adolescence. It emphasizes the augmentation of emotional, social, and intellectual growth among youth participants from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia. The program is committed to empowering emerging leaders within the Roma communities by applying a participatory approach, who will subsequently engage their peers in enriching activities. These will serve as conduits to overcome barriers to social inclusion and employment. The planned activities will encompass mentoring by positive adult role models, afterschool tutoring, training in digital skills and financial literacy, and providing constructive afterschool recreational activities, dispensed daily. These activities are tailored to engage youth in sports and foster their character development. This will be augmented by community service initiatives and vocational training modules, including life skills training. Moreover, the Zebra Program will proactively target corporations willing to contribute to the vocational training and seek the collaboration of volunteers who will assume the roles of mentors, tutors, and trainers. By fostering connections between the marginalized Roma youth and the Slovak majority, the program aspires to mitigate social exclusion, prejudice, and institutional racism, all of which have historically impeded the Roma community's pursuit of dignity and self-sufficiency. This initiative is a robust response to generational poverty, enhancing the prospect of a life imbued with dignity and self-reliance for excluded Roma youth.