The eco-farm for Roma in Rudlov village near Vranov nad Toplou town was handed an award by the American Trade Chamber. “We prefer organisations which are not as well-known and whose job helps significantly people in need”, said the representative of the American Trade Chamber Zuzana Ticha.
NGO Svatobor have been teaching how to do farming already for 7 years. The farm is sustained mostly by the sale of bio-seeds, composts, vegetable and provision of different training for self-governing regions. The farm in Rudlov village was honoured at the November UNESCO meeting in Paris as well where it made it to the 4th place in the contest for the best charity project of the year. “When we came, there was just a jungle – nobody took care of the land, illegal fly-tipping was on the rise. Today, we employ 10 Roma all-year round and we have more than 100 volunteers,” says Štefan Straka, the founder of the association. His inspiration comes from the Austrian model of bio-farms. Roma keep themselves busy with farming from March to November; in winter they make brooms and tools for fieldworks. “Until now we have submitted 5 projects to the Government Proxy for Roma Communities. They said they were tremendously pleased by such activities and that was it. I feel as if they forgot about us at home,” says Straka.
