ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE ||| 61 ||| 9/2022 ||| INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS DAY
By Nikolin Svetlana
ECOULTOUR le mulțumește tuturor celor care sunt alături în lupta pentru educație și cultură!
On 5th October, the world marks ‘International Teacher’s Day’ an occasion that pays tribute to the teachers of the world – emphasizing the important role this noble profession plays in every society around the globe.
It is said that ‘better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher’ who can influence and change the lives of many students. I am very proud that one such great teacher is my close friend Petra Marton. She has spent her whole life as a teacher in a village school in Skorenovac (Székelykeve in Hungarian), situated in south Banat region in Serbia.
The village is mostly inhabited by Hungarians and she was teaching in Hungarian village primary school. Petra has not only been a respectable teacher. She is well known as a great organiser of many cultural and social activities in the village.
We all often used to say amongst us that when Petra is in charge with something we know that all will be done perfectly. Petra is amazing personality- she is expert in embroidery, knitting, crocheting and a great gardener. Above all she is an example to many what one person not living in a big city can do. She belongs to a very small and lesser known ethnic community called Banat Bulgarians (or Palchens) who live in Bulgaria, Romania and in some villages in Banat region in north Serbia.
Thanks to Petra who is fluent in Banat Bulgarian (Palchen) dialect/language, she was the main contributor to linguistic researchers researching and documenting this dying language. She collected photographs of the Banat Bulgarian families from her village, wrote their life stories, wrote all about history, life, tradition and culture of this small ethnic community and save evidence of almost everything about their lives for future generations and future researchers. Petra not only taught generations and generations of village students she was a great promoter of her small community who lives in harmony for centuries amongst Hungarians, Romanians, Serbs and Bulgarians.
She has appeared on many TV and radio and in newspapers and documentary films and also in academic, linguistic and specialised publications about Banat Bulgarians. She is a great inspiration. Happy to have you in my life dear Petra, Happy Teachers Day to you and to all teachers worldwide.
Nikolin Svetlana
politicologist /journalist
journalist/ editor in chief monthly news paper ‘Trgoprodukt’ (1982-1990)
freelance journalist from1990
editor in chief – non profit
intercultural magazin „XXI Century” (2006-2016)
independent researcher on intercultural dialogue, minorities and small ethnic communities of the Balkans (Banat Bulgarians, Aromanians)
specialised ”XXI Century” magazine editions:
”Palchens in Banat”
”Aromanians of Pancevo city”
books:
Aegeo (Egej) travel book
‘Small anthology of Aromanian poetry’
‘ Aromanian old songs’
‘Aromanians in south Banat’/project book)
‘The nomads of the Balkans’ -(translation project book)
coordinator in NGO”In Medias Res” department for small ethnic communities and intercultural dialogue ( from 2006 to 2016)
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