Author: ptriller

A Matter of Trust

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Against the odds and the skeptics’ doubts…it is working!!

Just one and half years ago we signed some documents, paid some fees, and in Serbia, Propel became a reality. It was now official! It’s alive!!!! Now what?

We set out to work with this nation’s most under-valued, despised, and mistrusted people…The Roma (gypsies). It is bad enough that the Roma are looked down upon by almost every other facet of society, but they don’t even trust one another.

So, who were we to think we could make any connection? Who were we to try to bridge the gap? What were we thinking? Continue reading

Smorgasupdate

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Elvira: Why would we sponsor a university student? How did she turn the taunts and jeers of her friends into her Fight Song?

Growing up in most Roma communities is a strike against any kid. Oh, you’re a girl”? Strike two. Strike three could be a choice of any number of factors; parental apathy, lack of funds, death of your father. Take your pick. Continue reading

Ordinary Love

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Ordinary has gotten a bad rap. Sure it means; the usual, the expected. In today’s language calling something ordinary is almost derogatory. In this day and age of over-used, misused, and over-hyped adjectives, ordinary is considered just plain dull. Ordinary isn’t shared. Ordinary doesn’t get “likes”. Who retweets ordinary?

Continue reading

Hello Goodbye

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For the past 11 weeks we have been on the road. Visiting almost every US state east of the Mississippi River, and even taking a trek into Canada. In between driving over 12,000 miles we visited friends, family, supporters, prospects, advocates, and a number of restaurants and petrol stations. The visits cannot be numbered, nor the hugs, laughs, or tears. We loved every connection and were saddened by every goodbye.

Funny thing, there was a strange constant in many, many conversations. People who have known us for decades, friends who have been following our adventure since the early days, even folks who have been supporting this work for close to ten years, all seemed to have the same question: What do you do? Continue reading

One Mission Accomplished-New Mission Started!

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hvalaOne Mission Accomplished

Our first ever Roma Kids Camp was an amazing success! Twenty-five boys and girls from two of Novi Sad’s poorest neighbourhoods had five days and four nights of games, activities, lessons, sleep deprivation, and love. For a group of kids who rarely have this kind of opportunity, it was a blast. Follow-up conversations with their parents tell us that the kids are still talking about how much fun they had at Camp. To all that made it possible (and it was truly a global effort), Thank You!!! Continue reading

Part of the Plan

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Greetings from Paul and Mary.

Wow…it has been 5 months since we’ve relocated to Serbia.

What’s been happening? A virtual cornucopia of love, grace, big steps forward, some steps back, admin stuff, and a growing sense that it was the right thing to do. In no particular order it looks like this: Continue reading

Hand Me Down World

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trio9

Any of us with older same-gender siblings know all about hand-me-downs. As the fifth child and third son in a family with twelve children, you can only imagine how every pair of pants, every shirt, and all the shoes were used until there was little life left.

But, what if your whole life is a someone else’s hand-me-down? If you’re next in line as the heir to a fortune… great. What if Continue reading

Don’t Stop Believing

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151509

This is Miljan showing off, no, proudly sharing his progress in learning English. Going to school keeps him from being more than another failure statistic, or begging on the streets, or living a hand-me-down life of poverty and ignorance. Check out the video…. Continue reading

Magical Connection

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trio

Maybe “magical” isn’t the right word, but you get the idea. Think of moments in your life when you’ve met someone special or visited somewhere new or experienced something that still resonates with you to this day.

Got one? Good. Such people, places, and events can create beautiful memories, some would argue they Continue reading