Marta Bolba, Director of Devai Fogado and Evangelical Minister in Hungary
Serving the most vulnerable has always been at the core of Marta Bolba´s work as an evangelical minister. With the opening of the Devai Fogado Refugee Centre on Nov 30, 2022, which was funded through the ACT Alliance´s Ukraine appeal, she has taken her leadership role, which is rooted in the biblical “loving your neighbour,” to a whole new level.
ABOUT DEVAI FOGADO
Devai Fogado caters to about. 5,000 refugees per year, focusing on the integration of the Roma people, providing aid to pregnant women, the illiterate, people with chronic illnesses, and disabled children. All of them receive care in the Devai Fogado, which derives its name from the parable of the Good Samaritan. Marta Bolba is not only a pastor at a local church community in Budapest – Józsefváros but she also leads a staff of 18 teachers and social workers at Devai Fogado.
How does the humanitarian and church work go together?
“It´s an ethical standpoint that reflects Christ’s Spirit in the host community in hand with global faith,” she claims. The previous refugee crisis inspired her as a faith leader to build a network of volunteers and communities as well as humanitarian services to act in one spirit to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
“Faith means solid ethical grounding following Jesus’ teaching and actions reflected in the Gospels. Faith means a preexisting network of local and global communities to support the crisis response. Faith is also a resource for the lasting effort to build up welcoming spaces and integrate the goodwill of the host community.”
Pastor Bolba not only engaged in the first wave of refugee coordination but launched a complex package of programs that included assistance with basic needs, education, mental health support, donation coordination, employment counselling, and public relations and funding.
This complex engagement leads to a question, where does one draw energy to help on all those levels?
“I do this work as an act of resistance to a political situation where racism and xenophobia seemingly triumph over a welcoming loving culture in Europe and Hungary. I make an effort to work for social cohesion following Jesus´s law of loving your neighbour. Seeing the communities coming together and acting in alliance with the Spirit of love brings me hope. I see a vision coming through, I live the dream of a loving community.”
The Ukrainian Roma community receives special care at Devai Fogado, having experienced multigenerational systemic racism, exclusion, poverty, lacking basic skills, and poor health. This massive effort is a chance to help them integrate into society, teach them basic skills of reading and writing, and send their children to schools. By coming together to fight isolation, being assisted with basic needs, and learning the language of the local community they get a chance for a new life.
What have been the lessons learned so far?
“We have learned that the community space and providing diverse services have proven effective in processing trauma. We need to adapt to the changing needs of people on the move. Social inclusion and starting a new life must be prioritized over providing temporary humanitarian aid in the protracted conflict.”
Read more about empowering refugees at Devai Fogado Community Centre here.
Empowering refugees through art: finding community in Budapest
