Istenkút: A Community Exposure
Duration of the case: …….
Prepared by: Peter Peták
Hungarian Association for Community Development
April 2006
Abstract
The case study was prepared in the surroundings of Pecs, a city in the Southern-Transdanubian region of
Hungary. It shows how could a local crisis link local people and transform them into a real, strong and
well prepared community. The Istenkút study is not a success story related to the people’s original
objectives, but new perspectives came out during the process, with various innovative and creative
initiations.
Background
Istenkút is situated in the north-western corner of Pécs (a city in the Southern-Transdanubian region of
Hungary), up to Mecsek mountains presently with 1500 inhabitants. The routs of five parallel valleys on a
small water catchment basin and the separating mountain ridges meet at Istenkút spring, which is in the
centre of the area and near the building of a school that was founded in 1925. The territory having more
and more inhabitants used to be a hillside of vineyards of Magyarürög, an area which later joined Pécs.
The designation 'Istenkút' is the unofficial geographical name of the territory, however first it was used
for the school near the spring abounding in water in the centre of the area otherwise with little water; later
it designated the whole area as well.
INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE
The territory influences the inhabitants' way of life, both on the level of the individual and the
community. Settled families, who built their houses on a hillside with vineyards where there had been
only few occupants a century ago, made up their mind to take the area into their possession. The openmindedness and helpfulness that the newcomers experienced has become an essential and genuine value.
The area structurally consists of independent and separate vicinities formed in accordance with
geographical endowments. Vicinity relationships along the ways in the valleys and on the mountain
ridges built in with houses and leading into forests are similar to the relationships in one-way villages
having only one street. It is inevitable to have intensive interpersonal relationships and do habitual
favours to each other because of
– the lack of infrastructure (no running water pipes, no drainage, roads are unsuitable for traffic),
– huge distance from city offices, services, institutions,
– the situation of the area which is less protected than areas in town and being more exposed to nature's
forces.
It is like an outskirts of the county centre's downtown, it can be characterized neither as a town, nor as a
village.
On their "mountain" lands the families living in self-made or largened houses are daily taught a lesson
about how to be active and how to be capable of managing their affairs in order to satisfy their daily
needs and comfort (for instance in case of travelling a few miles more times a day to pick up their
children, go shopping or go to the bus stop). They have to solve more elementary problems themselves
than in a more urbanized district – this is somewhat not "inherited" but rather something undertaken by
the settlers on moving in.
THE CENTRE OF THE COMMUNITY
The school founded in the natural centre of the area in 1925 was the only institution of the local
community, the focus of wider community relationships, and catalyst of communication between
geographically separate vicinities. The foundation of the school in itself carried the idea of responsibility
for other people, since it was established from the private funds of a Pécs citizen, Róbert Szieberth, a
school-inspector of state schools at that time. Beside its educational function this was the only local
institution related to the local community. In its story the inhabitants' willingness to participate in public
affairs was expressed. The local power (the town of Pécs) was related to the community in Istenkút via
this institution. The written history of the district started right with the foundation of the school, people
got acquainted with each other at the school as a result of which the narrower vicinity relations could
expand and a wider civil network was formed. People's relationship to the school had a decisive role in
acquiring social status based on personal links, which can be developed only by being brought up here.
These interrelated factors contributed to the status of "aboriginals".
The last golden era of the school memorable for the local community started from the mid-seventies,
when a new wing was built to the school building, the school leaders were initiative, innovative and
communal in their thinking. The first General Culture Centre of the country was brought about here when
the school, the nursery school and the culture centre were joined. In accordance with former traditions,
the occupants contributed to this development with very significant voluntary work – it was
acknowledged by the city leaders of those days in an official certificate.
THE CRISIS
The outcomes of the political transition of 1989 reached Istenkút in 1995 on the level of the community
experience. Up to that time a great number of working places had been closed down, which restricted
people's activity to the range of their private problems. However, the planned closure of the local school
awoke latent solidarity. (It was noticeable that people's protest against the planned closure of local
schools were remarkably more organised throughout Hungary than the protests against discharges.)
Among the values of this community the first is children's safety and future: local people of Istenkút
reacted very combatively on hearing the intention of the City Government to close down the school. They
used, tried and learned all the democratic means1 to represent and enforce their own interests, and in this
fight they managed to make use of all the strategic and procedural mistakes the City Government made,
which, at that time, was still inexperienced in such situations and constitutionalism in general.
The closure of the school violated children's rights, and overburdened the families. First of all large
families with 3 or more children suffered from the preclusive measures – no wonder that the leaders of
the movement were from these families. The unilateral measures of the legitimate power seemed to make
an unrecoverable blow on community identity. City leaders did not identify these as a consequences of
their decision. In their eyes, the whole problem appeared as an irrationally exaggerative opposition.
About the organization
For detailed information about the Hungarian Association for Community Development, please visit
www.kka.hu.
Intervention description
MAKING COMMUNITY IDENTITY STRONGER
After the loss of the school all the community resources remained concentrated in Istenkút Community
Association founded in 1997: moral, professional and social capital accumulated during the struggle, a
strong feeling of responsibility for the area's future. Due to a professionally well-established project2 the
organization was able to raise external funds from sponsors other than the City Government which
refused to finance local public aims, and they were able to build up again community feeling on the ruins
of community life.
According to the active core of the Association the success of the intervening steps taken by the
community – from bottom up, to restart action – is due to the scientific and evaluating survey,
examination and its "good sense for community" coming from personal commitment. With regard to the
results four factors, four intervening points are to be stressed:
– making new publicity (Istenkút Newsletter),
– making the community identity stronger through its hidden symbols, values and the enforcement of its
common affairs,
– reinterpretation of its relationship with the City Government (not only citizens' rights but procedures of
the local power's operation was to be learnt)
1
Negotiation, declaration of standpoint, statement, presence at commitee and public meetings, school council, collecting
signatures, press release, petition, cooperation and common action with trade unions, oppositional parties, protectors of other
schools that were about to be closed down, public initiation, Lord Mayor’s veto, petition for legal remedy addressed to
Közigazgatási Hivatal (Office of legal Administration), Ombudsman, ceaseless presence int he media, elaboration of
alternatives, what is more, in certain cases, misleading, libel, defamation.
2
Istenkút 2000- a complex civil programme for community development and regional development to reactivate local people
who were fed up with the past useless strougle. Its aim: activation of cooperative potential not for opposition, but for actions
crutial concerning the future of the area and itsinhabitants. Sponzors: DemNet USAID, Phare Democracy Program
– granting the continuity of the organized local activities.
Apart from these we have to emphasize the role of the external partners' financial support and
professional assistance, the permanent presence of Istenkút community in the local media through
numerous events, actions and programmes, and the role of the City Government providing a place for the
community's activities.3
The first essential and widely known breakthrough happened in the summer of 2000 when, celebrating
the millennium, a mystery play was put on stage under the title The Spring: the play from the legend
about the name of 'Istenkút' (God's spring or God's well) was written by one of the community members.
Kids and adults were working together on the performance. The open-air, musical performance on the
hills behind the school building, which, as an unburied corpse, was empty that time, had consequences
both within the community and as a theatre performance. All the efforts made to put on stage the story
from the age of the Tartar invasion communicated that following the dangers and threats Istenkút is the
source of a new life for the surviving community.
Results
Personal involvement is a prerequisite for active citizenship. It is about our own life. It is not a simple
school affair, it is an affair of our own school, our own dwelling place, our partners, our city, our city
government, and yes, our association through which local community life could be renewed and given a
new quality. The interpersonal relationships among people living in Istenkút and their awareness as
citizens are surely deeper than usual. This is the most important result of the community development
work in Istenkút which was initiated from within. In periods of crisis these appear as basic conditions of
the whole internally motivated process.
The school evidently could not be replaced, but the Istenkút Community Association established a
multifunctional institution (Szieberth-KAPTÁR Istenkúti Közösségi Ház – Szieberth Hive, Istenkút
Community House) in the building of the former culture centre of the city government, and made a midrun agreement with them.
As a result of the enthusiastic and at the same time conscious developmental work and the voluntary
impulse springing from inner devotion, a communal institution was founded with a wide range of
activities, information centre, for employment, social welfare, youth, cultural and family problems, which
is weekly used by about 100-150 people, but on special occasions 150-200 people may participate.
The local association has a well trained, professional management accepted even by the City Government
as a negotiating partner.
Lessons learned
If we look back upon the Istenkút story, not from the perspective of the school (in which case we may
speak about mere failure, serious defeat), but from the perspective of the liberation and use of community
resources of a clear-cut district, we may speak about success. What does this success lie in? Something
expressible in figures today, a few years ago was still quite obvious and natural. When there was a school,
a hundred families contacted with each other every day. Yet, there is a basic difference: when the
children's parents contacted with each other, their meeting was due to the educational institution, and
there was always some air of compulsion in the celebrations and programmes organized by the school.
Such an institution under the authority of the City Government is obviously exposed to external sources –
the proof of it is the closure of the school (for instance even the donated equipment's entered the stocklist
of the City Government, and as such could be taken away).
After the closure of the school the action launched to build a new community went back to its traditions
(reasonable handling of conflicts based on former experiences), on the other hand the voluntary nature of
3
Due to a contract of loan for use, the organization got hold of an office in the sidebuilding of the school.
activities had a new essential role, also the awoken needs and intention, an own internal, undepriveable
positive attitude which – together with pride coming from previous injuries – conveys the joy of
independence.
Contacts information
Peter Peták
Association for the Community of Istenkút
Fábián Béla u. 7.
7635 Pécs
Tel./fax: (0036) 72/510-305, 510-306
E-mail: istenkut@galamb.net