We are highlighting the Gyökerek Camp, an initiative of the St Ignatius Jesuit College in Budapest that has been offering disadvantaged young people from Hungarian communities beyond the country’s borders the opportunity to travel, discover new experiences and build meaningful relationships for more than two decades. We have adapted this article from the website of the Hungarian Jesuits to share the story of a programme that puts care, inclusion and community at the heart of its work with young people.

Every summer, the voices of around forty young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across Hungary’s neighbouring regions fill the otherwise quiet building of the St Ignatius Jesuit College in Budapest. Teenagers from Transylvania, Transcarpathia, southern Slovakia and Vojvodina come together for the Gyökerek Camp, one of the College’s longest-running initiatives. Now in its 23rd year, the camp offers young people who might otherwise have little opportunity to travel or attend a summer camp the chance to discover Hungary, experience new places and build friendships across borders. Organised voluntarily by former and current members of the College and their friends, with the support of the Jesuit Province of Hungary, the ten-day experience is also a deeply meaningful one for the organisers themselves.

The camp combines a rich programme of excursions, cultural experiences, games and outdoor activities. This year, participants visited the House of Music Hungary, the Budapest Zoo and the Capital Circus, explored Buda Castle and the Basilica of Esztergom, and visited Tihany Benedictine Abbey. They also toured the Hungarian Parliament and Matthias Church, travelled by chairlift and summer toboggan, crossed Lake Balaton by ferry and took a boat trip on the Danube. Yet beyond the many adventures, one of the camp’s greatest strengths is the community that develops among the young people and the volunteers. Despite meeting for only one camp, participants from different countries quickly form friendships, discover shared interests and become a close-knit group, while everyone contributes in their own way to the life of the camp.

At the heart of Gyökerek Camp is a spirit of personal attention and genuine care, reflecting an important dimension of Jesuit spirituality. Many of the young people arrive from difficult circumstances, but the camp offers them an opportunity to begin afresh, to connect with others and to experience themselves as valued, welcomed and loved. Evening prayer, together with the opening and closing Masses, gives the camp an explicitly spiritual dimension, with Jesuits also joining the young people and organisers during these celebrations. In this way, Gyökerek Camp is about much more than a summer holiday: it creates a space where young people can discover belonging, encounter others across borders and experience the care of a community that sees and values each person.