Slovak farmer tests people's honesty with his strawberry stand

Read a selection of short positive stories from Slovakia.

A Slovak farmer runs a self-service strawberry stadn in eastern Slovakia.A Slovak farmer runs a self-service strawberry stadn in eastern Slovakia. (Source: Pexels)

Every week The Slovak Spectator will bring you a selection of several short stories from across Slovakia in which pessimism and negativity are absent.


1) Slovak university in world rankings

According to The Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR), Comenius University in Bratislava belongs to 3.3 percent of the best universities in the world. The university ranked 661 among 20,000 educational institutions from around the world.

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The centre monitors four areas - quality of education (25 percent), employability (25 percent), quality of teachers (10 percent) and scientific results (40 percent).

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CWUR is one of the largest academic rankings of world universities, Comenius University spokesperson Lenka Miller noted.

Read more in Slovak.


2) Slovak's app helps people with facial palsy

Veronika Hudzíková from Košice created a digital rehabilitation therapist in a mobile application for patients with facial palsy, which is called FaceRehab. Thus, instead of exercising in front of a mirror, users of the application rehabilitate in this mobile application, while the patient is photographed by the mobile phone camera and analyses the mobility of the face.

Hudzíková was also successful in Paris with her innovation. At the European Innovation Day, she won first place in the field of healthcare.

She started working on innovations and improving the quality of life while still studying. She started the first projects, such as air quality metres or the application of Bluetooth transmitters used in blind navigation, at various hackathons.

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Read more in Slovak.


3) The return of a local legend

For the third season, farmer Patrik Magdoško from the Zemplín region, eastern Slovakia, has been testing the honesty of his neighbours and running self-service stands in the village of Strážske.

At first people told him that without a salesperson or a camera the packages of strawberries would disappear and his cash register would remain empty. He praises the principle of confidential sales, however.

The farmer wants to show the public that Slovaks are also Europeans and their honesty can be relied on. "It's time to trust people. We have been hearing for a decade that there will be a Swiss or German style of living and selling here. Well, unfortunately, it still has many mistakes, so we want to contribute with this sales philosophy to try to trust people more," added Magdoško.

Read more in Slovak.


Here's more good news stories published by The Slovak Spectator

  • Slovak Paradise re-opens with plans for payment terminals.
  • Slovakia sent firefighters and equipment to help Italy last week.
  • All roads lead from Žilina.
  • Slovaks are active participants in two ongoing space missions.
  • Popular brand's store to employ more than 200 people in Slovakia.
  • Bratislava has grown by 90,000 people in recent decades.

Funny meme for this week: Let's go back to where we started

The 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland and Latvia ended last week, and you may have heard Slovakia did not even make it to the play-offs. That's why Slovak people joked the other day that they would have to switch from commenting on the performance of Slovak ice hockey players to providing their expertise in politics, including the war in Ukraine.

Translation: Hokejový tréner means a hockey coach, vojenský expert means a military expert.


You can send me your tips on positive news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: yehor.zhukov@spectator.sk. Thank you!

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