Nitra
Man, 25, never officially alive
IMAGINE being told you do not exist. That is exactly what happened to a 25-year-old Slovak man who knocked on the door of the Nitra citizens' registry office, the daily SME reported.
Since the man's birth went unreported, the state never issued him a birth certificate or identification card.
"He came here with just his health [history] file, which said that he had no birth number," the head of the Nitra registry office, Viera Sklenárová, told the daily.
A birth number is a unique number that every citizen receives at birth. It serves as part of his or her identification data.
The Nitra man was finally registered at the office on the basis of a baptism certificate he recently received from a local church.
The man said that he was born in Nitra at home, rather than in a hospital, and that he attended public school in Nitra. Officials do not understand why the school never reported his lack of birth certificate or identification numbers.
Prešov
Slovak Red Cross lends a hand
THE SLOVAK Red Cross helped municipalities affected by recent floods in Eastern Slovakia by supplying humanitarian relief on August 20 and 21, Red Cross spokesperson Zuzana Babuš#í-ková told the press August 22.
The Preš#ov region was hit the hardest by floods, with 18 municipalities affected. In the district of Bardejov, in the villages of Brezov and the Roma-inhabited Laš#cov, the Red Cross distributed pumps, medicine and blankets, the TASR news agency wrote.
"The whole of the Roma settlement of Š#ariš#ské Čierne, including around 90 houses and nearly 130 wells, has been inundated. House cellars in the stricken areas remain under threat from groundwater seepage, and more local wells could become clogged up," said Babuš#íková.
In the Vranov district, the Red Cross supplied 60 hygiene kits to flood victims in the villages of Čičava and Merník.
A family of five from Preš#ov, who lost their home in the floods, received pillows, quilts, blankets and hygiene kits.
FUJARA becomes immortal.
photo: Zuzana Habšudová
Bratislava
UNESCO considers the fujara
THE FUJARA, a traditional shepherd's pipe decorated with carving, may become an official UNESCO cultural heritage object, UNESCO's general director, Koichiro Matsuura, told the press.
Matsuura said that UNESCO would release its new list cultural heritage objects in mid November. In addition to the fujara, 59 other objects submitted from around the world are being considered for inclusion on the list.
After a meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan on August 22, Matsuura praised Slovakia for the progress it has made in protecting its cultural heritage, the SITA news agency wrote.
Matsuura visited two out of the country's five UNESCO heritage sites during his stay in Slovakia: Vlkolínec and Banská Štiavnica.
Author: Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
