Roma family survives discrimination in Romania
“I know that school is their future and I make every effort to support them to study and learn,” says Dorina.
It is the last day of the school year and children, parents and teachers are gathered to celebrate in the culture hall of a village in northwest Romania. It is a time to display the fruits of their education, when the children show their parents what they have learned throughout the year.
“I know that school is their future and I make every effort to support them to study and learn,” says Dorina
Poems, songs and plays are put on to show children’s progress and also give them an opportunity to be praised and affirmed by the audience. The festivity ends with a message from the principal and an awards ceremony for best school results.
In the back of the room Dorina and her three children wait patiently for the big moment of the awards. The children are silent, filled with anticipation.
Robert is awarded for finishing third in his class.
"I’m very happy for Robert. He is a very serious boy and studies all the time. He deserves to live this moment of celebration properly,” says Dorina.
Tiberiu comes out sixth in his grade, while little Melinda receives fair results in order to graduate. Melinda looks fragile and uncertain about her performance.
“She is good at reading but she cannot concentrate on mathematics. Subtraction is difficult for her. I was worried that she would not pass the class, but the teacher said not to worry because Melinda is a good child,” says Dorina.
Dorina is convinced her children are suffering because their father is not at home with them. An alcoholic, he abandoned them several years ago.
“Tiberiu has frequent headaches and his palms sweat,” she says.
“I simply hope that my husband will recover from his addiction and come back home to his children. I believe that God can change his life,” she adds.
Dorina finds peace and comfort in her faith. Faith is the engine that keeps Dorina dignified and tall, a real pillar and a strong support for her children.
Dorina struggles to raise her children by herself. Like many other villagers, she is unemployed due to the scarcity of jobs. People earn a living by commuting to the city of Cluj, which is 45 kilometres away from the village. Dorina has been unable to find a job that covers the cost of transportation, much less food for her and her family. As she has no qualifications, her earning potential is a mere US $30 per month.
She confesses she has problems even finding positions without many qualifications. A World Vision social worker has helped her in this endeavor through phone calls and meetings with potential employers.
“Only part time jobs and jobs without contracts are available to Roma people. As much as we struggled, we were not successful to find a contract,” says Ancuta Dicoi, World Vision employee
“The majority of Roma people say that employers are reticent to hire them. Whenever employers see Roma face to face, they say ‘we’ll catch up with you later’, but the phone call never comes,” says Mia, a government employed mediator for Roma people seeking employment.
The only cash that enters the family comes from supplementary allowances for the children from the government, but the sum is less than US $100. It is simply impossible to live a decent life off this amount of money.
“I pick up medicine plants and snails during summer or I go to work in the fields for the neighbours to make some money for my kids. But during winter I have no source of income except for the children’s allowances. These kids eat only beans and potato soup in winter. Beans and potatoes are very important for us. They keep us alive,” says Dorina.
Dorina and the children live in a small one-room house. They have no bathroom. They share a small courtyard with extended family, including Dorina’s mother, a sister and a brother, each with their own family. They have no arable land, not even a small garden behind their house as is typical in the countryside.
World Vision helps Dorina find a way out of severe poverty. “We have offered clothes, shoes and school supplies for Dorina’s children. We also helped her with doctors and tests for the children. Melinda’s pupil is malformed and she needed tests and glasses. Tiberiu’s tests came out good, which led doctors to believe emotional problems generate his headaches,” says Ancuta Dicoi, World Vision social worker.
Ancuta organises support groups for mothers on health, education, the importance of involving parents in educating their children, and the consequences of verbal and physical abuse on children.
World Vision works with seven families in Dorina\'s village to support their children\'s education and prevent child abandonment. All these families are Roma, with numerous children and without any source of income.
“There are still several families in the village who constitute the lowest economic layer of society," says Mia, the mediator for Roma population, and a Roma herself. “They do not have a constant place of work. They try to earn their daily bread by collecting fruits and plants in the warm season, or scrap metal. But in the winter they have no money, except for state allowances for their children. And I don’t think it’s fair that a whole family has to live from money given by the government for children,” continues Mia.
The Romanian public system has tried to make progress when it comes to recognising the difficulties Roma people face in Romanian society. The mayor’s offices in Romanian villages have had a Roma mediator for health in place for almost one year. The role of the health mediator is to offer guidance and prevention advice regarding health problems.
“The most painful things to be seen in the field are the lack of medical insurance and jobs. These people do not have compensated medicine at hand or a free of charge consultation when in need. They do not have work contracts, or rights of any kind,” says Mia.
Mia believes finding jobs for Roma people will alleviate many of these problems.
“I do not think that children are discriminated in school because of their ethnicity. The problem is related to severe poverty - to the lack of clothes, shoes, and daily food packages they need to go to school and not starve from hunger. If parents could earn a salary they would be able to keep their children clean and dressed properly.”
Most of the Roma ethnics refuse to recognise their ethnicity when asked because the words “Roma” and “Gypsy” are seen as the worst possible labels. A single word can harm more than a thousand. People think anything bad that happens in a community is the deed of a “gypsy”, says Mia
NGOs working with the Roma community say they struggle with low self-esteem and the fear of recognising their ethnicity.
“As a Roma person, discrimination is something you are confronted with from the early childhood,” says one Roma person.
The Roma are highly heterogeneous, but they are viewed as a singular group and referred to as “gypsies” by outsiders. In a single city for example, the Roma can construct and maintain their community identities in different ways. Usually they do not mingle with each other, separated by invisible barriers. The “Gabors” are the most faithful preservers of their culture.
A recent UNICEF report released in Romania shows that children with AIDS and Roma people continue to be exposed to discrimination. The authors of the study notice gaps in the Romanian reform, including insufficient trained personnel, lack of professionalism, and lack of coordination between the specialists coming from different fields of activities. The conclusion of the study is that too many of these reforms were made under pressure, which led to lack of coordination and even contradictions in legislation.
It is the last day of the school year and children, parents and teachers are gathered to celebrate in the culture hall of a village in northwest Romania. It is a time to display the fruits of their education, when the children show their parents what they have learned throughout the year.
“I know that school is their future and I make every effort to support them to study and learn,” says Dorina
Poems, songs and plays are put on to show children’s progress and also give them an opportunity to be praised and affirmed by the audience. The festivity ends with a message from the principal and an awards ceremony for best school results.
In the back of the room Dorina and her three children wait patiently for the big moment of the awards. The children are silent, filled with anticipation.
Robert is awarded for finishing third in his class.
"I’m very happy for Robert. He is a very serious boy and studies all the time. He deserves to live this moment of celebration properly,” says Dorina.
Tiberiu comes out sixth in his grade, while little Melinda receives fair results in order to graduate. Melinda looks fragile and uncertain about her performance.
“She is good at reading but she cannot concentrate on mathematics. Subtraction is difficult for her. I was worried that she would not pass the class, but the teacher said not to worry because Melinda is a good child,” says Dorina.
Dorina is convinced her children are suffering because their father is not at home with them. An alcoholic, he abandoned them several years ago.
“Tiberiu has frequent headaches and his palms sweat,” she says.
“I simply hope that my husband will recover from his addiction and come back home to his children. I believe that God can change his life,” she adds.
Dorina finds peace and comfort in her faith. Faith is the engine that keeps Dorina dignified and tall, a real pillar and a strong support for her children.
Dorina struggles to raise her children by herself. Like many other villagers, she is unemployed due to the scarcity of jobs. People earn a living by commuting to the city of Cluj, which is 45 kilometres away from the village. Dorina has been unable to find a job that covers the cost of transportation, much less food for her and her family. As she has no qualifications, her earning potential is a mere US $30 per month.
She confesses she has problems even finding positions without many qualifications. A World Vision social worker has helped her in this endeavor through phone calls and meetings with potential employers.
“Only part time jobs and jobs without contracts are available to Roma people. As much as we struggled, we were not successful to find a contract,” says Ancuta Dicoi, World Vision employee
“The majority of Roma people say that employers are reticent to hire them. Whenever employers see Roma face to face, they say ‘we’ll catch up with you later’, but the phone call never comes,” says Mia, a government employed mediator for Roma people seeking employment.
The only cash that enters the family comes from supplementary allowances for the children from the government, but the sum is less than US $100. It is simply impossible to live a decent life off this amount of money.
“I pick up medicine plants and snails during summer or I go to work in the fields for the neighbours to make some money for my kids. But during winter I have no source of income except for the children’s allowances. These kids eat only beans and potato soup in winter. Beans and potatoes are very important for us. They keep us alive,” says Dorina.
Dorina and the children live in a small one-room house. They have no bathroom. They share a small courtyard with extended family, including Dorina’s mother, a sister and a brother, each with their own family. They have no arable land, not even a small garden behind their house as is typical in the countryside.
World Vision helps Dorina find a way out of severe poverty. “We have offered clothes, shoes and school supplies for Dorina’s children. We also helped her with doctors and tests for the children. Melinda’s pupil is malformed and she needed tests and glasses. Tiberiu’s tests came out good, which led doctors to believe emotional problems generate his headaches,” says Ancuta Dicoi, World Vision social worker.
Ancuta organises support groups for mothers on health, education, the importance of involving parents in educating their children, and the consequences of verbal and physical abuse on children.
World Vision works with seven families in Dorina\'s village to support their children\'s education and prevent child abandonment. All these families are Roma, with numerous children and without any source of income.
“There are still several families in the village who constitute the lowest economic layer of society," says Mia, the mediator for Roma population, and a Roma herself. “They do not have a constant place of work. They try to earn their daily bread by collecting fruits and plants in the warm season, or scrap metal. But in the winter they have no money, except for state allowances for their children. And I don’t think it’s fair that a whole family has to live from money given by the government for children,” continues Mia.
The Romanian public system has tried to make progress when it comes to recognising the difficulties Roma people face in Romanian society. The mayor’s offices in Romanian villages have had a Roma mediator for health in place for almost one year. The role of the health mediator is to offer guidance and prevention advice regarding health problems.
“The most painful things to be seen in the field are the lack of medical insurance and jobs. These people do not have compensated medicine at hand or a free of charge consultation when in need. They do not have work contracts, or rights of any kind,” says Mia.
Mia believes finding jobs for Roma people will alleviate many of these problems.
“I do not think that children are discriminated in school because of their ethnicity. The problem is related to severe poverty - to the lack of clothes, shoes, and daily food packages they need to go to school and not starve from hunger. If parents could earn a salary they would be able to keep their children clean and dressed properly.”
Most of the Roma ethnics refuse to recognise their ethnicity when asked because the words “Roma” and “Gypsy” are seen as the worst possible labels. A single word can harm more than a thousand. People think anything bad that happens in a community is the deed of a “gypsy”, says Mia
NGOs working with the Roma community say they struggle with low self-esteem and the fear of recognising their ethnicity.
“As a Roma person, discrimination is something you are confronted with from the early childhood,” says one Roma person.
The Roma are highly heterogeneous, but they are viewed as a singular group and referred to as “gypsies” by outsiders. In a single city for example, the Roma can construct and maintain their community identities in different ways. Usually they do not mingle with each other, separated by invisible barriers. The “Gabors” are the most faithful preservers of their culture.
A recent UNICEF report released in Romania shows that children with AIDS and Roma people continue to be exposed to discrimination. The authors of the study notice gaps in the Romanian reform, including insufficient trained personnel, lack of professionalism, and lack of coordination between the specialists coming from different fields of activities. The conclusion of the study is that too many of these reforms were made under pressure, which led to lack of coordination and even contradictions in legislation.
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