World Vision provides tangible assistance to marginalized Roma youth to encourage school attendance and to experience life in all its fullness.

June 2007

By Laura Runcanu, World Vision Romania Communications Officer Contributing Writer, Janet Root — Assistant Web Editor

It's a rainy, bitterly cold spring day. Dirty pools of water pocket the muddy, unpaved streets of Pescari, the poorest neighborhood in Gherla, a small crumbling town in northwest Romania.

Several thin children dressed in tattered clothing walk barefoot among squalid huts patched together with scrap materials and clay. Pescari's lack of indoor plumbing and potable water lends to the sickening aroma of sewage that permeates the area — home to 150 Roma (often referred to as "Gypsies").

'This is a Wasteland'

"I don’t like this place. This is a wasteland," says a solemn Alexandru, 14. He is small for his age, as are most of the 80 children who live in this community where malnutrition is rampant. "I wish that I could live somewhere else: in a cottage, in the countryside maybe, or in Cluj, in a block of flats."

Pescari's deplorable conditions exemplify the hardships endured by many Roma that can be linked to centuries of ethnic discrimination. Conditions like these drive a major advocacy push of World Vision in Romania, which recently launched its Children of Romania Project to address the great needs of Roma young people.

Bullying and Discrimination

Most everyone in Pescari knows that going to school is important — it is the only way to obtain skills and find a job. Yet just nine of the 30 school-aged children in the community attend classes.

"They don’t have conditions to go to school, poor children," says Alexandru’s mother, Domnita, who attempts to explain the problem. "They don’t have shoes and clothes. They are ashamed to walk in broken shoes or wear rags. The other children would tell them, 'Go away, Gypsy!'"

Regrettably, outright bullying and discrimination is a centuries-old problem for Alexandru's people.

Roma History*

When they first arrived in Europe approximately 500 years ago, the Roma were called "Gypsies" in the mistaken belief that they had come from Egypt. Connections between the Romani language and dialects spoken in northwestern India, however, have since been discovered.			THE ROMA POPULATION Estimates suggest that there are between 15 and 30 million Roma worldwide. Ten million Roma live in Europe, comprising that continent's largest minority population. (Source: Microsoft ® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia)

Beginning in the 15th century, Hungarian and Romanian aristocracy, who needed laborers for their large estates, forced many Roma into slavery, which did not end in Romania until 1855.

In the 20th century, persecution reached its height during World War II, when as many as half a million Roma perished in Nazi concentration camps. In post-war Eastern Europe, they were subjected to government-sponsored assimilation programs.

Since the fall of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Eastern Europe has experienced a revival of more violent anti-Roma sentiment. Romani peoples in Western Europe also are under pressure to abandon their traditional nomadic way of life.

World Vision Responds

In response to their suffering, World Vision in Romania has stepped up its advocacy activities on behalf of this marginalized ethnic group. New initiatives include facilitating networking and capacity building among groups already working with the Roma.

World Vision's Children of Romania project outreach is designed to prevent child abandonment in maternity and pediatric hospitals in Cluj County where Alexandru lives. Social workers visit new mothers in their homes on a monthly basis, bringing powdered milk, diapers, food, clothing — even shoes for the older children to encourage them to stay in school.

Domnita has been a grateful recipient of this outreach, ever since her daughter was born 10 months ago. Today, though, she is especially excited for her fifth grader, Alexandru, who has just received new shoes from the World Vision social worker.

Alexandru's Dream

"I wish to become a teacher," says Alexandru, after receiving the new shoes that will help him feel good about attending class. "You have to go to high school and then to university in order to become a teacher."

In spite of the cruelty of the other students, Domnita encourages her children to study hard. "I hope that school will help Alexandru find a job when he grows up. He’s doing fine in school; he knows to write, read and make calculations," she says proudly.

*"Roma (people)," Microsoft ® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007; ©1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.