To combat the poverty and illiteracy of Roma, social projects have been launched in some camps in Transcarpathia by the Emmanuel Association in cooperation with the international organization Orphan's Promise.
To change one’s attitude toward the Roma, one has to go to them with peace. But are they willing to accept our “peace”?
Recently I was traveling on a bus. In the vacant seat near me sat a young Gypsy mother with two children. She held an infant in her hands, and a three-year-old boy perched himself nearby. The woman helplessly looked out the window at the unfamiliar terrain, while the black-eyed boy looked at me. I smiled. Joy gleamed in the eyes of the child. In response, he laughed out loud. We would have continued to play had his mother not stopped him. Tired but sternly, she said something in their language. The child stopped and hid behind his mother. But not for long. From behind her shoulder his black beady eyes again flashed at me. The boy glowed with delight. He liked me. Again the Gypsy woman insistently yet wearily stopped the game. She then looked at me, smiled shyly — and then apologized.
I felt uncomfortable. Forgive her for what? For the fact that a white “lady” paid attention to her son? I suddenly had the desire to tell her something comforting, good, to answer her, but I looked at the dozens of eyes that disdainfully looked at the unkempt passenger and turned to the window. What could I say to her? That they are the same people as we are? That they are not the problem, but that the problem is in our attitude toward them? That the time is long overdue to build bridges of understanding and to consider how to respectfully share the territory where we live. Because we were both born on this land. Just that we were more fortunate. And what else? What can really be said to this young Gypsy woman in a packed bus? Nothing…
Gypsies. During the war, Nazi policy was aimed at their destruction. Stereotypical thinking of many “whites” condemned the Romani to persecution and physical punishment. Now, they have been all but forgotten, and are considered a socially unproductive nation. But they live — by their own laws. They have their own language, culture, and traditions, their own special original history, which others don’t care about...
Romani (or Roma in central and eastern Europe) are the descendants of immigrants from India. Their national flag depicts a wheel, a horseshoe, stars, and a moon. The wheel symbolizes the road, the horseshoe a horse, and the stars and the moon, the nomadic lifestyle. They are known also as Roms, Roma, Sinti, and Manouche (people). At the political level, the term “Romani” is used for all European Gypsies. International Romani Day was declared in 1990, in honor of the first major international meeting of Romani, which on April 8, 1971, brought together representatives from 30 countries.
The first mention of Romani in Ukraine dates back to the year 1501 when the Gypsy Baron Vasyl received a safe-conduct from the Lithuanian Grand Duke Alexander I.
The Roma communities in Ukraine comprise 47,600 people, but Roma civic organizations say the number is from 150,000 to 400,000. The biggest settlements of Roma in Ukraine are in the following regions: Transcarpathia (up to 30% Ukrainian Roma), Odesa, Poltava, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv.
Transcarpathia has small Roma settlements, which are made up mostly of women and children. They live in conditions far from civilized, and with strict camp laws. Organized charity work in some Roma settlements has helped them learn to live in society openly and freely.
“Poor people in need of assistance,” says the director of the Mobile Medical Clinic of the Emmanuel Association, Halyna Kucher. “It is hard not to sympathize with the spiritual condition and miserable existence of some Roma settlements. It is difficult to hold back emotions when looking at the half-starved children and adults, who in winter wear lightweight clothing and worn shoes, who have barely inhabitable homes. Many children have chronic illnesses. Immediately questions arise: What can be done? How to help? Where to start?”
“If you think that your living conditions are bad, then visit two or three Gypsy families in the Uzhhorod or Slaliav regions,” says Iryna Hlushkova, who spent time in Transcarpathia, shooting a film about life in a Roma camp. “A one-room shack where 14 people live without adequate sanitation, necessary food, clothing, or medicine – this is the typical situation.”
To combat the poverty and illiteracy of Roma, social projects have been launched in some camps in Transcarpathia by the Emmanuel Association in cooperation with the international organization Orphan's Promise. Education for Roma children has been offered in the “School of Life,” which also organizes an optional program, “Life in Your Hands.” Also, construction and renovation is underway of housing for the poorest Roma families, many of which are raising children with disabilities. For several years now, free medical examinations have been offered. A bathhouse with a room for hairdressers has been built, a well for watering gardens has appeared, and construction of a playground in the village Serednye has begun.
Another charity project is the agricultural program “Food Every Day.” The first steps in this region were very risky, given the climate, soil conditions, and the Roma’s skeptical attitude. Some people from Kyiv organized trainings for the Roma in agriculture, helped in the cultivation of land, and bought seeds and tools. Three years passed, and the once-virgin land is now covered in crops.
“My family and I survived this winter without starving,” says the young grandmother and mother of a large family Anna Surmay from the village of Serednye. “We almost ran out of potatoes. But I can boast of our winter harvest: we still have a lot of jars with marinated vegetables. This is the first year that we are not in poverty.” When asked whether she would plant a garden again, Anna exclaimed, “Of course! Just twice as large! My children and grandchildren ate throughout the entire winter! My whole extended family is ready to work on the land. You know, we never did this before...”
Integration of Roma into the society, of course, depends primarily on their efforts. On the other hand, the problem of poverty of one of the largest ethnic minorities in Ukraine is a big challenge.
The campaign to help the Roma is expanding. The project Food Every Day inspired many to believe in change. Last year, once-neglected land blossomed with potato plants. Then, however, there was no widespread enthusiasm among the Roma: only a few families decided to plant gardens. Now the number of those who want to work the land has increased.
This spring, more than twenty hectares of land were farmed; for comparison, last year only four hectares of land. This year, 164 families have gardens, while last year's season only 44 families had them. The number of villages where the project has been implemented has nearly doubled: from seven to thirteen villages. Overall, in the families who have begun to garden, there are about 1,000 children. But problems remain. And the biggest one is financial. Money is needed for such things as tools and jars for canning vegetables for the winter. More volunteers are needed.
The “aversion to Gypsies” generates many followers. If you ask about the nature of hatred for these people, many mention their lack of education, shabbiness, proclivity to theft and trafficking of drugs. The hostility toward the Roma does not solve the problem, but enhances it. Many volunteers who have been working for more than a year in Roma camps Transcarpathia said that they themselves felt wary. But upon entering their homes where there are no parents (who are looking for ways to feed the family) but mostly young children, often with unhealed wounds from past burns and injuries, hungry, naked, and sick, the “aversion” passed unnoticed.
* * *
...I exited the crowded bus, and the small Gypsy boy took my seat. From the street, I looked back and saw in the stained window the same beady eyes. I smiled and waved at the boy. The bus drove away. I went on...
My life changed from the moment I started to work with the Roma. I stopped stereotyping them. I feel comfortable entering their homes, holding their children in their arms; I can find common ground with them. For over a decade, I have a good friend who is a talented, open, and sincere representative of the Roma people, the wife of a pastor of the Roma church. This couple was very supportive and dear to me when I was experiencing some difficult times. I attribute this to the fact that they experience the world differently. They understand it differently. I think somewhere deep inside they bear the grief and pain of their people. Therefore, they can sympathize, weep, and rejoice sincerely—all from the heart...