Craica1

�As Poor As a Gypsy� Dec/2006

�As poor as a Gypsy,� is a proverb still used in Europe � and why not. UN study groups have found 80% of Roma in East Europe to be unemployed. In Romania 88% are living below the poverty line. Almost 50% are illiterate or semi-illiterate. Their life expectancy drops 10-15 years under the general population, birth defect and infant mortality rates are rising. Tuberculosis is widespread.

Ready or not this year marks Romania and Bulgaria�s long awaited move into the European Union taking Europe a step closer to the frontiers of the ancient Roman Empire. With 80 % of Europe�s estimated 7-9 million Roma living in new or candidate countries wealthier Western European nations fear an exodus of �barbarous� Roma like that experienced in the mid 19th century following Roma emancipation in Romanian lands after 500 years of slavery and again in 1990 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. In an attempt to stabilize Roma nine East European governments, in partnerships with such heavyweights as The World Bank, United Nations, and George Soros�s Open Society, have developed a strategy focusing on Roma education, employment, health and housing in what has been dubbed �The Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015�.

For the Romanian Catholic institution Caritas Satu Mare �Roma inclusion� has been its approach since the fall of communism and religious institutions could function again. They began with kindergartens in much needed areas like the town of Ardud where Roma enrollment was drastically declining and hot spots like Turulung where hostility towards Roma exploded in 1990 with the burning down of 36 Roma homes and disappearance of a child.
Fourteen years since they began and the fruits of their efforts are just beginning to show with some of the fist generation finishing technical schools, enrolled in city high schools and two sisters attending university � almost unheard of here in Romania where only 1% of Roma achieve higher education.

Caritas program has been following their students like Melinda and Iliana Kardos out of kindergarten, assisting them with school materials, transportation cost and living accommodations. In return they will work two years in the Caritas program after graduating helping to fill the void of positive role models while proving that education is possible for Roma no matter what people say in contrast.
The poverty and indifferent parents is not the only cause for the escalating number of Roma dropouts, but also the school system and unprepared teachers. Valentina�s story, written by a Roma child now in the Caritas program is not unlike many others.

�I am 13 years old and a student in the fifth grade. Everyday my parents work from morning till night. At home we don�t have water, gas or electricity. Many times it is very cold. I do my homework only when I can.
In the evening when Mommy and Daddy come home we hug. We are very tired and say �goodnight�.
If I can�t do my studies I don�t go to school because I am too ashamed.
Because of many absences and poor marks I had to repeat first and second grade twice. Two years ago, in the time when I repeated the second grade, the school nurse came to our classroom and she found lice in my hair. She began to yell at me and it made me feel so bad. Everyone began to laugh at me and I was put to sit alone at my desk because no one wanted to stay near me or speak with me.
My teacher said that I can�t come to school anymore if I don�t clean myself because I threaten to contaminate others. Then I felt very bad and began to cry and I promised myself that I will never go to school again.
Mommy and Daddy are not able to help me because they don�t have time for me.�

In response, Caritas, in collaboration with the school superintendent, has begun a training program for teachers dealing with Roma children.

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