The Roma Project
Working with Europe’s largest minority
There are around 12 million Roma people in Europe. They are the largest minority group, they are not socially integrated and often live in deep poverty.
WHO ARE THE ROMA?
The Roma first arrived in Europe from Rajasthan in north western India and the Punjab between India and Pakistan. From the 11th century onwards they gradually spread their way through Asia minor – now Turkey – all over Europe. They were always considered strangers, and they didn’t want to be settled.
However, now they do, and most of them wish to stay in one place. Just a few of them are still travellers with their caravans in large family groups. But the majority lives in deep poverty in settlements without electricity and running water. There are three generations to every one of ours. They have not much feeling of property. Due to the general lack of integration, they have little civic sense. They are very religious, and normally accept the religion of the country they live in.
They face poverty, exclusion and discrimination. They have poor living conditions and little or no education, so that these inequalities prevent them from realising their potential in life and living with dignity.
The key to their future is to teach the children. Coordinating with governments and local authorities,
the Order of Malta aims to give them a future in their own country, with successful integration into local communities.
ORDER`S FOCUS
The Order’s projects for the Roma focus on seven areas of need in Roma community centres:
- kindergarten and playground
- hygiene and health facilities
- medical checks
- tutoring school children
- apprenticeships
- counselling for the mothers
- music, school and other activities leading to local integration
The most effective way to engage young Roma to learn, explains the Ambassador, is to encourage the mothers to send their children to school. “We counsel the mothers. And we train the girls to weave, the boys to do carpentry. We also educate the young in social behaviour, to build their self-confidence – we teach them to greet people and look them in the eye. When the children behave normally, people lose their mistrust of them, social prejudice disappears.
The Ambassador organised a pilgrimage to Rome a couple of years ago for 220 Roma from six countries. They had an audience with Pope Francis and met the Grand Master of the Order. “An unforgettable experience for everyone.”
Order of Malta projects are now underway in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Ambassador Salm is engaged in unifying the programmes in each country, to review successes and share best practices. Progress is already evident, heartening for the organisations and encouraging for the communities themselves, as they begin to see they really do have a future, too.
THE GOAL
The goal is social integration, whilst respecting the culture and identity of the Roma. By realizing the programme in the centers as mentioned these childreano get more selfesteem, are clean and friendly (hygiene) and much better in school. The dropout rate can be reduced by these activities to zero. Normally children leave school after the 3rd or 4th grade.
Steps to integration:
HOW YOU CAN HELP
DONORS
There are three groups, each offering support in their own way, all contributing to the success of the work:
For more information contact:
