Roma in Central and Eastern Europe

News / The 3rd European Public Health Conference again opened space for discussions for the health inequalities Roma in Central and Eastern Europe face

The 3rd European Public Health Conference organized by EUPHA took place in Amsterdam from November 10th to 13th. It gathered more than 1600 participants from around the world. Following the tradition established already during the previous conferences the Public health program of OSI together with EUPHA supported the participation of Roma activists from Eastern Europe in the poster and workshop sessions. Moreover, a special workshop focusing on closing the Roma health gap was additionally held on November 13. The workshop ‘Closing the health gap:addressing inequalities and inequality faced by Roma in health care’ enjoyed a significant interest having more than 40 participants from various backrounds: researchers, practitioners, Roma activists and representatives of different institutions including representatives of DG SANCO of the European Commission. The three presentations in the session included: Fighting inequalities in access to health care for Roma with Roma in Romania (Simona Barbu, Romani CRISS), The transformative policy switch: using a human security approach to tackle health inequalities in relation to Roma – the Romanian case(Romanita Iordache, OSI) and National-level advocacy for including Roma in the design, implementation and evaluation of health policies affecting them (Teodora Krumova, Center Amalipe). Simona Barbu presented the 15-year experience of Romani CRISS in introducing and promoting the position of the Roma health mediators. Starting from 25  the health mediators in Romania are now around 600. The good practice has been taken over by the Romanian government, but the Roma NGO has preserved its function for providing trainings and support of the health mediators. Romanita Iordache presented the OSI/REF program „Roma Leadership in Health: A Generation of New Professionals” together with three students grantees of the program in Romania. She underlined the undoubtful effect of the program in terms of establishing of a critical mass of Roma working in the field of health care and at the same time qualifying and capacitiating a generation of high-level Roma health professionals. The results of the two-year experience in Romania are already several students with outstending results in national and international competitions, scholarship programs and conferences. The challenge before the program in Romania now is to overcome the difficulties in implementing a European Social Fund project since the Structural funds are taking over the financing of the Program.

In turn, Teodora Krumova presented the experience and efforts of Center Amalipe for advocating for mainstreaming Roma issues in the health policy in Bulgaria and guaranteeing the Roma participation at all levels: from the decision-making process to monitoring and evaluation. In her speech she welcomed the position of the the representative of the Inequality unit of DG Sanco Charles Prize who had previously underlined during the plenary sessions the need for closer participation with NGOs for closing the health gaps and overcoming inequalities. She further refered to one of the conclusions from the previous-day workshops ‘Us vs. Them’ that in order to overcome this barrier community advocates were needed. Teodora Krumova presented the experience of Center Amalipe in two major policy directions: mainstreaming Roma issues in the National Health Map and providing supporting activities for overcoming health inequalities through the Structural funds. At present two major operations have been proposed for discussion  for the next Monitoring Committee of the Human Resources Development Operational Program  to be held on December 1st, 2010: Operation within priority axis 4: Improving the access to university education for students from vulnerable ethnic minority groups with special focus on Roma (providing sustainability for the Scholarship program supporting Roma medical students, and Operation within priority axis 5: Improving the access to healthcare in neighbourhoods populated by representatives of socially excluded groups with special focus on Roma.

Charlses Prise congratulated Center Amalipe and the Bulgarian Roma NGOs for the obvious success that has been achieved and shared that the formula of good cooperation between Roma activists, national government and EU officials should be popularized and multiplied in other countries as well.

An interesting discussion has been provoked after the presentations regarding the Program for Roma students in medical related specialities. Florin Nasture, representative of Roma Education Fund in Romania commented that all scholarship programs supporting Roma should guarantee that grantees preserved their relation with the communities and further contribute to overcoming the health gap. At the same time a Hungarian University representative shared the opinion that Roma do not need elite programs but rather programs directed to the most marginalized. The answer of Romanita Iordache however was a reference back to statement at the begining of her presentation that we should stop looking at Roma only as victims of marginalization but as potential which should be further developed. Teodora Krumova supported this statement pointing to some figured from the implementation of the program in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian case was additionally presented as a poster in the poster session.

 

Romanipen

ROMANIPEN, GYPSY IDENTITY

www.youtube.com

A thousand years ago various tribes from India began an exodus that converted them into a single and unique nation---the Roma or gypsies. Romanipen is the set of values or code that gypsies must follow to be true Roma, as they call themselves.

French Gypsies fight for rights in Bordeaux court

French Gypsies fight for rights in Bordeaux court

www.youtube.com

More than 140 Gypsy families have taken the city of Bordeaux to court for refusing them access to an adequate camping ground with sufficient clean water, sanitation and electricity. President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has in recent weeks launched a major and controversial crackdown on France's Roma Community.

Criminal Minds

Last night on the television show "Criminal Minds" a show about FBI Profilers hunting down some of the worst criminals in the U.S. the story was a "typical storybook myth" about the Romani. It followed a family who kidnapped children, females, and killed the parents. The girls had to be 10 years old because they were being prepared as a bride for the son. The show then traced this back for generations & used every stereotype it could, theft, superstitions, etc. This is an extremely popular show in the states. I was so disgusted, I don't know why I thought they would have had a little more awareness, why I am always so shocked, because the stereotypes are just too common, but I was.

 

Jade Lisette

EU Commissioner

November 16, 2010
Eu: Commissioner Reding to justice calls "scandalous" the situation of Roma in Europe.
"10 million people living in absolute poverty."

The situation in which the Roma live in Europe "is scandalous." It is the complaint that the EU Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, adopted yesterday in Lausanne in Switzerland during a press conference on relations between the EU and Switzerland.
"First of all it is a scandalous question for all Europeans," said Reding. "We in Europe's largest minority: 10 million people living in absolute poverty, without access to housing, which often lack access to health care," he said. Reading has found it particularly "outrageous" that children belonging to Roma communities do not have access to the school.
(Red.)

Kosovo

Dear friends,

I have my pleasure to announce our newly published report so called 'Repatriation Without Responsibility: The Nature and Implication of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians Force Repatriation in Kosovo', which was presented at the conference 'Ethnic Minorities- Challenges and Obstacles for a Successful Integration', organized and printed by Forum 2015.

The paper concludes that the re-integration of forcibly returnees will remain difficult due to the dismal conditions under which Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities live and it will only impose on the sharing of space and limited resources and it will weaken social cohesion and it may stir towards local grievance and inter-personal and communal conflicts, thus contributing to social instability in Kosovo.

Enjoy reading it and looking forward for your feedback.

Best Regards,

 

Bekim Syla,
RAD Center
Fehmi Agani street No 10, Prishtina

Canadian Roma Project

Overview:

Endemic discrimination against Roma appears to be growing in all of Eastern Europe. Attacks on Roma, open discrimination and abuse by government officials exist, and appear to be part of a broad social pattern of discrimination and marginalization which seems likely to continue into the foreseeable future. There is evidence that this discrimination increases at times of economic hardship such as extreme poverty, segregated schools, lack of employment all on the grounds of race and colour.
As more Roma settle in Canada, mostly in the GTA, we need to educate the public, especially other students as these children are being integrated into Canadian society.
In order to ensure productive and educated future Canadians, education must take place at all levels, especially at schools.
The Roma Community & Advocacy Centre of Toronto is offering a program to Canadian schools at the primary and secondary levels to acquaint students with the origins, history, culture and language of the Roma people. We also address the current situation of the Roma people in the former Soviet-Bloc countries which is forcing many Roma families to seek Convention-refugee status here in order to escape widespread systemic discrimination and persecution. We also address the issues facing the recent arrivals as they attempt to integrate into Canadian society.
A program was launched in 1988 but due to lack of funds is virtually non existent.
Let us help to ensure that Canada in not a place of hate & discrimination and that here in Toronto, the Roma will not be treated as the "Eternal Outsider"

Amnesty Appeal

15 November 2010

END SEGREGATION OF ROMANI CHILDREN IN CZECH SCHOOLS

Sabrina started school in 1998, when she was six years old. She was not treated the same as other children in her class. Her teacher never involved Sabrina in activities and never asked her any questions. She just used to sit in the corner while other children were busy with schoolwork. Her mother was then told that Sabrina must change to a special school for children with "mild mental disabilities". She was never properly tested for learning disabilities.

Sabrina is one of thousands of Romani children in the Czech Republic who were placed in special schools. In November 2007 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that such discriminatory placement in special schools violated the right of Romani children to education. Three years later, however, the discrimination continues despite the obligation of the Czech Republic to implement the judgment and allow equal access of Romani children to mainstream quality education, together with pupils from the majority and other minority populations.

Special schools have now been renamed “practical schools” but little else has changed. Romani children are still overrepresented in “practical schools” – in some places, they make up more than 80 per cent of the student body.

Romani children are often socially disadvantaged and require special support and attention, which mainstream elementary schools are frequently unwilling or unable to give. Pushing these children away from mainstream education seems to be an easier option. Many end up in Roma-only schools, where the level of education is significantly lower than in other places. Those who study with non-Romani children are often taught in separate classes or face discrimination in the classroom. Their rights are still violated at every step of the way.

Image: Romani girl writes solves a mathematics exercise on the blackboard in grade 3 of a primary school for pupils with "mild mental disabilities" in Ostrava, Czech Republic. © Amnesty International

"Fact sheet: Roma from EU Member States and access to benefits in the UK
November 10, 2010

This new factsheet by Equality, a charity that works to uphold and secure the rights of ethnic minority groups in Britain and Europe, covers the UK regulations on entitlement to benefits by nationals from A8 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and A2 countries (Bulgaria and Romania).

For more information on the topic contact Lucie Fremlova, Head of Programmes at Equality or visit their website. http://www.equality.uk.com/

Factsheet.

Fact sheet: Roma from EU Member States and access to benefits in the UK

 

This new factsheet by Equality, a charity that works to uphold and secure the rights of ethnic minority groups in Britain and Europe, covers the UK regulations on entitlement to benefits by nationals from A8 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and A2 countries (Bulgaria and Romania).
For more information on the topic contact Lucie Fremlova, Head of Programmes at Equality or visit their website.

Documents: 

Download the factsheet

Roma issue grows into common European problem

Roma issue grows into common European problem: VMRO deputy chairman

14 November 2010 | 15:27 | FOCUS News Agency

Home / Politics

Sofia. From Central and Eastern European problem the Roma issue is growing into a common European one, VMRO Deputy Chairman Kostadin Kostadinov told FOCUS News Agency.
About a month and a half ago the political party sent a letter to the European Commission concerning the Roma issue and it has recently received the reply.
“The EC answered much more quickly than the Bulgarian Council of Ministers, which failed to sent a reply. We sent the two letters at one and the same time. The EC’s reply is a diplomatic agreement that there is a problem and it needs to be solved. The EC agrees there is a problem, but does not take a stand. We wanted it to put the issue on the EC agenda, because we think the issue is not Bulgarian any longer, if it has ever been at all,” Kostadinov added.
Rositsa GEORGIEVA

Touche pas à mon Cirque!

Touche pas à mon Cirque!

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s clampdown against Romanian and Bulgarian Roma immigrants took a new twist recently when France’s only gypsy circus announced that their performers could soon be “invited” to leave their caravans for a one-way flight back to Romania. The French government has already paid for the “voluntary” repatriation of over 1,000 Roma back to the Balkans following clashes between the police and French Roma this summer. The performers at the Cirque Romanès claim they are next. “They want to put us in an airplane,” according to the website of the beloved circus a few weeks ago.
A poll this summer showed that almost half of the French support their government’s controversial drive, which includes dismantling illegal squatter camps. Nevertheless, resistance is strong amongst the French left and the Cirque Romanès is rapidly becoming a hyped-up symbol of the peril facing the Roma in France.
Why has a group of circus performers captured the attention of France? Although Newsweek has hinted that Sarkozy represents the new “extreme right” and European Commissioner Viviane Reding was reminded of the deportations of the Second World War, you simply can’t take a circus away from the Parisians. Certainly not the beloved Cirque Romanès, an old-school tented act that has charmed the city for almost 18 years with a frenetic combination of classic circus numbers and traditional Romanian music.
This Monday, almost a thousand fans and a horde of television journalists packed under the circus tent for a benefit show organized by the flamboyant founder of the circus, Alexandre Romanès. The Cirque is always a chaotic affair – jugglers, contortionists and trapeze artists vie with a 6-piece Southern Romanian band for precious space on the tent’s carpeted floor. For the benefit, it was especially cramped, with dozens of camera crews and photographers throughout the tent. On several occasions acrobats literally had to hop over crouching cameramen.
The city’s artistic bohemian elite was also out in full swing, providing plenty of fodder for celeb photographers. Actress/singer Jane Birkin was among the various notables that joined the performers. The show went on as always (see my hastily put together video below) but everything felt a little awkward with the surplus of media and celebs.

The media frenzy has reached such levels – a photo of a ten year old Romanès performer graced a major weekly (see photo below) – that the French government issued a statement the night of the benefit show. According to the Minister of Immigration Eric Besson, the circus organizers have engaged in a “gross manipulation” and their plight has nothing to do with the government’s “fight against illegal immigration from Romania and Bulgaria.”
In reality the situation is more complicated. Alexandre Romanès was born in France, making him, his Romanian-born wife Delia (and resident circus diva) and his immediate family of performers all French citizens. In fact, it is his five Romanian musicians (fiddle, accordion, trumpet, clarinet and bass fiddle) that are in trouble as their request for renewal of work papers was recently denied. In his opening speech at the benefit, Mr. Romanès, had no doubts why their papers were turned down after years of easy renewals. “It was the word Tsigane that caused the administrators to block,” he said.
The French administration has directly responded to the accusations, claiming that the circus pays below minimum wage, employs children and has unacceptable working conditions – the performers do live in caravans behind the circus tent. In an argument repeated throughout the French print and television media, Mr. Romanès has insisted that his musicians are well-treated, (“they are paid twice the minimum wage”) have free electricity and that his musician’s paper troubles have everything to do with the government’s efforts to combat Roma illegal immigration.
Since the government crackdown this summer, misunderstandings in the media have been rife. Confusion has been sown between French Gypsy, Romanian Roma, French Roma and so on. There are around 300,000 “French Gypsies,” known as gitanes, largely in the south of France. Most came to France in the 19^th century and form a distinct semi-nomadic cultural group of Roma that includes the Spanish Gypsies. On July 22 in the town of Saint-Aignan, a group of French Gypsies surrounded a police station to protest the killing of a young member of their community by a policeman.
Sarkozy’s reaction was immediate – he described “problems coming from the behavior of certain itinerant populations and Roma.” By “Roma,” he meant the some 20,000 Roma immigrants that came to France after escaping aching poverty and discrimination in Romania and Bulgaria. So, on one side there are French Gypsies who have been French citizens since generations and the other side Romanian/Bulgarian immigrants, who by European Union law can legally stay in France for three months.
A few weeks ago, a government memo that was circulated to police chiefs over the summer was leaked to the press, identifying Roma camps as a “special priority” for dismantlement. The government quickly distanced itself with the memo and had it retroactively modified to remove the nasty ethnic reference. Yet this only increased public misunderstanding of Roma, Rom, Roms, Romanian, Gypsy, Gitanes etc. It is gaffes like this that give credibility to the Cirque’s claim that their problems stem from simply “being Gypsy,” despite their French nationality. (Alexandre is a French Gitane and widely published French poet)
It remains to be seen if the media circus around the circus and its paper problems will help break the impasse. A petition has gathered well over 10,000 signatures and I’m sure Alexandre and his performers will continue to raise awareness of their problems, and hopefully shine some light on the issues faced by French Gypsies and Balkan Roma throughout France. (I’ve covered the plight of a Moldovan musician with similar problems in this space)
The Cirque and its performers reflect many common clichés about the Roma. The image of free-living, musical bohemians juggling in some caravan-strewn abandoned lot outside of Paris fits perfectly into our common Roma fantasy. Perhaps that is why they have become such media darlings. But isn’t this romantic/nostalgic image so quintessentially “French?”
I asked a circus worker if he thought the circus’ future was in jeopardy and he seemed surprised. “Of course, can you imagine a circus without music?!” I guess he took me for the dumb blogger I am, or thought I was. Little did he know I cameo as an accordionist/banjoist/guitarist/drummer in the smallest Circus in Paris, the Zebre de Belleville.
I remember the first time I went to the Cirque Romanès. I was fascinated by the well-behaved kids in the audience enjoying old timey Romanian music and classic circus acts. I couldn’t help think, “jeez this is the coolest country.” A few years later, when I found myself playing Romanian accordion in a dimly lit Paris circus I felt like this New Yorker had truly integrated and was on track to becoming French, or at least my conception of what seemed so quintessentially French.
Maybe I was wrong…

Staying with the Roma.

Staying with the Roma.

We stayed with the Gabori family, Gabi, Ghizele, Gabrielle, and Gabi, on a rural homestay arranged by Tigani Tours. Gabi, the father, is a tinsmith, a highly respectable trade in Roma society (that's gypsy to our American friends).  

After meeting the family and settling into our rooms, we drove an hour to another Roma family who was hosting a birthday party for one of our group, Laura.  The party was in a remote Roma village, where the entire village came out for the food, music and dancing. 

They had musicians and a traditional dance group that entertained us.  After the Roma danced for us, then we all danced the afternoon away while we waited for dinner to cook.   

They grilled meats, and even sacrificed a rabbit to honor our birthday guest.  Someone brought the biggest fish I’ve ever seen, caught that morning in a local lake.

The party wound down about sunset, and all the tourists went to the Gabori home to their beds.  The next day, the girls tried on traditional Roma clothing before we left for our world. Ghizelle sells these dresses and proudly showed the craft and detail that goes into each one.

Visiting a Roma village for 24 hours was like dropping into a vortex where everything is upside down.  Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” The Roma experience great discrimination in Eastern Europe and make no effort to assimilate into the larger culture.  The purpose of Tigani Tours was a cultural exchange to create greater understanding of the Roma among non-Roma, and greater understanding of non-Roma among the Roma.

It was clear that they were sharing their family with us, accepting us into their family.  One of the many highlights was sitting around the kitchen table as Ghizelle showed us a box of family pictures, telling stories about each one.  At the end of our stay, they invited us back, saying "you're now family."

Family is important to the Roma. They don't leave their families, if one gets a better opportunity in another city, the entire family moves.  Their family roles are strictly defined: the women are responsible for running the household and the men are responsible for going out into the world.  So as we were introduced to the family, it was clear the father was the gatekeeper, and once we had made introductions, the women took over with hospitality.  Which included țuika (tsuika), a powerful homemade alcohol, at 10:00 in the morning.  The next morning we had wine with breakfast; nothing like sausage, eggs, and a little sweet wine!

It was clear to them that the girls would grow up to marry a Roma boy, at about age 14, live in his parents house and become housekeeper to the family until the couple become productive wage earners. At that point she would become the dominant women of the household. One daughter had recently married, and the fact that they didn't see her much was related in a matter-of-fact way: she's busy taking care of his family and can't come for visits.  The boys would grow up to live with the parents or nearby, if one already lived with the parents, and learn the same trade as the father.  Too much education for the children and they would slip away from the community, a fate they considered worse than death. 

Having a boy, then, is very important in Roma families.  Ghizelle asked Nancy about how many children we had, and when she discovered that we had one daughter, sitting at the table, and one boy, living far away, she expressed great joy at the fact that we had a boy.  (Didn't make Cami feel very important!)

Proud to be Bulgarian, European and Roma

Proud to be Bulgarian, European and Roma
We are either a "nomadic tribe" or an "incubator for generating crime". These comments made by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov last month in Brussels provide a glimpse into what it feels like to be Roma in my home country. Despite claims by Tsvetanov that the media had twisted his words, the damage was already done for me, for my family, and for the 800 000 Roma living in Bulgaria.

The European Commission called the Interior Minister’s comment "unacceptable" but I wonder if his remarks are also unacceptable for the average Bulgarian. Do we realise that the way Roma are treated in our country is not right? Why are we so quick to defend attacks on our national identity, yet silent on the treatment of the country’s largest ethnic minority? Instead of debating the validity of these statements can we simply think about how we treat our Roma countrymen?

In 2009, Bulgaria’s elected officials and the general public reacted with outrage when the country was depicted as a "squat toilet" by artist David Cerny. It felt wrong to sit idly by and accept such a stereotype.

The same is true for our image in Italy. Bulgarians are portrayed in the media as criminals and the vast majority of Italian news stories about Bulgarians focus on criminality. Of course, the average Bulgarian would never accept this generalisation. But when it comes to our stereotypes of the Roma somehow we forget what it is like to be treated in such a derogatory manner. It is easy for us to simplify our thoughts about a certain group of people when we read only bad news about them. But it is not just, it is not correct, and it is simply not right.

Tsvetanov made his statement without thinking about the consequences of his words. Later, he even claimed that it was based on findings regarding the number of registered crimes in the country. Well, one could easily ask Tsvetanov whether or not he knows the real number of Roma in Bulgaria so he could make a good comparative analysis of the number of crimes committed by various ethnic groups. But we ignore this point.

Why is it that when a Roma commits a crime he is labelled only as a Roma but when he wins a European boxing championship, like Boris Georgiev, he is labelled as simply Bulgarian? Criminality does not have ethnicity, and negative criminal stereotyping does not serve anyone apart from populist politicians. Yes, we need to open our eyes and look our problems in the face, but stigmatising Roma and blaming previous governments for failures of integration is not a way out.

Instead, we should look for solutions to how Roma can have the same opportunities, rights and obligations as the rest of Bulgarian society. Roma should not live as outsiders in ghettos and/or in segregated neighbourhoods on the outskirts of our cities. Roma should live together with the majority, and this will only happen when it is no longer acceptable for our elected officials to make these sorts of statements.

Has Tsvetanov ever seen for himself how a single family lives in a Roma neighbourhood? Has he ever asked them about their problems or the opportunities they have had in life before making such a claim? Roma, like many other Bulgarians, leave the country in order to make a better living. Most of those Bulgarians who leave the country are driven out by poverty. For the Roma the situation is even worse as their unemployment rate is the highest in Bulgaria. Roma leave Bulgaria in search of a better life because they face rampant discrimination.

We need to wake up and look around us and see what is going on. We live in a country that since 2007 has been a member of the European Union. Our government agreed to be part of the EU based on values such as respect for human dignity, liberty and equality. Everybody has the right to live with dignity in normal living conditions and enjoy equal access to quality education, health care, and employment, but the majority of Roma in Bulgaria do not enjoy any of those rights.

Our insistence on stereotyping the Roma is why they are seen as "strangers" by the majority population. These same stereotypes are those that led to Bulgarian parents in Pazardjik pulling their children out of classes with Roma students.

This is not how I imagine my life or my children’s lives. I do not want to look for opportunities in another country. I want to enjoy my rights and live in dignity as a Bulgarian, a European, and a Roma.

Mr Tsvetanov, we should open a dialogue and talk to the Roma. We need both the government and the Roma to work together toward successful integration and an inclusion strategy whereby Roma become citizens with a full set of rights. Today, the EU is giving us a hand. Mr Tsvetanov, let’s work together to build an open and just society where our Government is accountable for all Bulgarians – Roma and non Roma alike.

Every Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Child a Talker

Every Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Child a Talker (E-GRT-CAT)

Strengthening Children's Early Language Development

Ideas and fantastic resources to enhance Early Years work with children and families from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, focusing on Communication Language and Literacy (CLL) and developing home/school links.

"Every Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Child A Talker" is a project developed in partnership with Education Leeds Gypsy Roma and Traveller Achievement Service, Leeds Speech and Language Therapy Service and Leeds City Council Early Years Service.
The project is based on the National Strategies Every Child a Talker (ECAT) programme.

Read more about ECAT

"We need to create an inclusive learning environment for all children. All cultural backgrounds should be understood and respected. Children from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities should feel safe and cherished in school and therefore parents and pupils will be proud to identify themselves."
Lord Adonis 2008

See examples of activities that have taken place in Leeds which typically occur every day in Early Years settings and describe ways in which they can be used to promote children’s language development. They describe planning an activity and then evaluate the outcome.

Go to examples

A long history of racial prejudice and discrimination has meant that many Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families are reluctant to declare their true ethnicity voluntarily. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 makes it the duty of all schools and Early Years settings to create circumstances conducive to Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish Heritage feeling sufficiently confident to ascribe their children voluntarily within their accurate category determination.
"We must not allow another generation of Traveller children to pass through education feeling undervalued. All little children entering school for their first day have to feel welcomed. All cultures have to be respected, all types of homes have to be represented, everyone’s history and way of life has to be included in the day to day life of the school"
Joe Malcolm Wilson (Traveller)
National data reflects a significant gap between the achievement of those children who are ascribed to the ethnic categories of Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish heritage and children from all other groups for whom data is collected. Research studies have consistently identified Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils as the most at risk in the education system. However, research evidence also confirms that, when Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils are given the right learning environment and experiences, they can be equally as successful as any other group.
Implementing “Every Gypsy Roma Traveller Child A Talker” well can ensure that:

• Early Years practitioners provide a learning environment in which Gypsy Roma and Traveller children and their families feel welcomed, respected and valued.
• Early Years practitioners enter into genuine partnerships with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and their parents by creating a space for dialogue and listening to their voices.
• Early Years providers are supported in the development of a rich learning environment with relevant, culturally reflective resources, and creative and challenging learning opportunities for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and their families.

National Programme

Our local authority joined 96 others nationally in April 2009 and the Early Language Consultant for Leeds, Tricia Bell, is now helping to support lead practitioners in 22 targeted settings across Leeds to:

• share understanding about how language develops from 0-5
• interact with and talk to children effectively
• regularly monitor how children's language is developing
• support identification of children who might be falling behind
• consider how to get parents more involved
• design, plan and lead on language

The programme has been funded for two years and the ideas and principles will gradually be rolled out to other settings and providers, including to 22 linked settings from April 2010.

For more information please contact:

Leeds Early Language Consultant; Tricia Bell

0113 295 1189

tricia.bell@nhs.net

http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/

Read more about ECAT

Early Years – supporting programmes & resources - Every Child a Talker

Is It Free To Insult Gypsies In Dictionaries

Weekly Agenda

Ali Mezarcıoğlu
Is It Free To Insult Gypsies In Dictionaries 14/11/2010
An issue getting big reaction from Gypsy community is brougt to agenda with a news published on our web page. There is some words insulting Gypsies like randy, greedy as mean of the word Gypsy in a dictionary published by a private publisher. There are also some idioms, which is common among society and reflecting prejudices against Gypsies, in the dictionary. In addition that, one of the idioms is published in the dictionary even it's not common among society.
The idiom "Gypsy Faith", i only see it in the dictionary for all my life, is defined with those words in the dictionary: "Suspicious and fake faith". So faith and world view of millions of Gypsies have been accepted as questionable in a trice! It is indisputable that prayerful Gypsies from all religions have been devastated because of those insulting words.
It's possible to see uses of words and idioms insulting social or ethnic groups all over the world. Societies have prejudices about eachother. These prejudices could be identify with the name of one in the eyes of the other one. People who went to Germany from Turkey to work have been suffered by virtue of prejudices describing themselves as "Barbarian Turks". Efforts to change these prejudices are stil continuing.
Similarly, it's also known that people living in different regions of Turkey have prejudices about eachother. And there also some jokes and folk songs about these prejudices. However, nobody thinks to publish these prejudices in dictionaries. Nobody writes prejudices as mean of names of ethnic or regional groups in dictionaries. On the other hand, heaven knows why, prejudices are written as mean of the word Gypsy.
There were some insulting words and idioms about Gypsies in dictionaries published at 1998-1999 by The Ministry of National Education and Turkish Linguistic Society. These words and idioms were taken out from dictionaries at the end of legal action taken by Mustafa Aksu, one of the most important representeters of Gypsy community of Turkey. However, private publishers are continuing to publish these prejudices against Gypsies in dictionaries.
***
The publishers generally defend themselves on the account of the fact that words and idioms being published in the dictionaries are reflecting general perception of society. Whereas, these dictionaries are not only reflecting general perception of society. The dictionaries, being used in secondary education generally, also carry prejudices from older generations to new generations. When children, who have already been misinformed about Gypsies by their families, see idioms and words insulting Gypsies in the dictionaries used as school books, the prejudices they have about Gypsies started to be solidified.
We want to ask publishers who publish the words and idioms insulting Gypsies in their dictionaries. Please, put yourself in a childs place for a moment; a children with Gypsy origin and who is trying to have education under difficult conditions and poverty. Think that you have always feeled pain of prejudices about your society and suffered from discrimination. You have the chance to have education with help of some bonafide teachers and a few benefactor people. How will you feel when you see those words in a dictionary used as a school book?
"Gypsy: 1-A society whose origin is indefinite but being believed to migrate from India,..., mostly nomadic. Roma, Kıpti. 3-Greedy, Rapacious 4-Piker
Expressions:
Gypsy Loan: Small loan taken from someone.
Gypsy Plays, Kurd Dances: It's used for blowsy societies and places hugger-mugger
Gypsy Tent: Scrappy, scruffy places...
...
Gypsy Faith: Suspicious, insecure faith.
Gypsyness: 1. Being Gypsy. 2. Being greedy 3. Being rapacious..."
How do you feel your self honorable publisher? I am not sure that you were able to put youself in the childs place for a moment. Let's do an easier testing for you. Please, put yourself in the desk mate of the child trying to have education under difficult conditions. What kind of standpoint will he have after reading the idiom claiming even faith of his friend is fake and suspicious? Could they keep their friendship easily? Please try to understand us. Do you imagine what kind of disasters could be existed from a "small" mistake maden by you?
We hope that sensibility of the issue will be understood by everybody. Taking out of these expressions would not trivialize the dictionaries. Further more we will have respect for them if they start to share our sensibility about the issue.
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Have a nice sacrifice holiday.
Have a nice week.
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