poverty and exclusion in europe – by way of example the roma roma

Transcription

2006
Colloquium and Symposium THEODOR-HEUSS-STIFTUNG
zur Förderung der politischen Bildung
und Kultur in Deutschland und Europa e.V.
Im Himmelsberg 16
70192 Stuttgart
Telefon+49 711 559198
Telefax +49 711 559207
e-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.theodor-heuss-stiftung.de
Colloquium and Symposium 2006
POVERTY AND EXCLUSION IN EUROPE –
BY WAY OF EXAMPLE THE ROMA
ROMA AND SINTI AS EDUCATIONAL MEDIATORS
POVERTY AND EXCLUSION IN EUROPE
– BY WAY OF EXAMPLE THE ROMA
Colloquium on the occasion of the
41. Theodor-Heuss-Prize Awarding Ceremony, 28 April 2008
Symposium, November 24/25, 2006
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Welcome
Antoinette Cherbuliez
Colloquium | April 2006
56
Greetings
Prof. Dr. Max Matter, Günter Saathoff
Welcome
Ludwig Theodor Heuss
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Greetings
Prof. Rudolf Sarközi, Hedwig Neven DuMont
The tasks of the Decade of Roma Inclusion
Dena Ringold
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Introductory Reports and Discussion
96
European Models: Presentation and Discussion
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Answers from the Field of Work
Nikolay Kirilov, Jennifer Tanaka, Costel Bercus
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Answers from the Field of Education
Adrian Adam, Eleonora Caldaras, Sabrina
Guttenberger
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Symposium | November 2006
Preface
Christian Petry
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German Projects
137
Workshops
145
Participants of the Symposium
Portraits of the Seven Projects
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Fishbowl “What Remains and how to Get On?”
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Résumé of the Day
Michael Klett
149
Portraits of all Projects
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Participants of the Colloquium
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Sponsors
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Short Vitae
188
Literature and Links
196
The Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
198
Support our Work
199
Publications – Brochures of Colloquiums
199
Imprint
Appendix
› Preface | Christian Petry
PREFACE
Christian Petry | Board Member oft he Theodor Heuss Foundation
It was not an easy decision for the Theodor Heuss Foundation to make “Poverty
and Exclusion in Europe – by way of example the Roma” its topic 2006. The subject is unwieldy, because the general knowledge about it is poor and moreover
because public reflection is hindered by prejudices and often by open hostility
towards “gypsies”.
“In any case it is rewarding to read in this documentation
that commitment is worthwhile.”
Also, the issue of “educational support for Roma”, which is a natural consequence when talking about sustainable development of the social situation of
Roma, seems to be rather discouraging because it often seems unsolvable. “Roma
and Education just do not seem to match,” someone told me when we were preparing this conference.
After having made the decision to draw public attention to the poverty and exclusion of Roma – Europe’s largest minority of about ten million people – the
Theodor Heuss Foundation was facing quite a difficult task. The Foundation did
not just limit its work to finding an appropriate prize holder and two suitable initiatives to trust with medals, but it tried moreover to find projects all over Europe to initiate an international get together for exchanging knowledge and to
transmit the message: It is rewarding to engage in social projects supporting the
Roma.
About 70 people met, first in Berlin and then in Stuttgart, the day before the
Awarding Ceremony, and got the opportunity to present their work to the public
and to discuss their situation. And, to not just start a quick fire, the Theodor Heuss Foundation organized a follow up conference six months later in the hope to
initiate a more sustainable development impulse. The Foundation based its proceedings on the belief that the educational problems of Roma are due to a distance between the families and the educational institutions which has built up over
centuries. In the eyes of Roma parents, the sole purpose of schools since the time
of the Empress Maria Theresia has been to culturally separate their children
from them. Therefore it is not surprising that such a gap has developed. Nevertheless, it is a mutual aim to reduce this gap.
› Preface | Christian Petry
One of the strategically most interesting answers that were given during the
exchange of experiences between the various projects was the fact that a professional training and acknowledgement of educational mediators is essential.
Hence, the Theodor Heuss Foundation put this approach in the center of the follow up conference. For this we were supported by the European Commission, the
Freudenberg Foundation, the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”, the Otto Benecke Foundation, the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation and
the Linden-Foundation.
The public reaction to the Awarding Ceremony, the Colloquium and the follow
up conference was positive and showed an interest. Of course, the prize holder,
James D. Wolfensohn, was a major reason for this. The Decade of Roma Inclusion,
which has been initiated by Mr. Wolfensohn and George Soros in 10 East European States in 2005 and manifests itself in the Roman Education Fund, was the
main act of support. Additionally, the commitment of the participating foundations and the public impact of the Civis media prize, which made the Roma minority a main topic of its European Television Award entitled “To give Roma a
Voice” in 2005 and 2006 and actively supported the Theodor Heuss Foundation.
During the conference the initiatives and projects had put up information stalls
where they offered an insight into their work. One visitor of this “market of opportunities”, who never before had been in contact with the issue of the Roma,
said after his round, “I cannot understand how it is possible that people do not
recognize or that they deny these dramatic problems when they see what is happening, and how someone can stay untouched when witnessing the courage, the
modesty and the creativity with which the Roma try to improve their situation.”
Christian Petry
Stuttgart, October 2007
In view of an approving public opinion, the Undersecretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development insinuated that his Ministry
will support the Roma Education Fund with 2 Million Euro. In negotiations, this
sum has been reduced to merely a quarter. Surprisingly, the support of Roma has
still not reached any political priority. Also, the news about violent confrontations in Hungary and Bulgaria are not interpreted as warning signals. It obviously needs long-term planning to fight poverty and exclusion, as experienced by
Roma and Sinti in Europe. Nevertheless, it is good to know that there are people
and initiatives, with which one can form an alliance. In any case it is rewarding
to read in this documentation that commitment is worthwhile.
› Colloquium | April 2006
WELCOME
Ludwig Theodor Heuss | Chairman of the Theodor Heuss Foundation
Ladies and Gentleman, I am happy to welcome you to our colloquium. We hold
this colloquium in the context of the 41st Awarding Ceremony of our Foundation. Today we want to discuss the situation of the Roma people and the possibilities to improve their situation.
POVERTY AND EXCLUSION IN EUROPE
– BY WAY OF EXAMPLE THE ROMA
Colloquium introducing the 41. Theodor-Heuss-Prize Awarding Ceremony, April 2006
I think that it is the basic values such as respect, trust, self-esteem and reliability which on one hand lead the way out of poverty and exclusion, and which, on
the other hand, are the inalienable fundaments for the functioning of democratic
civil society. I am very happy to ask Dena Ringold to talk to us now. She is the
Coordinator of the work for Roma at the World Bank and, most certainly, will
have many things to say to us.
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THE TASKS OF THE DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION
Dena Ringold | Senior Economist Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you so much to the Heuss Foundation and the Board of the Heuss Foundation for organizing this important day and for
inviting me to participate in the program. My colleagues and I at the World Bank can
not be more pleased or more proud that our former president, Mister Wolfensohn, is
being honoured with this year’s award and we also take great pride in the fact that
Pakiv is also a medal winner because we had something to do with the early stages
of that project. So I will introduce you to the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Knowing
that some of you are intimately familiar as participants and have been deeply involved in the process, but that for some of you this may be a new program, I will give a
bit of background in history on what the Decade is and then highlight some of the
achievements and challenges.
The Decade of Roma Inclusion was born at the Budapest Conference in 2003. It is a
high-level conference and it was the first conference held in central Europe on the
issue of Roma poverty and exclusion. For the first time the Prime Ministers got together with Roma to discuss the poverty and exclusion of Roma from a development
perspective. And in the preparations of the conference which involved the World
Bank, the European Commission and all of the countries with Roma Civil Society,
there was a really strong interest that it would not just be another conference, that it
may lead to something concrete and that there be attainable outcomes making really
a difference in the severe poverty faced by Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. So,
the Decade was conceived as an action framework to focus attention on improving living conditions in an enlarged Europe. And so it was thought of as an accountability
framework on the eve of the accession of the first wave of new member states because there was a recognition while the Copenhagen Criteria for European enlargement
had done a lot to focus attention on the issue of Roma in the region. The idea of the
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Decade was to set attainable goals which governments and Roma themselves could
hold to account. Following this Budapest Conference and after the prime ministers
had decided to launch the Decade there was a year of preparation with intense technical work involving each of the eight countries. Government officials and Roma Civil Society got together and defined in very concrete terms what the goals of the Decade would be. The areas of attention focused on employment, health, housing and,
seen as a real priority, education. Finally, on February 2, 2005, the group of Prime
Ministers and heads of states along with Roma Civil Society representatives reconvened in Sofia, Bulgaria, to launch the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The participating governments issued a declaration committed to close the unacceptable gaps between
Roma and Non-Roma and to do this they were implementing the goals that they had
set out in the action plans.
And now, a year and a few months later, where are things? Being an eternal optimist I think there are more good than bad news and there are some challenges. The
good news is that the Decade lives on and an event like today suggests that it is an
extremely useful framework for organizing and focussing discussion on the issue of
Roma in the region. It becomes increasingly integrated into country-level policy frameworks and a number of the countries have, since Sofia, launched major policy initiatives in the framework of the Decade which will soon be including housing integration programs in Hungary and Bulgaria, a major new social inclusion program in
Rumania which will focus on community development in pre-school and a pre-school
initiative in Croatia. The European Commission has embraced the Decade, which is
an extremely important development and indicates that it is a useful framework for
countries to program the structural funds which are coming into the new member
states and the soon-to-be new member states.
I think that another success of the Roma Decade is the success of the Roma themselves who have been involved in the Decade and we have living examples in this
room of people who were involved in the process from the beginning and then have
gone on to even bigger and greater things and carry the messages of the Decade with
them, including Costal Bercus, the Chair of the Board of the Roma Education Fund,
and Nikolay Kirilov, the Executive Director of Pakiv.
In terms of future challenges I think that there is a pressure which all of us feel
who are involved in the process, and there is the challenge of meeting the high expectations set by the Prime Ministers, attracting a lot of international press and attention. At the same time there is a frustration among many of us that things have
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not changed overnight. However, that is the point of having a Decade: It is a recognition of the fact that this is a long term process which will take ten years at least.
Therefore, maintaining the energy, the focus and the dedication is a challenge. And
there is a concern of weakening political commitment to the Decade and I think this
is also a natural development, given recent changes and some of the government’s
elections that have taken place. And this again underscores the need to build the Decade and the specific measures that are defined in the action plans into policies, into
programs and link them to longer term objectives lasting beyond an electoral cycle.
There has been uneven progress across countries because of that.
I feel that lessons and priorities are going forward. The first is a need to re-vitalize
the action plans and make of them living documents. They are extremely rich documents including detail policy proposals and they are an important starting point,
both for the governments but also for the international community as statements of
the priorities that each country has set for itself. There have been efforts since Sofia
to redefine the objectives and make them more operational, and this is an important
step. The second priority is the need to maintain focus on monitoring results and holding government accountable for these results and I think that this has a high priority for all partners. Third, something that Nikolay Kirilov emphasised to me last night:
The need to embed the Decade at the local level and to involve local government leaders in the process to bring the policies and programs down to a local level and to
translate the messages which are brought – national level and international level
ones – into local priorities. This is another important aspect which has elements on
the communication side; they need to transmit the messages of the Decade and highlight success stories. Finally, as a forth priority, it is necessary to build capacity of
Roma themselves so that they can be the real leaders of the Decade and I think the
kind of programs and projects about which we are going to learn more during the
colloquium are exactly the types of initiatives which will ultimately make a difference over a decade.
As a summary I want to emphasise that the World Bank remains solidly committed
to this initiative and that the legacy which Mister Wolfensohn left us when he left
the World Bank is something that we continue to support very strongly through our
operational programs as well as our analysis.
Now I want to say a few words about Mister Wolfensohn and his involvement in
Roma issues because I had the privilege of working with him on this while he was at
the World Bank, and it was really a special experience. It is an issue which he embra-
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ced and continues to embrace with great heart and conviction. I remember the first
meeting when we told him about a new publication that the World Bank was going to
launch and we suggested that maybe he might want to get involved in the launch of
this book because it was the first thing that the World Bank had done on the Roma
issue. To this his answer was that he did not want to do a book launch, he wanted to
make a splash. This issue was too important to be about just a publicational report.
He really wanted to get this on the agenda of governments and to get us involved in
the issue in a meaningful way. This is how he got involved in the preparations with
the Budapest Conference. Those of you who were there will remember how taken he
was with the presentations of the young Roma leaders. I mean, this was an event
where you had six prime ministers, international media, Heads of States, lots of Cabinet Ministers, but it was the Roma who were the VIPs to him. He singled them out
and then spent time with them at the event and invited a delegation to come to
Washington after that and rolled out the red carpet for them there. And he seized
every opportunity to raise the issue of Roma exclusion in his visits in the region and
his meetings with Heads of State. He brought great heart to the issue which still inspires me personally, and my colleagues at the World Bank as well. I also want to
mention that his wife Elaine was similarly committed and was with him every step
of the day on this and on her own initiative she organised to meet with Roma groups
wherever she went in Europe. And her particular interest which I think is one which
is close to a lot of us too, was and is pre-school education of Roma children.
Finally I want to recognise three other people who contributed to the World Bank’s
involvement in a huge way. One is Mister Johannes Linn who is with us today, our
former vice president. Mister Linn may not take this credit but I credit him with making it all happen in a way because the way I understand our involvement started
was that Johannes took Mister Wolfensohn on an exhibition we had organised on the
art of Roma children from Jarovnice in Slovakia, at the World Bank headquarters in
Washington. Johannes made sure that Mister Wolfensohn visited this. And then, after
seeing that exhibit, Mister Wolfensohn was very interested in knowing more about
what we were doing in that area. There is a picture on my floor of Johannes dancing
with a group of Roma children in Bulgaria and if you look at it you know how much
he cares about this issue. And I would like to mention two colleagues who also provided and continue to provide great leadership on the Roma issue and keep us engaged in a meaningful way. One is our current vice president Mister Shigeo Katsu who
many of you know. The second is our operations director Mrs. Annette Dixon who is
also member of the board of the Roma Education Fund and it`s to their credit that
we continue to stay engaged in the way that we do.
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ANSWERS FROM THE FIELD OF WORK
Access to employment and income opportunities. Approaches and methods for
Roma and other disadvantaged groups.
Jennifer Tanaka | Deputy Director, Pakiv European Roma Fund
I will talk about approaches to income and employment especially dealing with
models. In the era of increasing access to income and employment for Roma, we
can group approaches and methods in a region into three main categories: 1. access to labor markets, 2. enterprise development for individuals and 3. group lending mechanisms and other types of informal income-generating activities.
Nikolay Kirilov | Executive Director, Pakiv European Roma Fund
We three, Costel Bercus, my colleague Jennifer Tanaka and myself, have decided to give this speak together because part of the history of the Pakiv European
Roma Fund is the constructive debate and dialogue between the Non-Roma and
the Roma.
The Pakiv European Roma Fund is an International Non Governmental Organization, promoting the development of the Roma Civil Society and intercultural
understanding in Europe in the favor of democratic, social and economic rights.
In the fulfilling of this vision Pakiv has combined a number of activities including intensive capacity building of young Roma, facilitation of community mobilization and self-organizing and support of the community actions and to the combined social inclusion especially those which create new income generation and
implement opportunities. Pakiv is working with a network of young Roma in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The Pakiv European Roma Fund also offers a forum for debates and dialogue amongst Roma and Non-Roma. In building
this role we promote a process of greater shared learning and critical reflection
of the impact of policies and programs for the implementation of economic situation among Roma and other disadvantaged groups.
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Programs to increase access to the labor markets amongst Roma seems to be
the predominant approach in the region to address unemployment especially in
the context of new Structural Fund programs in new member states and we can
expect, I think, the same in the pre-accession states and in their future use of
structural funds. Many active labor market policies including public work schemes
which have become very popular over the last years provide welcome income to
beneficiaries, though it is still a challenge to provide permanent job perspectives
for participants. In this year a vocational training has become a key method employed, though a number of programs found that simple training is not enough.
Beneficiaries, especially long-term unemployed or those without much previous
work experience, have a better chance of integrating into the labor markets if
programs can include other capacity-building elements. In some cases, formal vocational training is also linked to paid work within projects and mediation with
other businesses to create access to secure employment. However, this is not always a stable job or access to secure employment, since employment is often crea
ted within projects, and expires once the projects ends.
In terms of enterprise development there have been a number of programs
over the last ten years to support the setting up of new income-generating social
enterprises by Romani NGOs and related limited companies. In some cases the
results have been limited at best. There are big challenges still to gain sufficient
clients to manage at local initiatives, to deal with market fluctuations and to
address the issues of social capital within communities and in the other wider
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social and commercial networks. Also there are still big challenges as many of
the Roma live in disadvantaged regions and local and regional markets are quite
weak and are non-existent or saturated. Still, even when the business and jobcreation aspect was less successful or only partially realized – the investment
into building capacities and experiences has been sustainable. Groups have been
enabled to continue to develop other ideas and initiatives in the communities’ interest and contribute to an overall process of development.
Group lending mechanisms employing moral guarantees among its members
serve as a good alternative for individuals without access to traditional credit
programs which often require stable jobs or a work contract or initial capital. So
far results are rather impressive in terms of repayment rates and the ability of
individuals to develop small-scale entrepreneurial activities. Group lending mechanisms which are relatively new in the area starting especially with the new
programs in Hungary and Romania serve both to pre-select promising initiatives
and individuals and to provide a guarantee for credit accorded. As well, in working together successfully, the method contributes to developing trust and mutual support among its members, a key value promoted by Pakiv.
Income-generating activities for individuals and groups can have a positive impact in creating new sources of incomes amongst Roma, though initiatives are
not necessarily meaning formal employment but providing income to meet daily
family needs. Ideally such processes should be looked upon as a step in a development trajectory – a first step among less experienced groups to grow into fur
ther development in other areas. They do provide help in alleviating hunger, in
improving local self-help strategies and in ensuring additional income. The challenge remains for income-generating activities to make the step up then, to formal business development. Especially here is needed additional investment and
also the ways to be able to enter and to find places in local markets.
In any case, it is very important to underline the social and psychological impact such programs can have on excluded communities. Support of local initiatives can serve to break apathy, to build social responsibility and trust within communities, along with a greater sense of selfworth among participating individuals.
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Nikolay Kirilov
In the historical moment when Roma from Eastern and Central Europe become
part of the European Family, we need more detailed information about the methods, approaches, achievements and challenges. The governments from our region have shown their political will to address the Roma issues such as national
strategies and commitment to the Roma Decade. And we see our role as working
to ensure and guarantee more effective implementation of this policies at the local level by identifying and promoting use of affective methods and I think that
we should do this more intensively and more to ensure that the people from the
localities, the local organization, the local authorities are understanding the
whole documents and papers that we are preparing.
Costel Bercus | Chair of the board of the Roma Education Fund
An overwhelming majority of the participants of the 2003 conference in Budapest, Roma in the expanding Europe, assigned the highest priority to Roma education and participants agree on the initiative to establish the Roma Education
Fund. For this reason education was adopted as the first of four priority areas for
action in the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The Roma Education Fund is fully dedicated to the fundamental objective of improving education outcomes of Roma
and reducing the gap between the outcomes in education for Roma and the society as a hole. To achieve this objective, Roma must be given equal opportunity in
accessing pre school and institutions of education at all levels. Roma must be entitled to receive the same quality of education as the rest of the society. Only
then will Roma youth be given the chance to acquire the skill required on today’s
labour market to reduce Roma unemployment and deep poverty. The persistence
of discriminatory practice in school admission, the misuse of psychological testing for assigning Roma to the special schools, segregating Roma and Non-Roma
will perpetuate the inequalities which presently are inflicted on Roma children
and deny the basic rights to Europe’s largest minority. The Roma Education Fund
has the means to make a difference. Our initial funding has enabled our staff to
process grants which support high priority initiatives in this area and we plan
to make programmatic grants that can attract substantial financing from others.
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Initially we started in eight Central and South-Eastern European countries participating in the Decade of Roma inclusion 2005 to 2015 but we are already in and
remain open to assist other European countries. Our board is actively engaged in
the work of the foundation, it provides guidelines and policy and grants-making
to achieve our objectives and ensure the efficient use of funds. We are committed
to cooperate with all stakeholders including in particular Roma stakeholders and
beneficiaries as well as donors who are generous to provide financing and support for improve of educational outcomes of Roma.
Now let me just brief you about the process of setting up the Roma Education
Fund for those of you who are not familiar with it. As it was mentioned the Budapest Conference 2003 resolved to establish the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 –
2015, but also to establish an international Roma Education Fund. After that a
donor conference was organised in December 2004 where pledges of 42 Mio. USDollar were received from private foundations, governments, international organizations and, of course, individuals. The World Bank undertook technical work
necessary for the establishment of the Education Fund in January 2005 with offices based in Budapest. The purpose of the Roma Education Fund is to contributing closing the gap in education outcomes between Roma and Non-Roma in Central and Eastern European countries.
The Roma Education Fund has three main operational primary functions. The
first is to instigate the public and educational sectors to help improve education
outcomes for Roma. Second, to serve as an information clearing house on Roma
education and to advocate improved education outcomes for Roma. The third is
to finance projects with Roma leadership and participation, programs that demon
strate sustainability and scaling up including contribution to policy reform and
desegregation. Priority is given to countries participating in the Decade of Roma
Inclusion with grants that can cover both, supply side and demand side, intervention, ranging from preschools to university education.
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ANSWERS FROM THE FIELD OF EDUCATION
A. Essential Experiences from the Educational Projects for Roma in Germany
Adrian Adam | Pedagogical assistant at the Daycare Center
“Schaworalle – Hello Children”
“Schaworalle” in the Romani language means “Hello Children”. For a successful and stable pedagogical work with Roma, and especially with Roma refugees,
the every-day life situation of the Roma is crucial: Status of residence (for without
a residence permit one is not allowed to work), accommodation, personality, health
and a secure and sufficient monthly income (because if there is not enough money, one cannot live properly). Another essential requirement for successful work
is the cooperation on an equal level of Roma and Non-Roma. We and the nativespeaking employees set a positive example for the children. We create trust, procure security and offer them the opportunity to speak about their experiences.
Another point is the mutual acceptance, respect and trust of Roma children,
Roma employees and Non-Roma. Here, the traditions, cultures, personalities and
life experiences of the Roma and the differing life concepts must be taken into
consideration. They can each say what is good for them and what they want to do.
Each of them decides for himself. Every pedagogical commitment also treats exclusion from the mainstream society: The engagement against racism and discrimination is an integral part of all our activities. The condition for the steady and
successful pedagogical work is a secure, long-term and sufficient financial support. We organize our work in accordance with everyday life and the life concept
of the Roma. The work with parents and families is the basis for our success. We
want to make them understand the chances and paths of education.
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Eleonora Caldaras | Pedagogical assistant at the Daycare Center
“Schaworalle – Hello Children”
I work at the Daycare Center Schaworalle. The pre-school time is a very important period for the child in the kindergarten. In our nursery school it is important that we have both languages, Romani and German, so that the parents can
say to themselves: “My child is taken good care of as a native speaker, it is well
looked after.” Children who seem to have language difficulties or are not integrated in their group get extra support and we see to it that they are well prepared
for school. At Schaworalle school children attend different groups. If the child is
in a group we do not want to know if it is a good pupil or a bad one and we do
not say “This child is bad; it must be sent to a school for educationally subnormal
children.” We do not do this, but we try something different. We see to it that the
child who performs weakly gets individual and native language support, attends
computer courses and is received into a small group, so that we can prepare it
for the common school group.
We are the mediators between the parents and the school and back up the parents in wanting that their child attends school and giving it their support. We
help the child with its homework and provide the material. But education does
not only mean school for us. We offer the children leisure activities, excursions,
computer courses, handicrafts, bicycle workshops and once a year we go on a oneweek trip with them. Moreover, we started a program for youths who did not go
to school from the very beginning, but only for a certain time, and who had to
drop out due to family reasons. In this program we offer them an apprenticeship
or an internship.
B. The educational work of the Regional Associations of the German Sinti and Roma
Sabrina Guttenberger | Mediator with the Federal Association of the German
Sinti and Roma, Baden-Württemberg
I am a mediator at a primary and a secondary school in Karlsruhe. Next to the
high unemployment rates and other social problems of many Sinti families, the
century-old discrimination and the persecution during the Nazi regime still has
an influence on the motivation for education. Lack of self-esteem and a deep mis
trust towards our society are a result of this. Because of the fear that their
children might be treated badly or discriminated, many parents are in difficulty
to let their children free. Actually, most of the parents want their children to be
successful in school, but at the same time do not manage to inspire them to sufficient self-confidence in order to overcome the deeply rooted mistrust towards
school. Thus, my work as a school mediator starts with information about the opportunities of education. I encourage the children to find out what they really
want to do and when they have figured that out, I support them by speaking to
their parents and conveying the new ideas to them. We sketch out a concrete educational plan, which I discuss more in detail with the parents, and then they try
to support me as best they can.
When I started my work in 2003, as a first step I took stock, visiting many Sinti
families in Karlsruhe, whom I met through personal contacts provided by the association. At the moment, I work with six children at school and support four
girls in their educational development. Obviously, the individual support during
classes and with homework takes much of my time. Advising the teachers and
talking to the parents are equally part of my duties.
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PORTRAITS OF THE SEVEN PROJECTS
During the Colloquium German and Eastern European Projects were presented
at information stalls. Experiences were exchanged in free discussions. Detailed
descriptions of the projects are collected in the Appendix (see page 149)
Regional Associations of
German Sinti and Roma
Educational and civil society projects
Association of German Sinti and Roma
Schleswig-Holstein; Kiel, Germany
Amaro Kher
From exclusion to educational
partnership
Verband Deutscher Sinti and Roma
Landesverband Baden-Württemberg;
Mannheim, Germany
www.sinit-roma-bawue.de
Colone, Germany
www.amaro-kher.de
Pakiv European Roma Fund
Leadershiptraining
Budapest, Hungary
www.pakiv.org
Roma Lom Foundation
Autonomia
Microcredits and qualification
Projects
Lom, Bulgaria
www.roma-lom.org
Budapest, Hungary
www.autonomia.hu
RAA Berlin
Qualification and occupation
in the social field
Berlin, Germany
www.raa-berlin.de
“Schaworalle – Hello children”
Education for all ages and
life-long learning
Frankfurt am Main
www.foerdervereinroma.de
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FISHBOWL
“WHAT REMAINS AND WHAT FOLLOWS?”
Moderation Christian Petry – Member of the Board of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation |
Johannes Linn – Executive Director The Wolfensohn Initiative, The Brookings Institution,
Washington D.C. | Gabriele Müller-Trimbusch – Mayor for Social Affairs, Youth and Health
of the City of Stuttgart | Szilvia Rézmüves – Pakiv Project moderator, Budapest | Sylvia Filipova – Pakiv project moderator, Sofia | Britta Kollberg – Executive manager of RAA Berlin | Naser Nuredin – Roma Sozialarbeiter, Hamburg | Jutka Bari – Pakiv project moderator, Hungary | Gabriele Freitag – “Remembrance and Future” Fund
Christian Petry
The question of this fishbowl is: Now that
we have learnt about so many different projects is there hope for progress, can we see
potentials for development, and what dangers for development do we anticipate after
all? Meaning: What gives us hope, what are
the difficulties? I would like to ask Mr. Linn
first. Mr. Linn manages, together with Mr.
Wolfensohn, The Brookings Institution for
Sustainable Development in Washington. So
his focus is probably more on Africa and
other parts of the word. If you look now at
these projects here, do you get the impression that this is something which is really heading in the direction of a sustainable development?
Johannes Linn
Yes, I think there is hope and opportunity in this wonderful collection of initiatives
and efforts which have been reflected here.
The biggest source of optimism for me is of
course, as always in these situations, the individuals and the people that have devoted
their lives, their energies and their own ho-
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pes to these particular initiatives. And look
at all the different places where all these
initiatives are rooted! It’s incredibly encouraging to see that people on the ground are
taking their own lives in their hands and
are moving forward. It is also encouraging
to see that in some cases there are clearly
links with what I would call “mainstreamlife« around the projects which is of course
terribly important for these projects: Actually to be sustained and to have an impact.
At the same time everybody that I heard
from also talked about challenges and risks.
The challenges and risks seem to have to do
mostly with the problem of continuity. Both,
people who are inside and outside the projects, may not forever be there. How do I
then make sure that, when I leave, something stays behind? The second challenge
of course is the question of financing. Every
single project has a problem with financing
– if not this year, then at least next year.
And the third challenge of the projects of
course is: Is there enough support and engagement by the system, by the people
around the project? From my perspective
the biggest challenge is probably awareness
in the environment, in the general society
within which Roma live, within which the
projects take place. If I just think about my
own personal history, it was only in 1999/
1998 that I, after 53 years of living, became
fully aware of the problem of Roma in Central Europe and I then went around with
the World Bank at the time and saw a lot of
specific cases which brought to life the issue and the problems. Then it was only in
reading about this particular conference,
this particular colloquium, that I started be
coming aware of the problems of Roma and
Sinti in Germany, and this after having
grown up in Germany, remembering that in
the “Kiesgrube” in Schondorf am Ammersee Sinti and Roma were living. Now, this
was fifty years ago and I know that they
are not there anymore. Where they are I
don’t know but they or their children are
somewhere (Zwischenruf aus dem Publikum: Hier!) Exactly, they might be here. So
the fact that I, being very conscious about
social issues, only just learned a day ago of
the Sinti and Romaproblem in Germany is
perhaps the best reflection of the ignorance
and the lack of engagement on these issues,
is perhaps the biggest challenge which all
of us have.
Christian Petry
We have here the mayor for Social
Affairs,Youth and Health of the City of Stuttgart, Gabriele Müller-Trimbusch. Mrs. Müller-Trimbusch, if you had all these projects
in your city, would you be proud or would
you be slightly desperate?
Gabriele Müller-Trimbusch
I would not be just slightly desperate, but
I would be quite desperate, because I think
that all these project have one thing in
common: – their approach is deficit orientated. This means, I am describing singular
groups of citizens or ethnic groups, always
according to all the things they cannot do
and I have the idea that I must develop a
program for what they should maybe do. In
Stuttgart we have 176 different nationalities and among them there are naturally
also Roma and Sinti, this is a matter of
course. In all those years we have relied on
an approach which is chance and resource
orientated, sometimes more and sometimes
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“It’s incredibly encouraging to see that people on the
less. It all started about 40 years ago when
migrant groups were invited to participate
in the process of political decision-making.
Stuttgart was the first city in Germany to
have a so-called foreigners’ committee, which
I had the honor to preside for ten years and
where I learnt a lot. Never, in forty years, did
the local council reject a proposal made by
the foreigner’s committee, which is today
called International Committee. Secondly, in
all the day care centers which are obligatory for all children, and for which I therefore
am responsible, we believe that the cultural richness and the variety in this city is
almost its greatest asset, the greatest gift,
and therefore, five years ago we have started to change the deficit-orientated approach
into a chance- and resources-orientated approach. This means that every child, the
moment it enters the kindergarten, will get
the same kind of language support, emotional support and cognitive support. All of
them are individually watched and suppor
ted. They are never separated from their
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group, but all the children in the group join
them in learning whatever is to be learnt.
Therefore I am convinced that the whole
budget for education must answer to this
problem, and accordingly the financial resources are necessary – on one hand to learn,
for one thing about Roma but also about
other issues. And from this the so-called
majority can profit a lot. It is the old subject: We fear the unknown, but when we get
together, we need not be afraid any more
and can instead model our mutual future.
This is how I would describe the situation
in Stuttgart. And these are the issues in our
daycare-centers, where, by the way, the
chances for education are the best. Between
the ages between two and seven years – this
has been proven by brain scientists – chil
dren absorb the widest range of input. If we
do not manage to put as much into a child’s
head as possible during this time, the chances for it afterwards will not be as good. We
must support the curiosity, the fun of learning and the life-long desire to change something, at exactly this moment.
Christian Petry
So, according to mayor Müller-Trimbusch
nothing special should happen for Roma.
She wants education for all, including Roma,
but nothing special. And everything we have
here is special. The mayor would not be happy to have a Roma Education Fund. She would
want an Education Fund where Roma are included. And the Decade was perhaps also
wrong, what do you think?
ground are taking their own lives in hand.”
Costel Bercus
Well, the discussion is focussing versus
mainstreaming policy. But the Decade was
initiated because of the exclusion Roma are
facing, so the Decade is the frame that is
supposed to bring a citizen’s minority as
well as the society in which it lives, because not only the Roma, but also the society
needs education. There are situations in
Eastern and Central European countries
that the Roma children are put together in
different classes in different schools just
because they belong to certain groups. So
this is one of the wrong policies which may
be permitted or not be permitted by different governments, by different political par
ties. The Roma Education Fund means to
contribute in this situation, closing the gap,
bringing children which are outside of the
society in the mainstreaming of the society.
When we talk about development – European countries are talking about undeveloped
community in the field of education, in the
field of housing, employment, health situation and I want to believe that maybe in
2015/2016 we can talk about or underline
the improvement that we made together
with our society, with our political and civil
actors. Opportunities – I think the Decade
itself is an opportunity with some governments taking part in this frame. And challenges: I think one of the big challenges in
these ten years policy were actions, were
even conferences or talking about how to
change at least the attitude towards Roma
existing in different European countries, not
only in Central or Eastern European countries but Europe as a family of countries.
Christian Petry
This is a nice answer, isnt’ it?
That is exactly the point. We must change attitudes. But you cannot bend an old
tree any more. The young one, however, is
quite flexible. And this is why we are so obsessed – let me put it like this – and so deeply convinced, that this must take place at
the earliest age. Namely at the age between
two and seven, before the children come to
school, so that they have the same chances
and opportunities like everybody else in
our city. And that it is not a deficit to differ,
but a treasure that offers cultural richness
to all of us.
Christian Petry
I think the question is how there can be
politics of desegregation and at the same
time special support for Roma.
Gabriele Müller Trimbusch
It is possible by not inventing educational
curricula and programs at the drawing board,
but by putting every individual child and its
education in the center of attention and by
watching it carefully. And when then seeking contact with the parents, we can develop an educational partnership between the
parents and the children in order to promote
a sustainable development of the child and
to provide every child with the best possible
start into school life. But this is a basic right
that should apply to every child.
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“Roma and Non-Roma can work together”
Christian Petry
There is the question if special difficulties
require special support. This is of course a
question for Mrs. Freitag, who represents
the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” and is ready to give long term
money for the support of Roma. What his
your opinion about this question?
Gabriele Freitag
I think that this discussion is very interesting, but it is important for me to say that
one has to want and to be able to recognize
the deficits. We have them here, and we have
them especially in the issue of education for
Roma, and I think that this fact justifies in
any case to build up special programs here.
In the two projects that I saw this morning –
Pakiv, this Leadership Program, and then a
job-creating project in Bulgaria – it was very
interesting for me that both participants in
the projects each emphasized how important
the contact to the non-Roma population is for
them and how important to develop their
projects in the context of this exchange. And
I think, that, as long this conscience is there,
it is realistic to have hope. It was good for
me to see that this is really about genuine
grass-root projects, meaning that these are
projects that start right at the bottom. And
in both projects I had the feeling that there
is a strong commitment inherent. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to talk about
problems in detail. In my opinion, it is important to find out if the Decade for Roma
Inclusion and all the efforts that are now
being undertaken are accepted sufficiently
29
among Roma as well as among Non-Roma. I
thought it was very interesting to ask in the
Leadership Seminar how young Roma, who
have left their community for a year and
then come back, feel. And here the reaction
was quite definite: It is really a very difficult
moment. And according to me it shows that
one has to start exactly from here. It must
simply become a success to achieve this acceptance for Roma and Non-Roma alike, to
really reach the individuals with their individual needs. And it seems to me, that, in
front of this back-ground, we are perfectly
justified in making special programs to promote seriously a group of individuals whose
deficits are obvious in a special way. However, I also understand your approach, Mrs.
Müller-Trimbusch. But I think that in this
case we can combine both approaches.
Christian Petry
It seems that there is already a lot of networking going on here. Let’s see how things
look on the other side. Now it is Szilvia Rézmüves’ turn, and I also want to ask her: How
is your reply to the question which is discussed here? She is project manager at Pakiv
and therefore she knows exactly what it is
all about.
Szilvia Rézmüves
Firstly I just would like to add something
to how Roma and Non-Roma can work together and can have results from positive
work. I think Nikolay Kirilov and Jennifer
Tanaka in their speech were showing to us
how they do it. Jennifer is Non-Roma and
Nikolay is Roma and they have been working together for five years for us, for young
Roma and now we are sitting here.
Johannes Linn
I think the discussion is very distinct because we get different perspectives, we get
the mayor’s perspective who looks across
the whole range of the challenges of a city,
and we get the Roma perspective which
starts with a deficit but then in all the projects looks for opportunities to build empowerment. The RAA project in Berlin, for
example, has exactly the philosophy of early child development that you stressed,
Mrs. Mayor. The other point perhaps is that
the German problem of Roma and Sinti may
be quite a different one from the Roma situation in Central and many of the South-Central European countries. In Germany the
Sinti and Roma (if my numbers are correct)
is a very small fraction not only of the German population but also of the minority population. I would still argue that it is important that you, Mrs. Mayor, understand what
the special issues and challenges of that
small fraction are or at least that your staff
understands it. You may still prefer to approach them along with everybody else but
at least you may understand the difficulties
that the Roma and Sinti children face in
that situation and that their problems are
different, especially when you approach
them, as you said you would, individually.
In terms of instrumentality maybe not selecting them out as one would in Romania
where the Roma are 10, 20% or whatever of
the population and in some areas in fact
50% of a municipality where the solutions,
the instruments are very different and in
many ways the problem is a very different
one. So it brings me back to the fact that we
can’t have a blueprint, we each have to have
a menu of experiences and options and buy
those options as appropriate. So I think it’s
a great discussion and just shows we need
to be aware of different sides of the problem.
Let me just add one thing. I consider it
very vital for people that they definitely
know they can stay in a city, that they can
live there and that they have access to all financial resources. I must tell you that here
in Baden-Württemberg the Roma people al
so were sent home (wherever home is). Therefore the Land Baden-Württemberg foun
ded a commission of which I am a member.
And the quote of accepted stay in Stuttgart
or in Baden-Württemberg is 54% which is
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very high. And the access goes along with
the access to financial resources, to any
citizen’s right. This is the base which is very,
very important, because when they know
that they are wanted here, that we want
them and their children to stay and that
they have the same rights that any other citizen of this city, half of the battle is won.
Christian Petry
Next to me I have somebody who also comes from Pakiv. I would like her to tell us
something about the experiences she made
when working in the project. Sylvia, please
share with us your experience. You were given the chance. Was it a chance and how so?
Sylvia Filipova
I am coming from Bulgaria. I have had
the chance to participate in the Pakiv program. Was Pakiv an opportunity for me?
Well, it was for me the biggest opportunity,
the biggest thing which changed my life.
I’m originally from a town in Bulgaria, Pazardzik, there we have a Roma community
where 40.000 people are living together,
Turkish and Roma. And before I applied to
the Pakiv program I have been a volunteer
in a local organization. And then when I had
the interview in Sofia, the capital, that was
my first time going out of my community
and out of my town which was a very big
experience. But after that we had the opportunity to study three months English in
Brighton, England, and that is an other opportunity to see other countries, other traditions, other cultures, to learn more. After
that we have been to Denmark for three
months; we had a leadership training, which
gave us the skills on leadership, writing pro
posals, making negotiations, making presen
31
tations and after that we had the opportunity to visit different projects and programs
and to see different models in Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. So you can imagine that
this is an opportunity that changed my
whole life.
Christian Petry
What made you proud?
Sylvia Filipova
What made me proud? Maybe I am selfish but I am the only person in my 40.000
Roma neighbourhood, who speaks English
and who had the opportunity to visit England and who had the opportunity to speak
to have discussion with the Mayor of Stuttgart and I think this is not a small thing to
speak in front of those people. What makes
me proud: That I have the skills and the opportunity to be independent – independent
of my (future) husband independent of my
family. If I want, I can come to Germany to
work here (I think without problems) because I know the language. I can change
the future of my family and of that I am
very proud. Unfortunately, there is not this
chance for most or all of the Roma girls.
Christian Petry
Are you respected by your community?
Sylvia Filipova
Yes, I am respected. That was very shocking for me: Before coming back from Pakiv
the Roma leaders (we have informal leaders
in the communities) were men, for sure
they should be men and be old (this conveys
that they have experience); so that was a
shock for me when they were speaking to
me, they knew my name, they were asking
about what I think on politics, the government: “Are we going to go to EU? Are we
going to be accepted or not?”. It is not usual
in Roma communities to ask a girl such a
question. And for my friends this is a very
big shock because I’m speaking about politics with old people.
Christian Petry
How could you!
Nikolay Kirilov
Dena Ringold this morning mentioned something very important: It is that we should
think how we can involve more the local
authorities in the debates about Roma problems and now here I see exactly this happening. I am happy that representatives of
the local authorities from Slovakia, Romania and Hungary are here and we bring
them into the dialogue. They will be in a po
sition to understand better the content of
the different documents and the papers
which we are discussing on the national and
international level, for the basis of co-operation is the correct understanding of them,
and I think that this is going to help us in
the future to apply these international standards at the local level. But of course this is
going to be very difficult. I think that one
of the biggest challenges that we are going
to face in the future is, how we should bring
more and more the local authorities, the local actors into these national and international debates and discussions.
Britta Kollberg
The reference to the cooperation with the
local administrations gives me the opportunity to get back to you desperation, Mrs.
Müller-Trimbusch. On the one hand you are
right, of course, because the current situation is not what we want to maintain. On the
other hand it is perfectly clear that to assume equality does not lead to equal chances.
When we are talking about cooperation with
parents, who are handicapped by language
and status of residence, special support will
be necessary in order to make it work. If in
Berlin the status of residence and school attendance are linked together – this works,
it is possible to secure the residential status
in this way – and if at the same time child
ren are deported directly out of their school
– they are taken out of the school and deported, as it happened many times this
winter – then this is a highly dramatic situation. I reckon that you did not have the op
portunity to visit all the seven projects.
Therefore I only want to mention that what
you have described is a mainstream approach, which we are all challenged and al
so obliged to support. Insofar not all these
projects are deficit-orientated, at least not
Roma-deficit-orientated, for our school system and our educational system have inherent deficits, and they need the competence
also of Roma in order to meet these deficits.
For instance, there is a strong deficit in the
cooperation of schools and youth services.
If today a project is presented answering
exactly to this, the reaction of headmasters,
teachers and agents from the youth servi
ces will be: This project, “Media-Roma”, has
helped our youngsters tremendously, and
these are youngsters of all kinds of backgrounds, to open new perspectives for them
selves, to discover the fun of school, to go
to school and to think about what, after all,
they can achieve if they finish school and
what they can do with professional perspec
tives. There are also other projects: In Ber-
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“I can change the future of my family and of
that I am very proud.”
lin we have Roma who work in language
programs for Turkish, Arab and German
children and parents. In short, the deficits
must not only be located at the Roma side,
but the chances are often to be found there.
This is exactly what I tried to say – that
an unsolved status of residence and lacking
school attendance and other related problems, that all these things are unbearable,
and I can only say that, here in Stuttgart,
every child attends kindergarten or goes to
school, no matter what his status of residence is. And, secondly, we do not deport
Roma in Baden-Württemberg until it has
been clarified where they will be going. Right
now, we are in the process of deciding whe
ther we should replace the deportation,
which is very humiliating for everybody involved (not only for those deported, but
also for the entire school class and everybody who knows about it), by a return advisory service, within which about 800 families
have returned regularly to their native coun
tries after having made, for example, visiting trips beforehand. This is one point. But
then I must ask the heretical question for
once: If school is so horrible for these young
sters, then it is not the youngster who has
to change, but it is the school that has to
change. And we do not have to produce
children who are right for school, but we
have to have a suitable school system for
the children. These institutions are not godgiven, but we can shape them ourselves,
can we not? But this means: Not the youngster has to be trimmed up in order to fit into
the school, but the school has to be adjusted to the life situation of the youngster.
33
Britta Kollberg
This is exactly the point. We have talked
about school development and the opening
of the schools, and about what teachers and
headmasters can learn for their management, for their teaching, for their leisure
and working processes from our Roma
colleagues.
I cannot answer this question, because I
am only responsible for young children, but
we do try to get our system and our cause
moving. Here in Stuttgart, the Land BadenWuerttemberg is responsible for the schools.
I am a municipal officer and I try, so to say,
to organize life from zero to six or seven
years. But this does not keep me from intervening.
Christof Leucht
Well, I think it is actually a good idea:
Away from segregation and towards providing education for all and thereby to give
each of them individually what they need:
Now, today Mrs. Gutenberger has explained
to us what, for instance, Sinti children need:
They need two things. For one they need a
mediator or a teacher who understands them,
who knows about the Sinti culture. This is
a difficult thing for Non-Sintis. But first of
all they need somebody who is a model as a
Sinti in school, and this is impossible for
Non-Sinti. So they definitely need a Sintissa
or a Sinto teacher; they need them so that
they can become as successful in school as
all the others, and this applies in the same
way to the Roma. And now we find that there are counties which organize themselves
exactly in the way you propose, German
Länder; Hamburg for instance has parted
with segregation and with the special reform. We just hire them. We hire Sinti and
Roma regularly into the school system, they
get regular pay, there is no project, no special support. And because there are no Sinti
and Roma with a university degree (or almost none) they hire them without a university degree. And my question is now:
When will Stuttgart employ the first Roma
teacher?
Jutka Bari
I am coming from the post-communist society. In my country they did a great integration with us; we had the chance to study
together with Non-Roma, and I was 14 years
old when the first time my classmate asked
me “Are you really Roma?”. The first time!
It took eight years for her to ask this question because until then we could study together without questioning who you are, that
was not important. But when the society is
changing the children’s mind about the
others, they have new questions and this is
generating a new thinking about the people
around them. So for me it is important to
create a platform where we can be together
from the zero age to the end of our lives.
That makes sense and this creates new policies in your approach for each other. And
being different is the most beautiful thing
in the world. We should teach our children
that being different is not bad but a chance
and a challenge to accept the situation. But
going back to the education policies: Now,
after ten years of the transition, we have
more segregated classes than at the end of
the communism. So the segregation created
a big isolation from each other and the
groups in the society started to be afraid
from each other because they don’t know
who is Roma, having lived together for centuries. The generations are changing. From
the past generation we cannot get all the
knowledge, so we need to learn day by day
when new things are on. And politicians
now are trying to promote integration and
it needs a huge amount of money to change
the society back again to the old kind of integration. And let’s say that sometimes too
much opportunity in politics creates not so
good results, because if the schools are free
to choose between too many kinds of educational systems, they can choose an easier
way for them, which might promote exclusion. So in some cases, the freedom is not
always the best one, democracy is sometimes questionable. This means that we
need to find those policies which are good
for all the kids, but because Roma are coming from a different social background,
they need some special conditions. This is
not injustice but only providing the same
starting opportunities with the rest of the
society.
Christian Petry
Thank you. I come now to my last Question. The question is: Are there any messages
to be conveyed from Stuttgart? Jennifer Tanaka, you have been the last days with 40
Roma in Berlin. Are there any result of your
discussions which could give us an idea
about a message from Stuttgart?
Jennifer Tanaka
A correction: Actually we were not with
40 Roma, and this is the beauty of our
workshop that now that we are actually a
mixed group of people from the local level,
including mayors, vice-mayors, schooldirectors, Roma activists and also Pakiv-Network
34
members and that is a step forward. Because one of the key messages in fact is that
we need to promote partnerships and dialogue at the local level. We need to have more
cooperation and concrete action which can
only result from bringing community groups
and local institution representatives together. During the discussions in focussing on
this, on local-level situations and models
and actions, there were some key messages
in the sense of where we need to go especially the Central and Eastern Europe, but
also in the context of Germany, and one of
those things is the importance of partnerships. It is also important to build the capacities amongst Roma groups to be able to
negotiate at the same level as their counterparts from different institutions at the local
and international level. At the same time
we realise that it is very much about personal relationships and it’s about making personal ties and the opportunities that you
have to meet with people in institutions as
a representative, facilitating these kinds of
possibilities just to come into contact, to
meet and to have dialogue, to build those
kind of personal relationships so that then
you can build programs and policies together afterwards. Also a big challenge and
still an issue for rural communities is the
information flow in countries which are often still quite centralised in the Eastern and
central European countries. And finally I
think one of the things that can be underlined here is really a very important message is that there are good civic examples
and good civic models and good civic practises around and we nee to find a way, an
institutionalised way to standardise, to scale up those kinds of good civic models within the systems of the ministries and the
institutions which run these programs to be
35
able to take those good models and civic
practices to put them at the systemic level
within the countries.
From the audience
My message is mainly addressed to the
German participants. First of all I say that
we have to create a consciousness at the
highest governmental level about the fact
that the Roma problem which we have in
Middle and Eastern Europe has to be mastered by fighting discrimination and exclusion. That Germany gets involved, but that
also Brussels and the European Commission do not see this problem as a mere prob
lem of the countries and leave it to them,
but that they commit themselves also in
this field, of course within the frame of the
system of competence. The second point for
the German participants is that we should
think about how, with private means or public funds, we can contribute to the Roma
Education Fund. There really are very good
options there. The third point: Being German I can say for myself that all of us should
simply not anymore deal with merely the
deficits, but that we should concentrate on
potentials of these people who belong to the
Roma and Sinti, and to promote their readiness for commitment.
Costel Bercus
My message from Stuttgart is: I can see
in Germany, and probably in other Western
European countries, that there is an interest in this topic, so that the Roma issue
can be addressed at different levels including political levels and Civil Society. And I
think today here we are continuing the process of analyzing or debating about the subject and finding ways to addressing more
effectively a way or processes. I also believe as an activist, a Human Rights activist,
that the Roma minority have to look at the
issue also from the point of view of the cities, the institutions and administration.
That they are the citizens of the countries
in which they are living. The degree of integration of Roma into the society could be
one of the indicators for democracy. And
the violation of children’s rights, the violation of health rights, education, employments rights is one of the concerns which
Christian Petry
Thank you very much. I make a point that
there are young Roma who want to talk to
mayors, who like to be invited by them and
who give the impression that they possess a
European potential. This is indeed a good
message from Stuttgart.
“The degree of integration of Roma into the
society could be one of the indicators for democracy.”
have to be brought into the discussion with
the political leaders. And as we have a few
of them here today, we have a good opportunity to raise this issue from the perspective of Human Rights.
Britta Kollberg
My message from Stuttgart is the following: The same applies to the Roma and
to the local administration. What we found
out in Berlin is that there is not one success
ful project which does not include Roma
and Sinti or the associations in their task.
But what we equally realized is that the suc
cessful Roma projects also include the local
administrations in their work, never forget
ting that these too need to be informed or
must be included in the work (like we did
in a seminar in Berlin) and that they too
need to be invited to participate.
36
RÉSUMÉ OF THE DAY
Michael Klett | board member of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
Ladies and Gentleman, I consider this day which I am going to summarize now
as something not uncomplicated. I think that it was not quite easy for you either,
considering the model which has been chosen – but which I do not criticize –
namely the individual presentation of the projects which we have each of us
seen at different moments. However, the day did not start with the projects, but
it had three successive parts:
The first part was the plenum, which we had this morning. There we were given the first “basic messages”. The most important message: That actually with
the Kopenhagen resolution for the European expansion the impulse was set to
get involved in the situation of Roma. This does not exclude the fact that there
have been initiatives before, but a concentration of efforts had its starting point
there. We saw what kind of projects were initiated by the World Bank and in this
context the name Wolfensohn was mentioned several times. We heard that not
only concepts were being developed, but that – and this can be included in the
canon of messages from Stuttgart – the World Bank wants to continue to commit
itself to the cause of the Roma. This is an essential point, because we have to ack
nowledge that one decade is not enough and I think that nobody can believe, after having seen the work done in the various projects, that the case of Roma will
be solved after only ten years. This will not be the case, not under any circumstances. It is a generation project and therefore it needs a sustainable motivation,
and this sustainable motivation has been clearly sketched out this morning and I
think we can be especially thankful for it.
Then we received an initial introduction to the various project groups. The five
main outlines which have been elaborated are education, schooling, work, residence and health. These central issues are to be found in initiatives of the most
different kind. To name a few: Civil initiatives, public, national and local initiatives.
Some of these projects have been presented to us today, like Pakiv and Schaworalle.
37
To this I only want to say that through the strategy which has especially developed out of the Wolfensohn initiative, and with the concept of the Roma Education Fund an organization has been set up which supports and promotes the national initiatives, but not only spiritually or with concepts, but also with the power
of will. Thus, it seems to me that not always mere knowledge, skilful cleverness
or professionalism, but especially the permanent will to stick to the cause is significant when we analyze this concept. By such things we are reminded, by the
way, that regarding entrepreneurship and charity, the American foundation concepts are by far superior to the European ones, that a completely different potential of ideas is inherent, and I can only say: We Europeans cannot be grateful enough for this great support which we receive time and again from America.
38
Another aspect which caught my attention was the question of micro crediting.
The example of micro crediting presents an instrument which also has been invented in America, being one of the most interesting levers to help people into
independence and into a freedom with which they can improve their own living
conditions – and not only their own conditions, but also other people’s, because
every successful person is a model for other successful persons. But if we now
see the conditions under which this micro crediting takes place, conditions of
poverty which we cannot imagine extreme enough – we have seen examples today, this is really shocking – its realization is really astonishing. The examples
especially impressing to me were the ones mentioned, with the micro crediting
in Hungary, where one can see how long it will take till this concepts gets a larger dimension. This is going to take many, many years. But I think that it will be
one of the very great hopes for further integration support.
By looking at the projects, which were presented to us today, a few points strike
us, especially insofar it concerns the assistance we get now from the Roma themselves. Mediation seems to grow into an instrument which represents a completely new kind of professionalism in the context of integration. It looks as if, in time,
this will become a kind of art. Thus, it is not only a craft, but it is really a quality
which develops slowly and which will – at least this is what I feel – become a
heavy weight, a strong power in all this integration work that lays ahead of Europe. We need to realize that the Roma are not only very important for the European continent because they have been (and still are) the first travelling Europeans
– in the meantime we too, as tourists, have become European travelers and travel
everywhere, but in times of the National States this was not so frequent. In my
opinion, the Roma are a key example for integration work in itself in Europe, and
this is so because they are genuine Europeans. They are not immigrants who immigrated from some place far away; they are Europeans already, and it is us who
did not make the adequate integration effort due to many historical reasons. But
now, it is about time that we make this effort, and, as I said, this professionalism
of mediation, which I have seen here today, is a very good start for a successful
integration, with which we can get on in this cause.
39
I want to leave it at these two special moments. There were many, many other
examples, which we were given. I now want to say something about our last round,
in which we talked about hopes and messages. What is most interesting and touching: This tiny dispute with our mayor about the deficit approach and the resources approach. The resources approach, which we practice here in our city, is
of course something wonderful. But we have to acknowledge that Stuttgart is the
richest city in Germany and that indeed it commands over all the necessary
resources. Also the many members of other nationalities and cultures, including
the Roma, in Stuttgart, are, of course, a resource, but then the money which is at
the disposition of this city is, naturally a tremendous resource. Every Kindergarten has really everything, and the city can give really everything to everybody,
and a great many things are done here. But do look at a small community in Bulgaria or in Rumania: Here there is really no possibility for a resources approach.
There you can only work with the deficit approach, if you want to put it like that.
40
PARTICIPANTS OF THE COLLOQUIUM
However, at the same time I think that the image of the deficit approach is not so
satisfactory, for I believe more in the resource which we find everywhere – I mean
the human resource. Actually there does not really exist a deficit approach, and
we can conclude from the examples that it is not the money that counts so much.
The important thing is the will, the positive will, and this can be deduced today
very clearly from all the presentations.
And now we come back once more to the messages. Since they will have to be
sent out into the world, I want to mention them once more. Well: A very important message is the claim towards public funds, the cooperation with the public
authorities, meaning community and state level, and the understanding of what
integration is. We can mention all the levels in Europe: The local governments,
the provinces, the countries, the states, these all together are Europe, the national and the European levels. In all these offices there is not enough insight about
the integration of Roma, let alone about the aspect that integration of Roma is a
key model for all the other integration processes. For this issue there is a lack of
understanding, and something has to be done about it. This is, to my opinion, a
very important point.
And last I want to say again that I really like this day with all the diversity and
intensity of those who are involved in the projects. All this does not only teach
me to hope, but, I think, teaches all of you to hope, that the process of Roma and
Sinti integration in our countries and especially in Europe, is on the right track.
41
Adam Adrian | Roma Pädagoge in Schaworalle, Frankfurt/Main
Szilagyi Alexandru | Bürgermeister von Deaj, Rumänien
Imre Balog | Vors. der Organisation der Roma-Vertreter Süd-Somogy, Barcs, Ungarn
Gyula Bango | Leiter der Roma-Minderheitenregierung, Szirák, Ungarn
Gusztav Baranyi | Leiter einer lokalen NGO, Szirák, Ungarn
Costel Bercus | Vorsitzender des Kuratoriums des Roma Education Fund
Tibor Beres | Autonomia Foundation, Budapest
Almut Berger | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Ewelina Biskup | Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Joachim Brenner | Geschäftsführer des Förderverein Roma e.V., Frankfurt/Main
Dr. Manfred Budzinski | Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll
Eleonora Caldaras | Kindertagesstätte Schaworalle, Frankfurt/Main
Antoinette Cherbuliez | Geschäftsführerin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Maike Cölle | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Miroslav Conka | Sozialarbeiter, Leiter der Baro Drom NGO, Spišska Nová Ves, Slowakei
Stanila Constantin | Bürgermeister, Iancu Jianu, Rumänien
Juci Csik | Roma Program Assistance Network, Szirák, Ungarn
Sabine Ernst | Leiterin der Kindertagesstätte Schaworalle, Frankfurt/Main
Heidi Fieser | Freundeskreis der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Silviya Filipova | Pakiv European Roma Fund, Bulgarien
Uta Forstat | Odenwaldschule, Heppenheim
Dr. Gabriele Freitag | Fonds »Erinnerung und Zukunft«, Berlin
Andreas Freudenberg | Werkstatt der Kulturen, Berlin
Hermann Freudenberg | Freudenberg Stiftung, Weinheim
Marco Gauss | Praktikant der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Dr. Pia Gerber | Freudenberg Stiftung, Weinheim
Zalard Gheorge | Leiter Roma NGO, Deaj, Rumänien
Ion Goracel | Pakiv European Roma Fund, Rumänien
Renate Graffmann | Vorsitzende des ROM e.V., Köln
Christiane Grau, M.A. | FH Konstanz, Studiengang Kommunikationsdesign
Sabrina Guttenberger | Landesverband Deutscher Sinti & Roma Baden-Württemberg
Julia Halangescu | Pakiv European Roma Fund, Braila, Rumänien
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Haubold | Freundeskreis der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Bärbel Herre | Flüchtlingshilfeverein Halberstadt
42
Herbert Heuss | Projektbüro zur Förderung von Roma-Initiativen, Heidelberg
Dr. Ludwig Theodor Heuss | Vorsitzender der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Ursula Heuss | Kuratorium der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Cornelia Holsten | Freudenberg Stiftung, Weinheim
Antje Hofert | Leiterin der Roma-Projekte RAA, Berlin
Christoph Höppel | Persönlicher Referent des Bundespräsidenten a.D. Walter Scheel
Valeska Huber | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Dr. Harry Hubert | Abt. Grundsatz-, Jugend- und Sozialamt, Frankfurt/Main
Marian Ikri | Sozialarbeiterin in Roznava, Mitglied der Roma NGO UNIVERZUS, Slowakei
Feraru Ilie | President of Humanity Rom organization, Iancu Jianu, Rumänien
Suzanna Isamilivoc | Roma Vermittlerin RAA, Berlin
Anetta Kahane | Amadeu-Antonio-Stiftung, Berlin
Karoly Kalo | Autonomia Foundation, Budapest
Dionyz Kemeni | Stv. Bürgermeister von Roznava, Slowakei
Amir Keri | Bonn
Rosel Kern | Vertreterin Rom e.V., Köln
Susanne Kern | Fotografin, Stuttgart
Rolf Kieser | Bürgermeister Brackenheim, Mitglied Kuratorium der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Angelina Kircheva | Roma-Lom Foundation, Lom, Bulgarien
Nikolay Kirilov | Executive Director Pakiv European Roma Fund, Sofia
Antal Kizman | Schuldirektor in Szirák, Ungarn
Elisabeth Klesse | Vorstandsmitglied Rom e.V., Amaro Kher, Köln
Dr. Michael Klett | Vors. des Aufsichtsrats Ernst Klett AG, Vorstand Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Britta Kollberg | Geschäftsführerin der RAA, Berlin
Miklós Kóródi | Autonomia Foundation, Budapest
František Kotlar | Sozialarbeiter, Spišska Nová Ves, Slowakei
Natalia Kovacevic | Dolmetscherin
Dr. Knut Krohn | Politische Redaktion, Stuttgarter Zeitung
Sebastijan Kurtisi | Roma Aktivist, Direktor Roma Union Grenzland, Aachen
Genko Kuzarow | Dolmetscher, Bulgarien
Christoph Leucht | Consultant der Freudenberg Stiftung, Weinheim
Florian Lindemann | Deutscher Kinderschutzbund, Frankfurt/Main
Yalle Link | Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Göttingen
Johannes F. Linn | Executive Director The Wolfensohn-Initiative, Washington
Marieta Maiorovici | Dolmetscherin, Rumänien
Dr. Reni Maltschew | Stv. Kuratoriumsvorsitzende der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Emil Metodiev | Coordinator Seed Fund, Sofia
43
Cordula Müller | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Gabriele Müller-Trimbusch | Bürgermeisterin für Soziales, Jugend und Gesundheit, Stuttgart
Dr. Peter Neumann | Stadtgesundheitsamt Frankfurt/Main
Selma Nuhija-Keri | Deutsche Welle, Bonn
Zoltán Orzsi | Lehrer in Barcs, Ungarn
Harald Panholzer | Stv. Vorsitzender des Freundeskreises der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Christian Petry | Geschäftsführer der Freudenberg Stiftung, Vorstand Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Prof. Dr. Robert Picht | Stv. Vorsitzender der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Dr. Rupprecht Podszun | Freundeskreis der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Peter Pollak | Direktor des staatl. Romabüros in Spišska Nová Ves, Slowakei
Dr. Andrej Rady | Dolmetscher, Slowakei
Béla Rácz | Roma Program Assistance Network, Szirák, Ungarn
Szilvia Rézmves | Projektmoderatorin Pakiv European Roma Fund, Budapest
Dena Ringold | Senior Economist, The World Bank, Washington
Zvonko Saliijevic | Filmemacher Mediaroma, Berlin
Grosu Sandu | Roma-Berater und Präsident des Verbandes der Roma, Braila, Rumänien
Dr. Franz Christoph Schade | Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Göttingen
Reinhard Schlagintweit | Unicef Deutschland, Bonn
Judith Schlehahn | Fonds »Erinnerung und Zukunft«, Berlin
Katja Schütze | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Egon Schweiger | Landesverband Deutscher Sinti & Roma Baden-Württemberg
Günther Schweigkofler | Forschungsgruppe Modellprojekte e.V., Heidelberg
Rumyan Sechkov | Exec.Dir. of CEGA (Creating effective grassroots altern. foundation), Sofia
Dr. Ralf Siepmann | Journalist, Bonn
Asen Slavchev | Executive Director Roma-Lom Foundation, Lom, Bulgarien
Anna-Monika Sommer | Konrektorin a.D., Frankfurt/Main
Rupert Graf Strachwitz | Geschäftsführer Maecenata Institut, Berlin;
Vorstand der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Daniel Strauss | Vors. des Landesverbands Deutscher Sinti & Roma Baden-Württemberg
Jennifer Tanaka | Deputy Director Pakiv European Roma Fund, Budapest
Dr. Klaus von Trotha | Minister a.D., Kuratorium der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Maria Urban | Dolmetscherin, Ungarn
Winfried Weithofer | Journalist, Stuttgarter Nachrichten
Dr. Beatrice von Weizsäcker | Vorstand der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
James D. Wolfensohn | Theodor-Heuss-Preisträger 2006
Sabina Xhemajli | Roma-Pädagogin Schaworalle, Köln
Veisel Yasharov | NGO Alternative, Byala Slatina, Bulgarien
44
SHORT VITAE OF PARTICIPANTS
Adrian Adam | Pedagogical staff member of the Förderverein Roma e.V.
• born in 1979 in Timisoara, Romania
• without professional education
• emigrated several times from Romania, suffered repeated extradition
• 2003 legal immigration to Germany
• work in a Turkish cleaning firm
• since 2005 native speaking staff member at Schaworalle with high
pedagogical qualities
Dr. Gabriele Freitag | Historian, Program Director of the “Remembrance and
Future” Fund
• born in 1965
• 1993 – 1995 scientific member of the Research Institute Eastern Europe in
Bremen
• 1996 – 2000 Graduation at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main
• since 2001 member of staff of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”, in charge of humanitarian educational programs in the “Rememb-
rance and Future” Fund, Berlin
Costel Bercus | Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Roma Education Fund
• 1998 Coordinator of public relations for the Romanian Association
• 1998 participant in a number of campaigns against racism and discrimination, among them one against Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor
• former Executive Director of Romani CRISS, one of the largest NGOs
in Romania
• Chairman of the Roma Education Fund
Eleonora Caldaras | staff member of Schaworalle
• born in 1981 in Timisoara, Romania
• without school education, she learnt reading on the highway
• 1987 flight from Romania
• since 1995 living in Frankfurt/Main
• with her work in Schaworalle she has proved to be a natural pedagogical
talent. She continued her professional education parallel to her work
• 2005 she took an elementary school exam as an extern in the
occupational project of Schaworalle
• as a result of her employment at Schaworalle she now holds a regular
status or residence
45
Nicolae Gheorghe | ODIHIR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
Warsaw
• born in 1946 in Romania
• Military Academy, graduation from Officer Candidate School
• 1968 – 1972 studying philosophy and sociology
• 1972 work at the Institute of Sociology in Bucharest, numerous sociological studies, one of them, by order of the Communist Central Committee, was a part of a wide exploration about the “social integration of the Roma adolescents
in the society” in 1976. His intense tackling with this subject led to increasing conflicts with the official ideology
• writing of the document about the “Human Rights Protection of Roma” in
co-operation with the International Federation on Human Rights which was
taken into a resolution of the UN-Human Rights Commission. As a NGO-Repre-
sentative he was for several years an official observer at the meetings of the Specialist Group for Sinti and Roma of the European Council.
• 1991 – 1993 Vice President of the International Roma Union
• 1993 Founder of Romani CRISS (Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies)
• Advisor for Roma and Sinti Issues at ODHIR
46
Dr. Ludwig Theodor Heuss | Chairman of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
• born in 1961 in Basel, Switzerland
• Head physician Medical Clinic Zollikerberg Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
• 1987 Swiss Medical Diploma, Basel
• 1998 Specialist FMH in Internal Diseases and Gastroenterology
• 2002 MBA University of St. Gallen
• 2005 Habilitation in Gastroenterology
• since 2001 activities in health policy as a member of various medical
associations and expert commissions
Nikolay Kirilov | Executive Director, Pakiv European Roma Fund
• born in 1969 in Bulgaria
• 1991-1994 studying Economics, Marketing and Management in Bulgaria
• since 1996 President of the executive Board of the Roma Lom Foundation
• since 1998 Counselor in the Department of Minority Issues in the Regional Parliament, since 1998 observer of the European Council in the group working on Roma issues.
• since 1999 Counselor in the Ethnic and Demographic Commission of the
Bulgarian Government
• since 2001 Executive Director of the Pakiv European Roma Fund
Dr. h.c. Michael Klett | Member of the Honorary Board of the Theodor-HeussFoundation
• born in 1938 in Stuttgart
• apprenticeship in publishing in Stuttgart
• 1960-1963 training as an actor in Berlin
• 1963/64 studying German Philology and Philosophy in Geneva and Berlin
• 1964 practical experience as an editor in London, New York and Chicago
• 1965 entering the Ernst Klett Publishing House
• 1976 taking over the Management of the Editorial Group
• since 2003 Member of the Honorary Board of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
47
Johannes F. Linn | Executive Director The Wolfensohn Initiative, The Brookings
Institution, Washington, DC
• studying law at the Freie Universität Berlin and economics at Oxford
University, England and Cornell University, USA
• 1979 entering the World Bank
• till 1988 working in the Department of Urban Development Politics Research
• 1988-91 working in the World Bank as a Senior Economic for Economic and Personal Development, as a Director for International Economy and as a
Director for Economies of Countries
• 1991 nominated Vice President of the World Bank in the Department of
Financial Politics and Mobilization of Resources
• 1996-2003 Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia;
under his direction and with his support a Roma Program was initiated in
Europe
• since 2005 Executive Director for the Wolfensohn Initiative in the field of
action-oriented development research at Brookings
• a number of publications on development issues
Gabriele Müller-Trimbusch | Mayor for Social, Youth and Health Issues, City of
Stuttgart, Member of the Honorary Board of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
• born in 1945 in Schleswig-Holstein
• Studying English Philology, History and Philosophy in Kiel and Bloomington (Indiana/USA)
• until 1990 collaborator and teacher of applied and theoretical linguistics and managing assistant at the Institute for English Philology and Linguistics, at Stuttgart University
• May 1990 elected Mayor of the City of Stuttgart
• since 1993 Mayor responsible for the Department of Social, Youth and Health
issues with 4000 employees
• working in numerous committees
48
Christian Petry | Member of the Honorary Board of the Theodor-Heuss-Foundation
• born in 1941
• studying history and sociology in Berlin
• until 1974 teacher and sociologist at the Boarding School Birklehof and at the
Integrated Comprehensive School in Weinheim
• 1970 -1984 scientific secretary of the Model Schools Research Group
• until 1979 manager of a Regional Pedagogical Center in Aurich
• until 1984 manager of the Project Weinheim and the Regional Center for
the promotion of migrant children and youth in the Ruhrgebiet
• since 1984 Managing Director of the Freudenberg Stiftung in Weinheimm
• since 1996 member of the Honorary Board of the Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Matthäus Weiß | Model for the integration of Sinti children and youth, Kiel,
Chairman of the Regional association of German Sinti and Roma
• born in Kiel
• without school and professional diplomas
• since 1975 active in the civil rights work
• co-founder of the Regional Association in 1990, since then member of the Honorary Board
• since 1993 chairman of the Regional Association
• since 1997 member of the Honorary Board of the Foundation for the Roma
People (founded 1997 by Ute and Günther Grass)
James David Wolfensohn | Former President of the World Bank
Szylvia Rézműves | Pakiv Project Moderator, Budapest
• born in 1975 in Hungary
• 1993 -1998 Member of the Lungo Drom Roma Organization
• 1996 – 2001 Co-Founder and active member of a social welfare organization
• since 2002 studying social politics in Budapest
• 2003 – 2005 Member in the Controlling Committee of the Phare EQUAL Program
• since 2004 Roma deputy of the Decade of Roma Inclusion
• since 2005 project moderator at Pakiv
• born in 1933 in Sidney
• studying law at the Business Administration Schools in Sydney and Harvard
• since 1957 working as a lawyer
• since 1963 working as an investment banker
• 1981 founding his own investment bank
• 1995 – 2005 President of the World Bank
• 2005 nomination as a Special Envoy of the USA to the Middle East
• 2006 bearer of the Theodor-Heuss-Award
Dena Ringold | Senior Economist Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank
• studying in England and USA
• since 1995 working at the World Bank
• involved in the analysis and organization of Programs in the field of Health, Education and Social Assistance in countries like Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Montenegro, White Russia, Rumania and Turkey
• specializing in carrying out studies in the field of poverty and ethnic minori-
ties, especially the Roma, in the field of social support and of the connection between decentralized financing and local provision of social services
• in 2000 publication of the first World Bank study about the Roma, looking for the first time at their poverty and development status in an overview surpas-
sing country borders
• at the moment coordinating the work at the World Bank about the Roma issue
49
50
› Conference | November 2006
WELCOME ADDRESS
Antoinette Cherbuliez | Executive Manager of the Theodor Heuss Foundation
ROMA AND SINTI AS SCHOOL MEDIATORS
Conference on 24-25 November 2006
51
I would like to welcome you, also on behalf of Dr. Heuss, to this conference.
Many of you have come from far away and some of you have even come from
very far away: from all over Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic as well as Finland. We would like to thank you for coming
to this conference and are overwhelmed by the numerous positive responses –
far more than we had expected.
To start out, I would like to briefly explain why the Theodor Heuss Foundation
chose this year’s motto: „Poverty and Segregation in Europe – Taking the Roma
as An Example“. Our intention was to take up this painful subject that deserves
to gain widespread public attention in our societies throughout Europe. In Germany, for example, we still have a long way to go. For this reason, we were positively surprised that, on the occasion of the presentation of the 41st Theodor
Heuss Award to James D. Wolfensohn and the Theodor Heuss Medals to Pakiv
European Roma Fund and the Day Care Center Schaworalle, the media was interested not only in Mr. Wolfensohn but also in the Roma. We planned this conference so as to underscore the effect of the Theodor Heuss Award with the
means available to us. At this conference existing approaches will be presented
and related questions can be discussed and developed further, for example: What
part can Roma and Sinti play as school mediators, as mediators between different
cultures and schools, children and parents? What conditions are needed for this
and what are the chances that the need for and value of such possibilities of mediation between the cultures will be recognized by politics, government administrative offices and in society? And the issue involves much more than that: cultural diversity and mutual respect is a fundamental condition for the peaceful
coexistence of people in a democracy.
52
Allow me to pass on a few personal impressions: by taking an interest in the
subject that the Theodor Heuss Foundation has selected this year, I went through
a learning process myself. Like the majority of the German population, I hardly
knew anything about the more than 10 million Sinti and Roma living amidst us
in Europe. In the meantime, I have visited numerous projects in Germany and met
many people from a previously unfamiliar culture. For example, I met a young
and radiant mediator who, I believe, all children – not only Roma and Sinti child
ren – would come to trust immediately. I was allowed to observe a serious and respected teacher as he gently taught three young girls in their mother tongue. As I
watched, I learned what it feels like not to be able to understand what others are
saying, or maybe just picking up a word here and there. I met a young boy who
– as related to me by the school mediator – felt deeply injured in his honor by
the disrespectful tone taken by a teacher when addressing him. And I thought
that a lack of respect hurts all children’s feelings of honor, irrespective of the
culture in which they grow up. So, if the future project „Roma and Sinti as School
Mediators“ were successful, it could take on the function of a model for everyone
working in the field of education and vocational training.
I would also like to thank the Otto Benecke Foundation, the Fund for Remembrance and Future of the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation, Hedwig Neven
DuMont, the Roma Education Fund and RAA Berlin for their generous financial
support. Special thanks go to Professor Max Matter, member of the Scientific Ad
visory Board of the Otto Benecke Foundation, and Mr. Saathoff, member of the
board of the foundation „Remembrance, Responsibility and Future“, and Dr. Freitag from the „Fund for Remembrance and Future“ for being here today.
I would like to thank the institutions and persons whose support enabled the
Theodor Heuss Stiftung to organize this conference. I would like to thank Christian Petry and the Freudenberg Foundation for their willingness to cooperate with
us over an extended period of time and provide financial assistance. Without
Christoph Leucht, also from the Freudenberg Foundation, we would never have
been able to organize anything, and I would like to take this opportunity to tell
him how much we enjoyed working together with him.
53
54
GREETING
Prof. Dr. Max Matter | Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Otto
Benecke Foundation e.V. Freiburg
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Otto Benecke Foundation, I would like to thank the Theodor
Heuss Foundation for organizing and conducting this important conference in order
to improve the educational situation of Roma and Sinti children and adolescents.
Like you, we are very happy that this event is meeting with such great interest.
We would like to thank all participants for their interest, attendance and active
participation and, in particular, for their commitment to improve the situation of
the Roma and Sinti populations living in Germany and throughout all of Europe.
Since 1965, the Otto Benecke Foundation, which has its seat in Bonn, has been
involved in integration assistance on behalf of the Federal Government within
the framework of humanitarian educational assistance. We primarily provide assistance to ethnic German immigrants, quota refugees and persons entitled to be
granted asylum. The foundation and its staff have considerable experience in the
field of vocational training and further training of middle-school graduates and
academics from resettled families. OBS works with migrants, refugees and minorities in Germany as well as abroad, in particular in eastern Europe.
Accordingly, from 2003 to the beginning of 2005, the Otto Benecke Foundation
and the Roma Women Association in Romania developed and conducted a project
that helps Roma women assume and do well in responsible positions in politics,
administration and NGOs. In November 2004, when OBS expanded its programs
to include work for and with migrants and minorities, we organized a conference
on the situation of the Roma and Sinti in the wake of the eastward expansion of
55
the EU. The lectures held at this conference by international speakers are pub
lished in Booklet 9 of our contributions to the Academy for Migration and Integration. The conference booklet can be obtained through bookshops.
The Otto Benecke Foundation will continue its efforts to improve the conditions
of life confronting the Roma and Sinti. Besides the fight against discrimination,
the issue of education seems to be decisive in this respect. The foundation could
well imagine developing programs for the promotion of talented Roma children.
The objective would not be raising Roma elites, who can achieve more for the over
all group or the different groups, but creating role models for the next generations.
The President of the Otto Benecke Foundation, Dr. Lothar Theodor Lemper,
would very much have liked to welcome you personally, ladies and gentlemen.
However, a schedule conflict prevented him from coming here today. Dr. Lemper,
the staff of the Otto Benecke Foundation and I would like to thank you for participating at this conference, and we would like to thank the Theodor Heuss Foundation for working together with us. We hope the conference will go well, that
interesting lectures and productive discussions will let you gain new knowledge
for your work for the benefit of the Sinti and Roma.
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GREETING
Günter Saathoff | Member of the Board of the Foundation “Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future”, Berlin
I would like to explain our special interest in this subject and why we support
this conference.
Although denied for a long time in Germany after World War II, the Sinti and
Roma, like the Jews, were victims of a genocide program of the NS regime. About
500,000 of them died in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, others survived.
Quite a few were forcefully sterilized, became victims of human experiments or
other types of persecution. However, these people received no “reparation payments” and were never fully rehabilitated. They also were excluded from the right
to compensation. And, as though that were not enough, in east and west, not only
in Germany, the discrimination and its effects which already existed during NS
times continues until today.
Against this background, we consider it a special obligation of our foundation
to assume responsibility for the survivors and their children. Our foundation has
two tasks: for one, the foundation was established by law in 2000 to make humanitarian payments, above all for forced labor under the National Socialist regime.
This mandate basically has been fulfilled: in the past years, the foundation has
paid more than Euro 4.3 billion to more than 1.62 million NS victims in 100 countries of the world, also to Sinti and Roma. This payment program will end in 2006.
Sinti and Roma also are counted amo ng those persons who could receive individual payments for forced labor from the seven internationally active partner
organizations of the foundation. In this respect, the law stipulates that Sinti and
Roma, Jews and other persons who were persecuted in a comparable manner be
treated equally as regards the prerequisites for receiving payments and the
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amount of the payments. At least this was the declared goal and practice of our
foundation. We cannot deny that considerable persuasion was needed in some
central and eastern European countries to reach this goal. A special problem also
was the high rate of illiteracy prevalent among the Roma living in those countries, their “proven” historical distrust towards government institutions in those
countries and, finally, the fragmentation and, frequently, infighting between their
organizations that rendered the realization of this mandate quite difficult.
In addition to the individual payments I just mentioned, the German parliament – just like for the persecuted Jews – set up a special humanitarian fund in
the amount of DM 24 million, i.e. just short of Euro 12.3 million, within the frame
work of the foundation law for Sinti and Roma survivors of the Holocaust. This
special fund, which comprises various social and medical measures or food assis
tance, was administered by our partner organization “International Organization
for Migration” (IOM). In the meantime, these funds have been exhausted, too.
For another, our foundation has a second task, which has been assigned to the
“Remembrance and Future” Fund. The objective of the fund, which will exist and
act as a foundation, is to keep awake the memory of NS injustice for coming generations and to initiate programs that will help us learn from the past for the
future. It was the will of the donors to achieve sustained promotion of civic engagement and education projects that speak out in favor of democracy and human
rights as well as international understanding. We also want to assume responsibility for and support the Sinti and Roma in this field in view of German history.
This is why we support this conference.
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Amongst other things, the fund, together with the Open Society Institute in Budapest, offers a scholarship program having a scope of Euro 280,000 to young Roma
in central and eastern Europe so that they can complete studies of law or comparable studies in their home countries. Up until now, 79 students have received a
scholarship. In the next five years, the fund will participate in the Roma Education Fund (REF) with an additional Euro 500,000. In this way, it hopes to permanently improve the conditions of life of Roma in central and eastern Europe.
We are living in a time when globalization and rationalization processes are
drawing new borders and social fields of conflict in societies. The EU has to deal
with national egoisms and fears and, consequently, also the special situation of
the Roma and Sinti in the accession countries. Germany, too, is still trying to
de interesting approaches. Yet, they continue to come up against adverse social
and political framework conditions. Therefore, their future will not lead them
out of poverty and segregation without strong and competent self-organizations
of the persons concerned. We must provide support for this. A key can be education; however, it must be wanted by the persons concerned, too.
With great commitment, the Theodor Heuss Foundation, in cooperation with
other partners, planned this conference which, amongst other things, brings to
notice issues of education as well as Sinti and Roma as school mediators. We
hope that this will give an important impulse and that all of us will leave this
conference with new insights and information for our future work.
find its way as an immigrant society. It is important to meet these developments and borders with offers of education, participation and integration, especially with respect to the largest minority in Europe – the Roma and Sinti. However, this would not prove successful in the long run, if the involvement were
limited to social-political programs. The objective must be the right to participate
fully in education, wealth and work. In addition, we need not only programs for
Sinti and Roma, but programs with Sinti and Roma, programs developed by them
for their own people. The projects that will be presented at this conference provi-
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60
WORDS OF GREETINGS
(in written form)
Prof. Rudolf Sarközi | Chairman of the Cultural Association of Austrian Roma
and Chairman of the Advisory Council of Roma in Austria
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!
Since I cannot attend the conference because of schedule conflicts, I would like
to send you a written report.
As we all know, we Roma and Sinti have considerable deficits in the field of
school, education, vocational training and further training. I believe I don’t have
to explain to you the reasons for this. Just a few short words: persecution, segrega
tion, rejection, expulsion, asylum problems, deportation, refusal of integration.
The ethnic cleansing campaigns in the Balkan countries frequently led to unbearable situations for our people. They had to expect deportation and expulsion at
any time. More than anyone else, the children are the ones to suffer under these
conditions.
What is the situation like in Austria?
We have students in urban and rural areas. These are children and adolescents
from the autochthonous ethnic group which has been legally recognized since
1993 as well as children who have immigrated in the past decades. They can be
recognized as Roma and Sinti or admit their ethnicity.
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The Austrian state has granted us legal recognition as an ethnic group and,
accordingly, it has stipulated the obligation to keep alive the mother tongue, culture and adequate education. Pursuant to the School Law for Minorities in the
State of Burgenland, the language of the Roma, Romani, is taught besides Hungarian and Burgenland-Croatian. However, no school-leaving examination can be ta
ken in Romani. There is also no admission to universities. In order to obtain a
school-leaving certificate, it is necessary to complete the examinations successfully in German.
About twenty years ago, most of our children attending elementary school were
quickly sent to special schools. However, by tutoring our children outside of school,
we have managed to keep our children out of special schools. The school authorities provided teachers and Roma assistants for this purpose. In rural areas, the
children were transported to and from the tutoring classes with a school bus. As
a result of these tutoring programs, the prospects of attending a higher school
have increased considerably. The children participated in the tutoring classes voluntarily. Another educational institution is the Roma adult education center.
Nonetheless, before the law they are citizens of the country they come from.
They do not enjoy a special status.
In 1995, the Cultural Association of Austrian Roma set up the Roma Fund. At
the beginning, the Roma Fund was endowed with 2 million Schilling (145,345.00
Euro). In future, it will be endowed with 930,000 Euro for teaching aids. The Roma
Fund supports such projects as tutoring, second chances of studying for adults
and financial allowances for college studies. Many could not make use of the above-mentioned educational opportunities without the assistance of the fund.
In Austria, we quickly realized that our children and adolescents suffer from
an enormous deficit in education and, thus, rarely can attend secondary schools,
universities or complete vocational training to become skilled workers.
Successes, albeit on a small scale, are evident. Integration and the learning of
the German language are being promoted everywhere. For this reason, the municipality of Vienna established Magistrate Department 17, Integration and Diversity
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Issues. It is divided into four major areas, two main centers, four regional offices
and one district office. Major area 2 is responsible for children, adolescents and
school. A young Roma woman with many years of experience in schools works in
this major area. She comes from Romania, has been living in Vienna for ten
years, and speaks several languages, also Romani.
a member of the Board of Trustees, I was able to negotiate an amount of Euro
1.14 million from the remaining funds of ÖVF for education and a research project entitled “Documentation of the names of the Austrian Roma and Sinti murdered by the National Socialist regime”. This research project is a major concern
of mine and will be completed at the end of 2007.
Besides the Cultural Association of Austrian Roma, there are seventeen associations for Roma with an immigrant background in Vienna. After several meetings,
we were able to gain the support of some associations for joint educational work.
The families with whom we are in contact know that it is important to learn German if they want to be integrated; at the same time, they do not want to give up
their native language and their own culture.
Anyone who cannot take part in education is heading straight down the path
of social decline. I will continue to put to use all my energy, together with other
members of my ethnic group, for educational facilities. However, this can only be
effective in cooperation with the responsible politicians. Patience is called for:
tangible successes will not be evident until 20-25 years from now. Well-educated
people will always be needed.
Starting on 1 January 2007, we, the Cultural Association of Austrian Roma, will
provide educational assistance to associations working with immigrant Roma. We
hope that, after the somewhat difficult start, more and more families will send
their children to the tutoring classes in the course of time.
I am convinced that the color of skin or ethnic background will not be important. It is the individual who counts. Europe must take a greater interest in our
people. We are citizens of our national states and EU citizens.
You will surely ask yourself where the money in the Roma Fund came from. It
came from the funds remaining from the Austrian Reconciliation Fund (ÖVF) of
the Republic of Austria, which gave up its work at the end of 2005. The fund
made voluntary payments to former slaves and forced laborers under the National Socialist regime on the territory of what is today the Republic of Austria. As
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64
WORDS OF GREETING
(in writing)
Hedwig Neven DuMont | Chairwoman of the association “Wir helfen – der Unterstützungsverein von M. DuMont Schauberg e.V.”
Where do I belong? Can you tell me? I was asked these questions by two Roma
children at the Roma school “Amaro Kher” – that means “Our house” – in Cologne. Aren’t those deeply distressing questions, illustrating quite clearly what research results teach us?
Approximately 1500 Roma on temporary admission live in Cologne. Another
3000 Roma are only tolerated, which means that these people live in constant
uncertainty and fear of being deported the next day! Restlessness, worry, uncertainty, fear are constant companions and the feelings of the grown-ups are conveyed to the children.
Unfortunately, this is a significant obstacle to all efforts striving to help integrate the boys and girls by encouraging them to attend school and giving them
modest tools for their later lives. Yet, they cannot feel at home if they are not integrated.
I hope – and I am quite confident – that the Roma families living in Cologne
will finally find a home. And I hope that this will also become reality in other
areas of Germany. Frankfurt is a good example.
There must not be any dividing borders between people. It is our task to integrate and not to segregate them.
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66
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES AND DISCUSSION
Marius Taba | Roma Education Fund, Budapest
In 2003 a big conference was held in Budapest; it was called “Roma in an Expanding Europe: Challenges for the Future”. The conference was organized by the
Open Society Institute (OSI) and the World Bank and was co-financed by other
donors such as the European Commission, U.N.D.P., the Council of Europe Development Bank and by the governments of Hungary, Finland and Sweden.
The main outcome was the establishment of “The Decade of Roma Inclusion”,
which will last from 2005 until 2015. It tries to reduce the disparities in econo
mic and human development outcome of Roma in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia. Another
important outcome of the conference was the establishment of an international
Roma Education Fund. In 2004 eight major international donors met in Paris to
make the commitment of pledging 34 million Euro to it. The donors were from
Canada, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the
UK. The main donor, however, is George Soros and the World Bank, which took
the responsibility to establish the fund and provides technical assistance.
The Roma Education Fund is running five main programs.
1. “Demand-driven grants to support policy change”
meaning that we do not act individually, but intervene. If for example the roof
of a school is broken, we intervene at a critical point of the educational system
and we work together with the governments and civil societies to change the system as a whole.
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At the moment we finance 55 projects, accumulating 7.8 million Euro. We support projects in 11 countries and most of them are implemented by the government and civil society organizations. Moreover we monitor the projects locally we help to implement our policy and try to scale up the models that have been
developed by different implementers. We also develop studies and evaluations
for each individual educational system in the area we work in. We directly tackle
preschool education, which is an area with the biggest problems and most of the
authors say that preschool education is the first step and if we fail in this phase
we get disaster afterwards. We also have a project that addresses the segregation
problem, in which we are trying to develop a model that will reduce segregation
by relying on examples from Bulgaria so that governments will be able to learn
from experiences of non-governmental organizations.
2. “Policy development and technical assistance program”
We do not just work with projects, but we also provide technical assistance to
the government and to the organizations that are dealing with the education issue.
Regarding the policy development and technical assistance program, I want to
highlight that we develop project evaluations models at the moment. Moreover
we came up with special country strategies. We analyze the educational system
of a specific country and afterwards we discuss and negotiate the results with
the government.
3. “Communication and advocacy program”
We share the information and best practices that were gained by different implementers. Thus we established an advocacy system that includes communication with European institutions, as well as with the local administrations and national governments.
We also conducted an economic study, which basically came to the conclusion
that it is much cheaper to invest in the integration of Roma than to solve the problems of segregation. In other words, it is much cheaper to invest in the education of Roma, than to spend money on social payments, unemployment benefits
and so on. We want to turn the study, which was conducted by a famous economist from Hungary, into an advocacy document, which should be implemented in
all participating countries. We also provide policy notes to governments, e.g. in
Serbia. When preschool education became compulsory in Serbia, we provided a
policy note and advice to the Serbian government, telling them how to deal with
Roma children. The main problem of educational reforms is always a lack of space.
And who are those that do not get a place in kindergarten? Yes, Roma.
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4. “Reimbursable Grant mechanisms to access EU structure of funds”.
It is well know that European bureaucracy sometimes does not meet the immediate and urgent needs of it’s inhabitants. After the first approval of a project it
takes quite a long time until monetary support is achieved.
there is a mixture of definitions and every country has a different name for the
job. In Bulgaria we conduct a project to institutionalize the training for personnel
that works with Roma children and students. We also have eight projects that
fight against segregation in cooperation with several NGOs.
5. “Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program”.
The program provides almost 800 scholarships to Roma students that are attending University.
In Croatia, Hungary, Mazedonia, Montenegro and the Czech Republic we also
have a project to support the training of Roma teaching assistants. In Rumania,
we invest in the training of Roma school mediators, we prepare them very well,
but there is no sustainability of the program. The problem that we have to discuss at this conference, is not the training, but the problem of finding a job description within the educational system. It does not make a difference how we
call the job, but we have to achieve sustainability. We have to overcome the phase
of pilot projects and have to enter the policy phase.
We keep close contact to EU institutions and we have partnerships with the
private sector in Hungary to provide for Roma students who have graduated from
University. In most cases we provide scholarships to Roma students, but the employability of Roma is still lower than of the majority. To especially tackle this issue, we have a partnership with the OTP Bank and with other private donors
from Hungary. We want to increase the number of Roma with a diploma in economics so that we can insert Roma into the business sector.
In general, we want to include Roma people in the educational system and we
want to involve Roma in the process of preparation, implementation and evaluation of their projects. Therefore we have country facilitators in three countries Rumania, Bulgaria and Serbia. These country facilitators have to support our applicants. If a Roma organization wants to apply to us, they can ask our country
facilitators, for example, to write a proposal and to define their aims. Also, during
the implementation, the country facilitators can provide technical support. We
also combined local intervention with a dialogue about policy reform on the
national level. We have a synergy between the human rights agenda and the economic efficiency agenda. According to many European authors, the Roma prob
lem is only looked at from the poverty perspective, but the problem is not tackled
correctly. Roma are still discriminated. The Lisbon strategy mentions that one
has to pay special attention to minorities, but the last report in 2006 regarding
the advancements of this strategy only mentions Roma explicitly in three countries: Hungary (which addresses poverty very well), Portugal and Spain. The
other European countries do not specify the problem of Roma people. Another
example is the UNEC report regarding segregation and the low quality of education for Roma people in the European Union countries.
Coming back to the main subject of this conference, I want to mention that the
Roma Education Fund implements different projects to support Roma school mediators, assistant teachers and community facilitators. One has to realize that
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At the moment Roma mediators can only work in the frame of NGO policies in
some countries. When the project is finished their job ends. Moreover we, have
to consider that in most countries a decentralization process of the educational
system is taking place. We have to combine the local initiatives with the national
initiatives. In most cases the Roma school mediators are supported by the local
government, but they do not have a professional status. Are Roma school mediators educational or administrative staff? We have to define a place within the
system and then tackle the problem on the local level, because it is the trend –
decentralization of the system.
Concluding, I want to highlight that it is very important to create space for mediators and teacher assistants. We need to cooperate with the local governments,
because in most cases they are the ones who take full responsibility for the position. We do not want to leave mediators without institutional support. In Rumania you can find a very interesting initiative that wants to create a Roma School
Mediators Association. They have to be supported by an institutional body. They
need an institution that can represent them, support them and take the main
theme to the next level. School mediators are mostly very young people (age 2025) and if one of them goes to the headmaster proposing that he will have to do
›this and that‹ to integrate Roma, will his voice be heard by the headmaster or
the local government?
We have to overcome the pilot phase and enter the policy phase. Therefore we
do not encourage international or national training, we want to tackle the problem at the local level.
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Daniel Strauss | Association of German Sinti and Roma, Regional Association of
Baden-Württemberg, Mannheim
I would like to speak about the subject “Antiziganism as an Educational Problem”. The problem manifests itself very differently in the individual European
countries; however, the 10 million Sinti and Roma also have common characteristics. First of all, there is their language, then their heritage and, thirdly, there is
the Antiziganism they have to face. It is not a German problem rather it is a problem of the majority societies in Europe. An Emnid study conducted in 1994 determined that 64% of the German majority society reject Sinti and Roma, e.g. as
neighbors; 31% demand that Sinti and Roma be expelled from Germany, irrespective as to whether they are German citizens or not.
Antiziganism did not develop during the post-World War II period. Enmity
against gypsies has a long history. I do not mean Sinti and Roma by this, but the
image of gypsies conveyed to the public by literature, theater and music. On the
one hand, it is racist and discriminating; on the other hand, romantic and sentimental. The individual Sinti and Roma, the individual person, is not perceived as
such but always is discerned through the tinged foil of Antiziganism.
We call them the strangers, the others and the segregated persons, although
Sinti and Roma have been living in Germany for 600 years. In 2007, we will celebrate 600 years of Sinti in Germany, at least on the territory of today’s German
state. Since that time, from the 15th to the 18th century, hundreds of edicts were
issued that prevented Sinti from getting an education. They were excluded from
the education system. Granting them membership in guilds was prohibited. They
were not allowed to learn any trades or professions. Like the Jews, they had to
live and work outside the walls of the town. For three centuries Sinti and Roma
were excluded from the education system. They were unable to use education as
an opportunity. Although the situation had improved somewhat at the time, prohibitions to attend school were implemented in many towns during the Third
Reich. Thus, the generation after 1945, the generation that survived Auschwitz,
was a generation of illiterates. And after the war, no one was interested in the
Sinti and Roma. There were no reparations and no recognition of genocide. This
did not occur until the 1980s. Up until then, it was common in Germany that Sinti and Roma children did not attend school – or only infrequently – even though
they were German citizens. I could name at least ten people who never set foot
inside a school. Antiziganism prevented integration.
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Today we are still facing the same desolate situation with respect to education.
Two-thirds of the Sinti and Roma, when taking the average of six cities in BadenWürttemberg that we studied, have not completed Hauptschule. Although that is
scandalous, no one is addressing the causes. And even if an adolescent completes
Hauptschule, the situation does not change. The same problems occur again afterwards because Antiziganism prevents the adolescent from going farther. It is
also evident that politicians and teachers are giving insufficient attention to this
problem, which is being promoted by the institutions. German schoolbooks give
no information about history and the present. Roma and Sinti are only perceived
through clichés. They have no voice. In 1995, we conducted a study of German
schoolbooks, which comprised 25 approved history books. Twenty of the books
didn’t even mention the genocide of Roma and Sinti. It was described correctly
only in two books: two sentences stated that Sinti and Roma were victims of genocide. On the other hand, we have very strong images of gypsies, either positive
in the sense of being romantic and full of clichés or negative based on racist motivation. We have nothing with which we can counter these images. Since there
are only 70,000 Sinti and Roma in Germany, i.e. a ratio of about one to one thou
sand, there is little to be done against this wall. Although numerous Sinti and
Roma have gained good vocational training or a good school education and some
have even completed university studies in the meantime, they have – just as the
speaker before me described – no prospects. They cannot find employment when
others having the same qualifications also apply for the job. What good does it
all do then? We have encountered this time and again. We support someone until
he or she gains a degree and then he or she is not accepted, for example, as a
banker: “I do not want to have Sinti and Roma merchants in my bank. That is why I
won’t employ the Sinti. I prefer – and that is a positive approach – to employ the
Turkish woman because I would like to invite the Turkish merchants in Mannheim. But I do not want to have a Sinti working for me, because that would attract the wrong kind of people.” One needs to comprehend that Antiziganism is a
structural problem – with the exception of individual cases – and that it is a problem of the majority society, not of the minority. Nonetheless, it is at our expen-
72
se. For this reason, structures that counter this problem permanently have to be
developed. In other words, appropriate teaching materials, further training courses
for teachers, structures that include the mediators in the system.
This, however, can only be achieved if the problem is not limited to the issue of
the Sinti and Roma and their social situation. It must be recognized that the other
side has a problem that needs to be dealt with, too. The second point is that we
are not perceived as a national minority. However, we are national minorities in
the countries adhering to the European treaty. As Roma, we are bound together
by language, memory, history and, naturally, National Socialism – as well as by
Antiziganism. Yet, we also have to make clear that there are legal differences.
These need to be taken into consideration as well. Therefore, it is very important
that we carry out projects in schools, at the local level. To this extent, I welcome
the work of the Roma Education Fund. Still, I would prefer to see more attention
being given to the common aspects, since they exist not only in Germany, but
throughout Europe. Social Antiziganism needs to be recognized and countered,
and counter-strategies have to be designed. In my opinion, that is the only way to
counter this problem in the long run.
Sabina Xhemajli | Roma Mediator of Rom e.V., Cologne
I have been a Roma mediator in Cologne for more than two years, and during
this time I have observed considerable differences between the families we work
with at Amaro Kher. Of course, among the families whose children come to our
school, some support their children’s attendance at school: they get up with their
children in the morning, fix breakfast for them, support their children for many
weeks as they familiarize themselves with school, participate in and support our
activities and excursions, and regularly come to our informal parents’ meetings.
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I would like to describe one such mother – the example came to mind when I
was thinking of this conference. This mother, who enrolled her son when our
project was starting out, was very glad to be able to register her child at our
school because she was completely shocked at the reception she had received in
Germany. She was assigned to live in a resettlement home located on the edge of
town, in which only 15-20 Roma families from various regions of Yugoslavia lived. Therefore, she had hoped that by sending her child to school she would meet
other people. She had already hoped that this would be the case in the home, i.e.
that people from different nations would be living together there, German would
be spoken – and, consequently, could be learned there. However, that was not
the case at all. That was why she was so happy when she came to us and saw
that Germans and Roma were working together. She was active in our school
from the beginning. She helped at the school once a week, and we gave her simple tasks because she could neither read nor write. At the same time, she attended
our German course. When it was time for her child to change schools, I asked her
whether she would also be so active at a German school so as to help her child
and other Roma children. She answered: “No, here at Amaro Kher, I don’t have to
be ashamed of not being able to read or write, as I would in front of Gadje. You
know our problems, have studied them and that is why I can participate in a
Roma project.” This example makes quite clear what I want to explain to you, namely that the framework conditions are very important – I will speak about this
in more detail later – and the contact to the majority population is very important. When Roma arrive here and are accommodated in resettlement homes
where only Roma live – a kind of ghetto actually – they cannot feel at home and
be integrated.
I think that our Roma children will complete school successfully if every child
and its family are considered individually. In my opinion, the following aspects
form the basis for successful attendance at school. First of all, you need to know
where the family comes from. Do they still relate to that country? Do they still
speak the language? How did they live there? Did they live in huts, apartments,
camps or houses? Have they lived in other countries? It is important for me to
know these things because then I can see how much identity still exists. To what
extent do the Roma identify with their origins? I have met families whose single,
most valuable good that they were able to save was their language. Apart from
that they no longer have very many rituals or traditions to give them a hold. I always say that they are rootless Roma: uprooted Roma who have been moving
around Yugoslavia for generations looking for a sense of security but never finding
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any. Then they moved on to Italy, Spain, France etc, and the never-ending circle
starts again. In addition, the situation prevailing in the country where they lived
before is important, too. Was there unrest, persecution, or war? What was the situation there like?
that a girl may fall in love with a Gadje and give up her family bonds. The only
thing we Roma can rely on is the family. I believe in this, too, even though I was
born in Germany. I support this. The only thing we can rely on is our family, no
one else.
All these factors are very important for me in my work because they help me
determine whether the child or other members of its family are suffering from
trauma or other psychological problems. In addition, it is important to know
whether the grandparents or parents have attended school, whether they have
learned a trade and, if yes, what their experiences were, what difficulties they
encountered, what positive experiences they had. Based on this information, I
can deduce the structures being passed on from the parents to the children. To
me that is important. Does the family do things together? Do they have their meals together? Do they still visit relatives and friends? Do they go on walks every
now and then, even if only in the town? Do the parents actually speak with the
children, or is the relationship characterized by sanctions? If sanctions occur,
what form do they take?
We also work with other families at Amaro Kher; families who are so involved
in their strategy of life and survival that there is no room for education and, consequently, no thought is wasted on this. These families usually have been granted an exceptional leave to remain for an extended period but do not have work
permits and live in cramped conditions, usually isolated from the majority society – remember the example of the Roma resettlement home I mentioned before.
They live, so to say, in ghettos. Moreover, the families usually are in miserable
health. They are permanently threatened by deportation, since extensions can
range from one week to three months. In individual cases, the permission to stay
may be extended on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, they have absolutely no perspectives for the future, and they cannot see or understand how important education is. Their access to education is quite simply blocked. The Roma also find it
hard to understand why they must attend school – compulsory school attendance
has been in force in North Rhine Westphalia for some time – because they are
not allowed to apprentice for a trade or pursue a profession afterwards. They
can’t get this absurd situation into their heads. Basically, they spend all their
time just trying to stay alive. They are always in need of money so that they can
survive. That is the greatest worry of the Roma. I believe that most things can
best be described by means of examples. I often visit the resettlement homes in
Cologne to see if children who are not attending school yet are living there. Recently I visited a home and knocked at the door of a family. The father actually
opened the door and I introduced myself, told him who I was and what my work
is and asked him whether he needed any help. He answered that he didn’t need
any help, but that he was managing as best he could to survive with his family
here. He didn’t want to work together with me or the association I worked for,
with a Youth Office or a school, because he had been moving around Europe and
Yugoslavia for 30 years and didn’t know what the future would bring. Basically,
he was living from one day to the next. I was speechless and conceded that he
was right. I can understand that he had no time for it in his situation. This example really shows how the life situation of the Roma can block their future.
Are pictures and language part of family life? In my home, for example, my
father read the newspaper, albeit not regularly, and we always had a TV guide
that we could leaf through. If these things don’t exist in some families, then we
run into difficulties because our language quite clearly is passed on verbally. We
don’t have any concept of pictures and writing in Romani.
Now I would like to return to the experiences a child’s parents may have had
with school. When working with Roma children, it is important to keep in mind
that most parents have had either no or only negative experiences with school.
Furthermore, the family feels that it cannot protect the child at school and so
many families are afraid that their child may be treated badly at school, that
their child will be teased, bullied or even beaten by other children. Moreover,
they have to give up the supervision and control of the child when it goes to
school. The parents also fear that the child may become estranged. They won’t
have the same amount of influence on their child anymore. They are afraid that
their children will be overly influenced by Gadje traditions or Gadje experiences,
contributing to a loss of family bonding. Another problem is that many Roma
girls are allowed to attend school only for the first few years. They are taken out
of school as soon as they reach sexual maturity. This is because the parents fear
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I gave a lot of thought to the question as to how one can alleviate the fears
of the parents and create trust. I came up with the following 4 aspects.
Reinhold Lagrene | Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and
Roma, Heidelberg
3. Roma mediators and teachers are the only people who can be a model both for
the children and the parents. A Gadje cannot be a model. Therefore, we have to
support the Roma mediators and teachers.
It deeply saddened me to listen to Mrs. Xhemajli’s account. If one thinks about
the situation of the Roma, who basically have been chased from one country to
the next for 30 years and cannot find a foothold, I believe it is no wonder that
many ideas on education, which are a matter of course here, are of no significance to these people. Yet, I also think that an in-depth discussion about this would
take too much time here and now. Therefore, I would only like to express my feelings about this. I find it quite disturbing that people move around Europe in this
way and everyone just lets it happen. We should really think about how we can
change that.
4. We should provide further training to everyone who works with Roma, i.e. teachers, social workers, mediators, so that they can gain background information.
Günter Saathoff
1. Roma mediators and teachers should be employed at schools since they are familiar with the background of the Roma and can reach the families easier through
their own language.
2. Teachers who work with the children should know the background of the family.
Finally, I would like to appeal to anyone who finds it hard to understand us
Roma. I would like to say that deep-rooted and firmly established structures of
life cannot be obliterated in two, or even four, years. As a matter of fact, it may
take generations. For this reason, it is important and right to begin with the
children and to give them as much input as possible. We are doing just that.
I also have a question for Mrs. Xhemajli. I’m not sure I understand exactly
whether her statement “The only thing I can rely on is the family” is meant normatively or expresses a sad reality. Vice versa this would also mean: in which direction should the perspectives of development go? If someone takes this position
and maintains that is his only identity, then, of course, he is creating permanent
borders. You also briefly addressed the cultural identity that would have to be
abandoned in order to be integrated in a majority society or the majority society
has to meet you halfway. With respect to the dynamics between the border drawn
by the “family” and the necessity of overall societal change, I don’t think I understood your standpoint correctly since, in my opinion, this is a central aspect of educational work as such.
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Sabina Xhemajli
I was referring to both. Of course, it is distressing for us that no one understands
us they way we understand ourselves. And the Gadje never ask on their own accord. I have to explain to them time and again why, why and why. There is no
chance of gaining a foothold. I, too, never could rely on the population, the neighbors and the place of work, even though I was born in Germany.
Daniel Strauss
I would like to add that it is important whether one has citizenship and an
identity that has its roots here, or whether one is threatened by deportation from
one day to the next. In that situation, it may well be that one concentrates on the
family. Nonetheless, I see a difference between us. The German Sinti, for example, have German roots and a German tradition. Compared to the European Roma,
I would say that in particular right of law, the constitution, our culture, literature
and post-war history are essential and that is the position I take. Nevertheless,
school as an institution is not viewed as an opportunity by Sinti and Roma per
se. And I do ponder the reasons for this. Education is not considered something
that will help one get on, and the problem is that this view has been confirmed for
many generations. Accordingly, it cannot be changed from one day to the next. Yet
if we ignore this, if we choose not to see that this cannot be attributed to the individual but that the problem lies elsewhere, then we do not stand a chance. We
have rule of law in our country, we have democracy and, thus, Sinti have German
citizenship. Yet, even though they have centuries old roots here, we still have these problems. Therefore, it would be wrong to focus on individual cases.
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Matthäus Weiß | Chairman Association of German Sinti and Roma, Regional Association Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
The discussion about temporary admission, which is also being covered by the
media at the present time, is very important. However, as far as the Roma are
concerned, it will become evident that only very few of them will be allowed to
stay here because they frequently don’t satisfy the prerequisites. If you have
ever done anything wrong in Germany, you will not be allowed to stay. It is common knowledge that most Roma coming from the East Bloc countries ran for their
lives and took refuge here under false identities. Yet, they, too, frequently will
not satisfy the requirements and will be deported. I believe the government has
come up with a very clever scheme to deport as many Roma as possible. That is
my opinion, and I cannot view it any other way. I think there are still far too
many sympathizers with National Socialism and this also concerns the Roma. I
think that our country is not out of the woods yet. Actually, I don’t think that our
grandchildren or their children will not have to suffer this animosity anymore.
Every day we see what is going on. The fact that Roma children cannot go to
school is the cruelest thing occurring in the Federal Republic of Germany. Although attendance at school is compulsory for all children, the state does not give
a thought to these people – except when they are supposed to be deported quickly. I work with Roma every day and I know that they can’t sleep or eat for fear of
being deported. They are deported under cover of darkness. They are woken
from their beds at four o’clock in the morning and deported. It is just that no one
takes notice of this any longer, because it is not covered regularly by the media
anymore. Everything goes quietly and afterwards no one knows what has become of these families. And when you ask the authorities, you are given the disappointing answer: “We don’t know either”. However, it is quite evident that they
have been deported. This problem is particularly distressing to me, since I have
been working with these people for decades.
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Samson Lind | Mediator at the Association of German Sinti and Roma, Regional
Association Hessen, Darmstadt
Matthäus Weiß
I have a question for Mrs. Xhemajli regarding German citizenship, which was
also posed by a colleague. Which group has the most problems: the group without
residence permits and German citizenship or the group that has German citizenship? On the basis of your experience can you tell us where the most difficulties
come up?
I don’t even know why we ask for it? Why are we actually asking? Just like anyone else, we have the right to be here in the Federal Republic of Germany, because also Roma were murdered in concentration camps and many of those living here in Germany today are deported again. That’s the real reason. Constantly
asking is not doing us any good. It is our right, not more and not less. We have
been asking for more than 20 years and nothing has happened.
Sabina Xhemajli
Isidora Randjelovic | Association of Roma Parents Bashe Rroma, Berlin
The persons with an exceptional leave to remain for extended period, i.e. the refugees, have the most problems. They are also our major concern. Yet I have been called to other schools occasionally, where there also were Sinti children, and they had
the same problems. Although the problems are the same, it is harder to work with
persons having an exceptional leave to remain since the framework conditions are
more problematic – cramped living quarters, inadequate medical care or non-availability of treatment, and the permanent threat of deportation.
I thought the question well taken as well. In Berlin, for example, we have found
that the situation in families deteriorates even when a residence permit has been
issued. Mr. Strauss also has addressed this point. The people suddenly realize
that very little has changed in their precarious life situation, work situation and
opportunities despite the fact that they have a residence permit. Even though
they have a residence permit and can settle down after struggling for 10 years,
equality is a long way off. At this point, a new struggle begins, perhaps awareness of Antiziganism starts at precisely this point, and effective educational work
can only start at this point.
Samson Lind
You mean to say that the legal situation would have to be changed fundamentally in order to allow your work to be efficient and sustainable? Have I understood that correctly?
Sabina Xhemajli
Yes, that is correct. That is precisely what my organization has been demanding for 20 years, namely a right to stay for the Roma. Unfortunately, the government – as Mr. Weiss described – has alienated us effectively time and again.
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Hamze Bytyci | Amaro drom e.V., Freiburg/Berlin
I absolutely agree with everything that has been said. There are problems that
have to be handled differently. I don’t know whether the refugee situation should
be taken as the cause. I can only speak from my own experiences. We fled the
Kosovo in 1989 due to unrest there, and it was very hard for my parents to become acclimated here. We were – to put it succinctly – transported like cattle from
one town to the next 11 times. At one point we shared one room with two families in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg; this is where my young brother was born. Yet,
after the second instance of granting the right of asylum, we never had the possibility of developing ourselves because we were always treated as second-class
persons. That is particularly distressing for young children and adolescents who
would like to realize their dreams and visions.
I have spoken with many people and asked them about their hopes for their
children. Many said: “My son, this is hard. Back then Uncle Tito didn’t want us,
then Uncle Schily didn’t want us, neither did Schäuble. And so I thought to myself. ‘Hm, wait a minute – is that only the fault of the politicians or is it also our
fault?’ And the answer is: ‘Of course, it is also our fault, but what should I do?’
My father wasn’t a professor, I’m not a professor. Do you think my son will be
one? I don’t know if we will be deported tomorrow or not. I think it is better for
him to go work and earn some money”.
tors – definitely! I have nothing against Gadje – by no means – I am really happy
that I can be here, but the school mediators should be managed by us, i.e. by
Roma and Sinti. Only they know the problems and only they will be able to achieve something on the basis of their methods, even if these are not based on the
pedagogical methods of the Gadje. In part I hope for pedagogical training for
Roma, in part this has happened. I think that people like my brother, who grew
up here and is 16 years old now, should be proud of being a Roma, even though
he has had a harder life than others and did not attain the school degree he had
hoped for. Yet when I say to him: “Look here, your brother has founded an association. Why don’t you join us?” He answers: “Leave me alone with the Roma. I
don’t want to hear anything about the Roma. The Roma are why I am abused and
beaten at school. You are a Roma, you are a thief and you don’t know how to do
anything anyway.” The time has finally come when people like he, people who
are born here and have a residence permit, can be proud of their origin. In order
to get a residence permit, for example, I had to marry a German woman. That is
also a point that needs to be addressed. It isn’t easy, but people working for the
government told me: “Boy, the only possibility you have is to get married.”
That, however, is not really a good prerequisite for beginning a new future
here. It would be so much more sensible if the Roma had the same opportunities
as everyone else. If Uncle Schäuble would pay for courses at adult education centers, allowing them to learn the German language, amongst other things. Because
knowing the language is the basis that is quite simply needed to enable children
to have a future here. After all, we want the children to live here; they should
not be deported.
I have also given thought to the question what deported people can do. In May,
we were in Belgrade and in the Kosovo. The only thing the Roma there told us
was that they would rather live in a resettlement home with two families to a
room than be deported, because only now did they know what they have missed.
The opportunity that the Roma have here is education. Therefore, it is important
that we start with the parents, ensuring that they learn the language and allow
their children to attend school. There is no question that we need school media-
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It is important to find a balance between the investment in education, encouraging education and allowing education despite the worrisome situation.
Reinhard Schlagintweit |
UNICEF Germany, Bonn
I was very impressed by what Mrs. Xhemajli and others said about the negative effect of the temporary admission and deportation practice. I would like to
know whether there are studies or statistical findings which prove that the Roma
really are discriminated against in the deportation process or whether this actually applies to the overall category of people from the Kosovo and other southeastern European countries. Just recently someone told me that when Roma
are involved, the authorities check in the Kosovo to find out what the situation is
like and whether deportation is possible or tolerable. This would actually be special treatment of the Roma, if it were the case. However, I cannot judge that.
Daniel Ibraimovic | Chairman of the Roma Parents’ Association Bashe Rroma,
Berlin
From my experience, I know that the Aliens Authority claims to have checked
the situation with the response that there are no problems. Yet, the reality is
quite different. I also discussed this subject with Bosiljka Schedlich from the
Southeast-Europe Center in Berlin. She said she has often discovered that the
statements made by the authorities were not true when she traveled to Bosnia.
Many families who left Germany voluntarily because they were promised a
house are still waiting for adequate reparation.
Christoph Leucht | Consultant of the Freudenberg Foundation
With regard to the discussion, I would like to briefly point out that the explicit
topic of this conference is not “Situation of Roma refugees, deportation problems
and ensuing educational problems” and it is not listed in the program. Of course,
we are all aware of the fact that it is a very important and prominent topic for the
persons concerned and, at the same time, the situation is such that we cannot let
ourselves be overwhelmed by this problem when addressing educational problems.
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On the other hand, it is necessary to speak out against the situation of the Roma
families threatened by deportation. I am pleased the subject was addressed and
discussed here, and I hope that we will obtain a comprehensive description of
the mediators’ work in their individual fields when the projects are presented. I
hope that these reports will discuss these points and other aspects of the situation and that we can look at the overall range of obstacles in the course of the
conference. But we must not let ourselves be overwhelmed by the refugee problem and its existentiality. Of course, this is a prominent topic for the individual
families and projects and, at the same time, it is important that everyone working in such educational projects have a perspective. In the final analysis, if we
don’t have a perspective, we don’t need to carry out such educational projects.
Therefore, I am particularly happy that we have so many projects from the east
European countries, that we can intensify the contacts between the German projects and the projects from Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Poland and find
out how educational projects are going in the countries of origin of the families
and whether there are possibilities of working together and exchanging experiences.
I would like to give you a short overview of the situation of Roma and Sinti
school mediators in Europe.
First, I would like to mention the European Monitoring Center on Racism and
Xenophobia (EUMC) in Vienna. In its 2004 report on educational issues, it pointed out the serious problems that children from Roma and Sinti families encounter in connection with schools all over Europe. And in its special report 2006, it
describes the situation of “Roma and travellers” in the public school systems.
EUMC receives its information through the National Focal Points, which conduct
studies directly at the relevant places. The study, which was published in 2006,
Christoph Leucht
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was carried out, as far as I know, in 2005 and, hence, it is quite recent. Both reports can be downloaded in the Internet.
The EU Commission has only been concerning itself with the social situation of
the Roma since the expansion. Since the social and, consequently, educational situation of the Roma and Sinti in the candidate countries is so grave, the EU Commission has made immediate improvements a definitive prerequisite and significant criterion for the candidate countries Romania and Bulgaria to become
members of the EU. The same holds true for the candidate countries Croatia and
Macedonia. In this connection, it is conspicuous and interesting that the EU Commission has never or almost never taken an interest in the educational situation
of the Sinti and Roma in west European countries. However, the Open Society
Institute, which has filled this gap, was able to prove substantially that the educational situation is equally bad in most west European countries and that, if one
were to apply the same criteria, some of the west European member states could
not become EU members. Due to these kinds of reports, the subject of Sinti and
Roma in western Europe is gaining more attention in the meantime, also in the
Commission, and the 2004 report even discusses the situation in west Europe. In
addition, a working group, headed I believe by Mrs. Süssmuth, has been formed
in the EU Commission. To summarize: the educational problems of Roma and Sinti are known to the Commission and will be included as a key subject – at least
that is the current state of affairs – in the 2008 ESF budget. Hopefully, the projects for Roma and Sinti families in west European countries will be supported as
well then.
The European institution that has been dealing with the educational situation
of the Roma and Sinti for more than 20 years is the European Council. Long lists
of recommendations were drawn up by the Committee of Ministers, most recently in 2006, which continuously describe the educational, medical and living situation. Training programs are offered, reports are written and efforts are continuously being made to bring up this subject in sub-groups of the European
Council, the Directorates General. In particular, three groups are working on this:
the Migration and Roma Department of Directorate General III, the group of specialists on Roma, Sinti and Travellers and the European Dimension department
of Directorate General IV, which in turn is especially interested in the subject of
Roma mediators.
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Two very important instruments at the European Council are the Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter
for the Protection of Regional or Minority Languages. They are obligated to make
reports and have commissions that review and respond to these reports. The reports and responses are published in the Internet. Some of the German reports
are not answered especially favorably because they do not provide full information and do not give the impression that both agreements are being implemented
quickly.
In 2005, a poll was taken, which was published in 2006. It comprised ten questions and was sent to the Ministries of Education of all member states of the European Council:
1. Are there Roma mediators or assistants?
2. What are they called? Mediators, assistants, co-teachers?
3. What legal framework conditions have been drawn up for their employment?
4. What tasks, functions and responsibilities do Roma mediators or assistants have?
5. Who initiates the employment of Roma and Sinti to improve the educational
situation?
6. What is the current situation regarding the institutional framework
conditions?
7. Are there training or further training programs for the mediators?
8. Are there monitoring and support programs?
9. Are there definite employment projects and initiatives for the future?
10. Do you – as parallel or alternative models – employ intercultural mediators
in general?
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Altogether 18 states answered and information from sources available in the
Internet were researched for 16 other countries. The west European states employing school mediators were Austria, France, Spain and Great Britain. The German Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, Greece
and Ireland gave negative answers. The Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, by the way, answered that it never responds to such
questionnaires since queries regarding ethnic origins conflict with the Framework Agreement. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities prohibits the identification of members of minorities. Therefore, they
could not ask whether there were any Roma mediators since it would otherwise
have become evident that they were members of a minority and they would have
been forced to publicize their minority origins. This seems reasonable from a legal standpoint, but it also brings us back to Mr. Taba’s question about targeting
or mainstreaming. Should one not concentrate on target groups or shouldn’t all
teachers become more respectful, shouldn’t all lessons be designed in a more
comprehensible way and shouldn’t the overall education system develop in such
a way that whoever may encounter difficulties in the education system will also
be able to overcome them?
Furthermore, there are countries that have concrete plans regarding the introduction of Roma mediators. Based on the observations, it is clear that the information provided about some of the countries that did not answer and were researched in the Internet was not conveyed completely correctly. The example of
Serbia given here shows us that there are not only plans for mediator programs
but that such programs have been running for at least two or three years. As far
as I know, the same holds true for Slovenia. It could be true that Macedonia has
worked out initial plans.
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from my work here in Germany – to teach in Romani. This illustrates how wide
the range of skills in the area of education alone is. Besides – according to the
results of the study – tasks outside the classroom, e.g. preparing classes, preparing children designated to start first grade, helping children do their homework
as well as organizing recreational activities, which will help improve the educational situation by increasing the children’s feeling of self-worth and their own
identity. The third large area concerns the tasks related to generally improving
the relationship between the families and schools, which also is an area of interest for the German Roma and Sinti school mediators attending this conference.
Unfortunately, the study only provided an approximate distribution because
only a few, and not all, countries were described as models. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and other countries the tasks are distributed among the
three areas. In Austria, the teaching assistants are employed only outside the
classroom, and in Romania, France, Spain and others the assistance outside
school and the mediation between the families and schools are in the foreground.
As far as the question of training and further training of the mediators is concerned, the result is that there are no systematic training processes in most countries. However, this has to be qualified because either the time of the study or
the information flow was decisive. One emphasized example was that Spain offered brief introductory training courses followed by further training when the
mediators were employed, i.e. alongside work. The training offered to Roma mediators in Berlin within the scope of the EQUAL project was more or less short as
well, and working with the mediators when they were employed was an important component.
Then there are those countries that did not respond and Internet research
showed that they did not have any Roma mediator programs. Thus, in the case of
Germany, we see that the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is not informed adequately and has no knowledge about the actual
situation in the country.
We know from Poland, Bulgaria and Finland that the training and further training programs there were primarily conducted within the scope of EU projects.
In addition, the study also concerned itself with the tasks and spheres of responsibility of the Roma mediators, assistants and teaching assistants. For one
there are tasks in the classroom, where the emphasis is on facilitating the communication between the teachers and children from Roma and Sinti families, to
actively help the children from Roma and Sinti families understand and complete the schoolwork and – although this was not included in the study, I know this
The prerequisites for working as a Roma mediator in a school range from a simple school-leaving certificate – most likely some do not even have a school-leaving certificate – and a university degree. Croatia reported that further training
was an inherent part of the tasks and that this was organized alongside the work
at a school. Certificates can be earned within the scope of the existing training
Finland is interesting because, although very much is being done in this area,
the programs always take place within the scope of EU projects.
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courses, either through introductory trainings – this is how the certificates at
RAA Berlin came into being, too – or they are earned at pedagogical institutions,
for example as Mrs. Kreutz did. The Roma mediators then receive one of the usual certificates for a social-pedagogical assistant, social worker, teacher etc.
Romania and the Czech Republic have developed their training models further.
In Romania, a 28-day theoretical course teaches the participants the minimum
pedagogical skills needed; in the Czech Republic this course takes 80 days. An
extended practical phase follows both courses.
In conclusion I would like to address the chances and challenges I recognized
in the course of preparing this report and my past work. A chance obviously is to
realize that Roma and Sinti mediators and teachers at school act as models, and
that they as individuals can strengthen the belief in successful education and integration in the institution. In addition, as school mediators they can strengthen
the self-initiative of the children and families by reminding them that it is important to take care of things oneself and to support the educational process. Furthermore, the Roma mediators frequently have the advantage of understanding
the cultural sensitivities and the social situation as compared to the teachers coming from the majority society.
positions, which in part can be attributed to an insufficient introduction of the
teachers as well as to the factual difference in training. Doesn’t this fixation on
having Roma and Sinti work as assistants in school also bear a considerable danger, because the subordinate role of the Roma and Sinti in society could be repeated at school? I do not want to say that both challenges cannot be overcome, to
the contrary. Of course, it is very important to overcome them and good strategies exist. I only want to say that one has to be aware of these challenges so as to
agree with the teachers, from the start, that the assistant takes over certain
tasks. Moreover, I do not think the title “assistant” is well chosen and prefer the
title “mediator”, because the mediator assumes tasks that the teacher cannot
handle. In so far the mediator is not an assistant of the teacher, but a colleague
who can be active in areas from which the teacher is excluded or for which the
teacher would need certain qualifications. Actually, however, the project Roma
and Sinti as Mediators is a temporary project, because in five, at the latest ten,
years we will have enough Roma and Sinti who are teachers, social workers,
school headmasters or headmistresses, school councils and perhaps also ministers of education. Then they can act as models in perfectly normal positions and
make the most of the same opportunities.
Günter Saathoff
Marius Taba already said something regarding the challenges. It is generally
questioned whether it is meaningful for the school projects to concentrate on one
special group. The point is whether one can promote all children or only one
single group. I personally believe that this is an important point: we have to
make sure they don’t exclude each other reciprocally. One can improve the educational processes for the majority and provide special support for individual
groups.
One more question about the challenges facing school mediators that you described. Once again, I would like to draw attention to the other side. The willingness of the Roma themselves to attend school and gain an education is a decisive
challenge. A significant basic condition for all this education work is the willingness and the methods used by the school mediators. Do the methods fit to the
cultures they are dealing with, or are certain pedagogical strategies imported?
This is evident in connection with the terms being used here, which do not fit to
every culture and every country.
The second challenge, which is particularly important to me, is, of course, the
entire question about the status of the assistants and whether – to put it succinctly – self-made qualifications (brief introductory course plus clever materials) can survive at school, an institution where normally only people having a
university degree work. In many cases, mediators often are assigned subordinate
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Christoph Leucht
That can effectively be delimited or made attractive by speaking about Roma
and Sinti families with educational difficulties, and not about the educational
problems of the Roma and Sinti. Thus, the question could be: “How can one approach the lacking motivation of Roma and Sinti families with educational difficulties?” That is how the question should be formulated to find some effective
answers. If you ask about the educational motivation of Roma, then you cannot
develop a special strategy for the spectrum ranging from university graduates to
people without any schooling at all. Naturally, special efforts need to be made
with families having no motivation to get an education, as those described by
Mrs. Xhemajli. At the same time, the fact that Roma mediators are employed conveys to Roma that education is possible. Let me give you one example: In a video
project we organized, there was a girl who was working in a store for bridal
dresses. After completing Hauptschule, she worked as a salesperson in the store.
Sometimes Roma families came into the store and were taken aback when she
spoke to them in Romani. “What? A Roma can become a salesperson?” With this
example I would like to illustrate that in many cases the lack of willingness to
get an education, which we see from our perspective, can be traced back to uncertainty as to whether education will be successful. In those families who do
not believe that education can be successful, the lack of willingness to send the
children to school can quite simply be attributed to the belief that it would be
pointless anyway. In addition, the planned perspectives for the children are different, e.g. it is expected that they found a family at a young age and help the
parents earn money, raise the children, do household chores. Naturally, changing
the opinion that school is pointless and convincing them to take the risk of sending the children to school even though it will presumably be pointless is a difficult undertaking. For this purpose, models, strategies and discussions strengthening a positive approach are needed. Schools familiar with the situation and
teachers willing to attend further training are needed.
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Daniel Strauss
I think we need to differentiate here. If we speak about the willingness of the
Roma and Sinti to get schooling, then we also have to look at the differences. For
some there is no obligation to attend school. Since they did not understand the
perspectives offered by education, German Sinti and Roma did not acknowledge
the obligation to attend school up until the 1980s. This is understandable. How
are they supposed to know this; their parents were illiterate. So, that was difficult. The situation today is changing in so far as there are almost no German Sinti
anymore who not aware of the obligation to attend school. In my opinion, rules of
conduct dictating that children have to be taken from school when they turn 13
or stipulating special clothing are not relevant anymore for German Sinti. This
may be different for foreign or stateless Roma. This means that if we look at the
willingness of Roma and Sinti to get an education, we have to distinguish between
the different groups. Religion also is relevant. Citizenship is relevant, and the legal and social situation are relevant as well
Christoph Leucht
That is a good motto for the conference: Distinguishing, differentiating, looking
at individual cases and refraining from making generalizations.
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EUROPEAN MODELS
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Qualification, measurement of needs, material development and organizational links to the work of Roma mediators in Finland, Romania, Bulgaria
and Serbia
FINLAND: SOLID ROMA MINORITY DUE TO MINIMAL
IMMIGRATION FACILITATES INTEGRATION
Eine Lillberg | Roma Education Unit, Helsinki
Training of school assistants in Finland.
The training belongs to the sphere of general education, which
means that everyone is eligible to apply. The students are responsible for paying for the training themselves.
Labour market training.
Unemployed jobseekers can apply for school assistant training
and be eligible for labour market subsidy, securing their basic
means of support. Only a handful of Roma gain access to the training, as there is a large number of applicants.
Labour market training is organised separately for Roma.
The reason for organising such training is the considerably
lower level of education of Roma compared to the general public,
which makes it more difficult for them to gain access to training.
Apprenticeship training is also available in Finland, whereby
employee and employer enter into an employment contract; the
student is paid 80% of the wage of a school assistant. Theoretical
studies are carried out in an educational institution, and the share
of practical studies in such training is higher than in other comparable training.
Individual places have been bought for Roma students, as organising such training is usually difficult.
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A competence test system also exists in Finland, whereby a person can demonstrate his or her vocational skills. All working experience and training is accredited, and acts as the basis for decisions on further actions.
The Further and Specialist Qualifications for Romany Culture
Instructors belong to such training, and 15 Roma have graduated
as Romany Culture Instructors.
Various projects:
A national training and employment project for Roma was implemented in Finland between 1996 and 2001. Of the funding,
60% came from the Ministry of Labour and 40% from the European social budget. The training organised for Roma through the
project included youth and leisure instructor training, and social
sector training. Individual training for school assistants was also
procured as part of the project.
»In Finland, the Romany
Education United has
been training mediators
for about 10 years.«
Between 2001 and 2004 Finland participated in the international Drom-Edu project involving seven countries, which trained
mediators for co-operation between schools and homes. In Finland, the Romany Education Unit has been training mediators for
about 10 years.
The international Rom Equal project is currently carried out in
Finland by the State Provincial Offices of Southern Finland, Northern Finland and Eastern Finland, which are training school assistants.
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In 2001–2002 the National Board of Education carried out a national investigation into the basic education of Roma children
with alarming results: many children drop out of basic education,
the number of absences is high, and a large number of Roma pupils take part in special needs education.
»The aim when
working with Roma
pupils is to strengthen
their identity by
teaching them the
Romany language …«
School assistants are needed in order to redress all of these issues. School assistants work either with an individual student
who has a physical or mental disability or with the entire class in
cooperation with the teacher. The aim when working with Roma
pupils is to strengthen their identity by teaching them the Romany
language and to help them with their homework. Close co-operation with Roma homes is also an important aspect of the work.
In Finland the mediators have been trained to work comprehensively with public authorities. They act as cultural interpreters
between Roma and various authorities in matters pertaining to
education, employment, social welfare, housing, substance abuse
and legal affairs.
Between 1992 and 1994, at the National Centre for Professional
Development in Education, 10 Roma participated in the training
for mother tongue teachers aimed at children whose mother
tongue is other than Finnish; many of them have worked as Romany teachers across Finland. At present only about 9% of Roma
pupils in basic education receive teaching in Romany.
Efforts are being made to revive the Romany language; “language nests” where Roma children receive teaching in Romany have
been set up across Finland.
The National Board of Education/the Romany Education Unit
organises supplementary training for Romany teachers 2 – 3 times
a year.
Romany teachers also co-operate with the National Board of Education to prepare teaching material in Romany.
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In addition, the Unit co-operates with authorities and Roma to
produce material on Romany culture for the needs of various authorities such as schools, health care providers and the police.
Günter Saathoff
I have only a question of comprehension. We already discussed
that the conditions for education are very different from country
to country; depending on how long Sinti and Roma have already
lived in the country and are so to say forming a minority or if
there is a constant exchange of people, like in Germany in the
1990s when great numbers of people immigrated from Kosovo,
Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. It seems that these large social
movements never reached Finland and as a consequence there is
a stable minority of Roma and Sinti which only fluctuates between
Sweden and Finland due to the historic process which you also
mentioned. Is it a fact that over the last years no larger Romanispeaking minority immigrated to Finland?
Eine Lillberg
Roma people have lived in Finland for a long time and we have
only a small number of Roma, who have come in recent years.
Sabina Xhemajli
“I think it is admirable
how strongly the Roma
in Finland are motivated
to learn Romani”
I have been in Finland and I looked into the organization of the
“Finish National Board of Education”. I also visited Roma people
who have lived in Finland for a very long time, but I also met
Roma who emigrated from former Yugoslavia. I sat down there
with them, ate with them and talked to them and I felt very comfortable. Moreover, I think it is admirable how strongly the Roma
in Finland are motivated to learn Romani. It is very important for
them.
I also use the book by Miranda Vuolasranta often at school and
I read it and work on it with the children.
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ROMANIA: SHOULD ROMA MEDIATORS BE ROMA
AND HOW CAN WE DIFINE A ROMA?
Bogdan Georoceanu | Department of Education, Bucharest
The government of Rumania has a national strategy for the inclusion and development of Roma. This strategy includes the training of mediators and it has three main project branches. These
projects are called “Access to Education for disadvantaged
groups” and they follow certain general principles, such as equal
chances.
»In the past, we have
finished five projects
and trained about 170
Roma mediators.«
In the past, we have finished five projects and trained about
170 Roma mediators, but not all of them were Roma, some of
them were Rumanians. These mediators were integrated in the
educational system, but there are still some misunderstandings
regarding the lawfulness of their position. In general, the occupation as a Roma school mediator in Rumania has been recognised
and any person, no matter if he or she is Roma or not, may be
paid as a Roma mediator. To be able to work in the national educational system, however, the mediators have to be recognised as
auxiliary teaching staff. It will be a very long process until every
Roma mediator will be granted this status, because the law will
have to be changed.
Nevertheless the mediator program is already successful. We
have some sustainability conditions and we have strong partnerships with city councils, giving the mediators the chance to be
hired until the situation within the system of education is clear.
We are still facing an educational problem, because some of the
Roma mediators do not have a bachelor diploma. The bachelor
degree is the lowest level of education, which allows the graduates to be hired within the educational system. The situation is
aggravated by the fact that those mediators, who do not have a
higher level of education, are often situated in the poorest and
most remote communities. We try to give them the chance to get
a proper education.
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The training program lasts ten months. 40% is classroom based
training, in which the students receive basic instruments for
being school staff, such as pedagogy, sociology, social assistance,
public relations and Roma language. The rest of the training consists of practical training within the schools and within the communities. At the end of the ten months period, they have to prove
that they have actually worked successfully by showing a portfolio, which should contain all the necessary work certificates.
The achievements are not big, because the educational programs in Rumania are not only concerned with school education,
but they have to deal with additional problems in the communities as well, e.g. unemployment and social problems. We have to
make the families aware of the fact that their children have to go
to school, even if it means that they cannot eat at home. We will
provide a free meal. Of course, it is very expensive to provide for
all needs at school, but if we want them to come to school, we
have to give them what they need. If they need to study at school
their mother tongue, we have to provide suitable lessons. If they
need to eat in the school, we have to provide food.
Concluding, the program is a lot more complex than it seems
and it does not only consist of mediator training.
»… if we want them to
come to school, we have
to give them what they
need.«
»… the program is a lot
more complex than it
seems and it does not
only consist of mediator
training.«
Brunhild Krühler | Teacher, Roma Teachers Work Group, Hamburg
You were saying that 40 per cent of the training of the mediators consists in lessons and the remaining 60 per cent in practice.
Moreover, our colleagues have to prove after ten months that
they can teach. Who controls this? To whom do they have to prove
themselves?
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»The evaluation of
mediators is a very
complex process.«
Bogdan Georoceanu
Sabina Xhemajli
The training program was designed by a pedagogical high school.
Due to the Bologna process, the pedagogical high schools in Rumania are no longer allowed to train teachers for primary schools.
Nevertheless, going to a pedagogical high school is a great opportunity for the people. We only trained 150 mediators in two years,
because it is a very complex program and the trainers and headmasters share the responsibility for its success.
The evaluation of mediators is a very complex process. We basically review the activities of the mediator within the community and within the school by interviews with the regional tutors,
with the head of school and by relying on other sources such as
project co-ordination staff of the counties school inspectorate. Finally we sum up all the information and decide whether a mediator is able to work professionally as a school mediator or not. I
can assure you that after a school mediator had been at a certain
school, everybody said that they would never be able to work
without their assistance again. The frequency of children coming
to school increased, the rate of school drop-outs declined and the
number let complaints was lower too. Therefore the entire community profits from the work of the school mediators.
Does this mean that the Romanian mediators work with Roma
children?
Sabina Xhemajli
170 mediators were trained, however not all of them were Ro
ma, but some were also Romanians. I do not quite understand this.
Bogdan Georoceanu
Yes, because some Romanians expressed their will to be a mediator. In Romania, the possibility to become a mediator was offered at one point to everybody in Rumania. We decided to call it
school mediator, because according to Romanian law you cannot
forbid somebody to take a certain job on an ethnical basis.
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Bogdan Georoceanu
Yes. They work with Roma and Romanian children and we believe that the two cultures can work well together to achieve greater things.
Daniel Strauss
How is the project financed, if it is not limited to Roma mediators?
Bogdan Georoceanu
The whole project has the Roma children as a target group, but
this does not mean that other children are excluded, because in
the communities, of which we are talking, the situation is very
complicated. All the children are in the same situation and all of
them have social problems, family problems and their parents
are unemployed.
If you refer to a school, you refer to it as a whole and not only
to the Rumanian children or the Roma children. The selection of
schools, at which mediators should work, is done according to
certain criteria. There have to be Roma children and they have to
have problems of marginalisation, discrimination and segregation. If a school is in such a situation, they are entitled to receive
the help of a school mediator. Nevertheless, due to our limited
budget, we have to make a selection somehow.
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Alexandru Lacatos | Roma school mediator at the Resource Center
for Roma Communities, Cluy
»The mediator must
mediate all the time
between the school and
the families.«
I am a mediator at a high school with 1600 pupils and we have
a second chance problem at our school. We have eight classes
with Roma pupils and they belong to families from six different
communities, of which three are traditional Roma communities.
The mediator program is really important there, because the
children never went to school before and never left the town in
which they were born. The mediator must mediate all the time
between the school and the families. The mediator cannot only
improve the communication, but he or she can also help to improve the living conditions, e.g. water supply, electricity and gas, because many communities lack these basic supplies.
Our community does not have water supply. The people drink
the water from the river and that is why we cannot stop being
only a mediator at school. If you leave the people in these conditions, you cannot do anything. I like the job and it is very important to help. I participated ten month in a training program in
Moldavia and, like my colleague said, the practical experience is
more important than the theory – with theory alone, you cannot
do anything. It is really important to go into all the families and
to learn about their problems. You have to see how they live:
They do not have a house, they eat on the ground, they do not
have medical care, they do not have anything. Also, it is really
important be a social educator, because we already want to start
helping them in kindergarten so that they grow up and go to
school. We try to help them from birth. Their parents do not have
a job, never went to school and they are not able to make a future for their children.
Christoph Leucht
The Romanian approach, as far as I understand, puts a strong
emphasis on the relation to the community. This is very similar
to our problems, as we cannot exclude the refugee issue when
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looking at the educational issue, and in Romania the reference to
the living conditions, to housing and health conditions cannot be
excluded either.
Herbert Heuss | Project office for supporting the Roma Initiatives,
Heidelberg
I have a question for the mediator colleague from Romania. Do
you want to continue your education and if so, what opportunities are there?
Alexandru Lacatos
I am a student of psychopedagogy in Cluj, but I do not want to
give my job as a mediator away. It is my life. I was born in the
middle of them and I do not want to go away. Even when I have
finished my studies, I want to continue helping them. Money is
not important, it is important to help these people.
»Money is not important,
it is important to help
these people.«
Dragotin Petrovic | Roma teacher, Hamburg
I understand that the school mediators are not only Roma, but
also Romanians and Bulgarians. I would like to know in which
language the training takes place and which language they use
when they teach.
Bogdan Georoceanu
The language used in the training program is Rumanian, because
we do not have trainers who speak the Roma language. Nevertheless, there is a module of Roma language and even if the students
are Romanians they have to learn the Roma language.
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Claudia Macaria | Resources Center for Roma Communities, Cluj
Bogdan Georoceanu
In Romania the Romani language classes are held by Romani
language teachers. We have more than 300 Romani language teachers, who have studied three years at a college within the University of Bukarest. The Romani language teachers are supported by
the school mediators. The school mediators help the teachers to
keep up the link with the community. Just recently, the ministry
of education started to establish a partnership with the ministry
of health to answer the need of health mediators.
Alexandru is an unqualified teacher. This means that he has a
bachelor diploma and he is in the course of qualification. He has
not been qualified as a teacher of Romani language yet, because
he does not have a university degree in native languages. But he
is in the course of becoming a teacher in mainstream education.
According to that, he can teach Romani language. It is an interpretation of our law, but we are doing it for the advantage of
Roma children. We want them to have a Romani teacher. We have
people who study at the university the Romani language, but
they are not enough for all the Roma children.
»It is an interpretation of
our law, but we are doing
it for the advantage of
Roma children.«
Alexandru Lacatos
I was not a student of the Romani language, but I took a special
training, in which I learned the language within three weeks. I
was not able to speak the language before the training, but after
one year of practice, I can talk, write and teach now.
Dr. Mareile Krause | Regional Institute for training teachers and for
schools, Hamburg
I would like to know, what exactly the mediators learn. What
does their training consist of?
Alexandru Lacatos
We learn sociology, psychology, pedagogy, practice tactics and
Hindi language. We learn about India, which is the country of our
origin. We learn about our history and the Romani language. We
have six or seven modules.
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Sebastijan Kurtisi | Chairman of the Roma Union Grenzland, Aachen
I am slightly reluctant to believe that there are not enough
Roma mediators so that there is the strong necessity to train NonRoma who then have to learn Romani so that they can work with
the children. Why is this happening? There must be enough Roma
in Romania, or is this not so?
Bogdan Georoceanu
First of all, the Romani language is not widely spoken in Romania. There are entire communities that do not speak any kind of
Roma language. They only use the Romanian language or the
Hungarian language. By introducing the Romani language in
schools, we want to give the Roma the possibility to find their
origins and to be able to go back to their roots so that they can
find their country and are able to define themselves as one kind
of people, who have their own land.
»By introducing the
Romani language in
schools, we want to give
the Roma the possibility
to find their origins …«
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Daniel Strauss
I am dying to know, how the Roma are defined in Romania. As
a national minority or an ethnic group that originates from India?
Of course, the origin of Roma may well lie in India, but are Roma
educated with the belief that they are not Romanians but Indians
or do the Roma children grow up with the idea of being part of
the Romanian nation?
Bogdan Georoceanu
»I think it is democratic
to give everybody the
opportunity to learn the
Romani language.«
In Rumania there are a lot of disputes about this issue. What
should we do? During the communist era we had a long period
during which the Roma were resettled to have them forget their
language, their tradition and their way of being. Some of the travellers were forced to settle down and they lost their roots. Now
we are confronted with a hybrid identity. They are not completely Romanians and they are not completely Roma. Do not take my
words as an offence. We do not define Roma people by their language, because if we did, we would have a critical mass of people,
who are not Romani speakers, but who actually are Roma and
who want their rights. What should we do now? We cannot say:
No, you are not Roma, because you are not a speaker of the Roma
language, and we will cut down your rights as a minority. I think
it is democratic to give everybody the opportunity to learn the
Romani language.
Hamze Bytyci
Only Romania has it fixed in its constitution that the Roma
have the most rights. Therefore, I think that it is not so easy to
say that people who do not speak the language should not get the
chance to learn it. Thus, it does not make a difference if the mediator is a Roma or a Romanian. It is a matter of and this would apply in the same way to Germany.
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BULGARIA: JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR MEDIATORS WITHIN
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Nikolay Angelov Kirilov | Ministry of Education, Bulgaria, Sofia
I am the director of the National Center for education and integration of children from minorities. It is very good that I have to
give my report after the presentation from Romania, because the
situation is not so different. I think that we are on the same track.
The integration of assistant teachers in the educational system is
part of the national frame for the integration of Roma in the Bulgarian society.
The assistant teachers that are working in Bulgaria today were
trained from 2001–2003. In Bulgaria we have had long-time experiences with the integration of assistant teachers in the educational system. What did we achieve? We have a detailed job description and since this year we have an agreement between the local
municipalities, the social ministry and the ministry of education.
The school headmasters can request assistance from the local
authorities and the local authorities can apply to the ministry of
social affair. They can hire qualified assistant teachers, who have
passed the training courses and programs. Probably more than
three hundred assistant teachers have already passed these
courses. We have more than 1000 students in Bulgaria right now
and unfortunately there are not so many young Roma who want
to become a teacher. Part of my Center’s strategy is therefore to
create a special line to support future students. We will try to motivate young Roma to become teachers by creating a special budget line. In general, my Center is financed partly by a state budget
and partly by different donors, such as medical funds, private donors and international organisations.
»The integration of
assistant teachers in
the educational system
is part of the national
frame for the integration of Roma in the
Bulgarian society.«
We are going to create a special fund and allocate money to
support young Roma who want to become teachers. Moreover we
support for the first time teachers, who want to become a magister in intercultural teaching and multicultural relations. I think,
this is very important, because we are dealing with one or two
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minorities in our part of the world right now, namely Roma and
Turkish minorities, but in the future we are going to have more
immigrants from various communities and we will need more
qualified teachers, who will not only work with Roma children
but with all kinds of foreigners.
Christoph Leucht
This means that these 300 trained Roma mediators, who have
been trained within the frame of the Faro program, are not yet
qualified enough to fill these positions? They would have to get a
university degree first?
Christoph Leucht
Nikolay Angelov Kirilov
As far as I understood it, you were successful in creating a position for Roma mediators within the educational system. This
means that schools can officially request Roma mediators and
moreover they are allowed to employ people, who do not have an
university degree and who are not trained teachers. Is that so?
No, they can take the position, because they passed a training
program and they have a certificate. The headmasters only have
to apply to the local mayor for teaching support. Only the headmasters and the local teachers have to be more active and the
Roma organisations should push a little bit so that the headmasters apply for the creation of new positions.
No, they cannot be hired if they are not qualified. If they did
not get a certificate saying that they are qualified, they cannot
work as teachers, because according to Bulgarian law it is forbidden to have unqualified people in the classroom.
Christoph Leucht
Christoph Leucht
How can they get this certificate?
Are there also non-Roma in Bulgaria who have been trained as
Roma mediators and who work as such?
We have mediators, who are not Roma, but the assistant teachers are mainly Roma.
Camilla Murphy | Director, Nova Skola, Prague
The ministry of education works together with some Universities in Bulgaria so that they can provide training. The problem
until this moment is the question of how to finance these programs. We have about 300 assistant teachers at the moment, who
were trained in the frame of the Faro-Program.
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I am listening very carefully and I do appreciate all your opinions, but I would like to stand up for the Rumanian and Bulgarian
colleagues, because the situation is different. We cannot speak
about people who live in social excluded communities in a way
we cannot picture. Those people definitely need support. In that
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»I think teaching those
children is about
respect. Those children
deserve the chance to
succeed and to get
education.«
case, I would not distinguish who wants to help them. I would
appreciate if a Rumanian person is learning the Romani language
and I would not say that it is not good enough, because if somebody is learning some ones language then they show respect to
those people. And I think teaching those children is about respect. Those children deserve the chance to succeed and to get
education. So it is very important to support them and the people
who are helping them. Of course, it is much better if it is a person
from their community, because of the background, but if it is a
person that shows respect to them and helps them. This is also
very important.
Let us take the discussion into the constructive level and do
not pin on certain things.
SERBIA: WORKING AS A TEAM – ROMA TEACHING
ASSISTANTS AND TEACHERS
Dejan Memetovic | Roma Teaching Assistant at the Roma Education Center, Nis
We work in the primary schools. We have a sum of roles
for the Roma teaching assistant:
Supplement in class, regular classes, work with the parents,
helping with the creation of the lesson unit, post-school model for
the Roma children, physical education class, participation at the
parents meetings at the school, identification of Roma children,
identification of the reasons for working with the children in the
afternoon class, co-operation with the social workers in the school
and in the field, help to the children when learning for the first
degree, translation of social-cultural context, homework, solving
the language barrier in everyday class and field work.
Why is there a need for Roma teaching assistants?
The schools do not have a good communication with the
children. They do not know the exact number of Roma children.
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The teacher cannot motivate the children. He cannot motivate the
parents. They need to create a new position in the class for Roma
teaching assistants:
The teaching assistants will be able to do field work and thereby the exchange of information will be easier. The work with the
children will be adjusted to their needs in respect to their traditional costumes, language and database.
Examination of good practice
The teacher and the Roma teaching assistant prepare a unit together, but the co-operation also goes beyond the school and the
school operating field. The teacher usually accepts the suggestions made by the Roma teaching assistant because he really can
establish a connection with the children. There is a clear division
of the task between the teacher and the assistant and both of
them teach with great respect for the Roma culture and tradition.
Suggestion for the empowerment of the teaching assistant
Position in school
We need better communications and more supplementary
classes, which should specifically deal with the Roma culture, the
Roma language. The position of the teaching assistant should
have a definite job description in the school.
Moreover further education for the Roma teaching assistants
should be provided and also the teachers should have to take
courses in Roma culture and tradition. The Roma teaching assistant should be integrated in all school activities and their status
should be regulated by law.
»The Roma teaching
assistant should be
integrated in all school
activities and their
status should be
regulated by law.«
Problem and Success
Success: Since the start of the assistant program, the children
have better school success, the literary has increased and they
come regularly to school. There is a better communication
between the parents, the teacher and the children. The children
start to accept the teacher and are more motivated for further
education.
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Failures: Some children still drop out of school, they attend
school irregularly, the parents show insufficient attendance at
school, there is lack of support for education in the families, some
of the teachers do not want to work with the Roma teaching assistants and family problems have a great effect on the children’s
school success.
Dejan Memetovic
We think that that Roma teaching assistant and teacher, who
teaches the Roma language, are two different jobs.
Gabriele Freitag
»What is the advantage
of having school
assistants for the
children and parents?«
What is the advantage of having school assistants for the
children and parents?
The children feel more comfortable at school. The can talk with
the Roma teaching assistants about their problem. They feel free
to speak up in class and ask for clear explanation. Their level of
confidence is greater and they feel secure. They have more school
success in school and show better discipline and a strong motivation.
The assistants help to reform the hygienic habits and also help
to solve everyday problems of the children. Due to the work of
the assistants, it is easier to build a database about the children.
Most certainly a high number of children will achieve a first degree. The Roma teaching assistant in Serbia must be Roma.
I found these reports from Southeast Europe just now very interesting and they do show that here there is already a longer
experience with school mediators. I should like to know, to what
extent these reports are relevant for the work of school mediators in Germany. In how far do you think can you apply these experiences from Southeast Europe to your work here?
Christoph Leucht
This is a wonderful leading over to our next topic – the German
projects.
Bogdan Georoceanu
We had a meeting a few days ago at the Ministry of Education
in Rumania and an angle proposed to have this position of a teaching assistant in Rumania too. We are still deciding if it is a practical approach to the problem. We want to have more Roma teachers in the schools and not Roma teaching assistants and
therefore consider it a risky approach, because it is a matter of
status for the persons that are working at the schools and we
want to raise the status of Roma. I want to know if you also had
to face this problem?
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GERMAN PROJECTS
HAMBURG: SCHOOL CLASSES IN ROMANI –
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODICAL – DIDACTICAL
PROGRAMM
Brunhild Krühler | Teacher, Roma Work Group, Hamburg
When I started my work at the work group for Roma and Sinti
teachers and school social workers in 2001, the expectations of
my Roma colleagues towards myself were very high. The range of
wishes started from – let me quote – “the children should learn
Romani from their parents as teaching in the mother tongue is
not a task of the school” via “the children should be motivated to
speak Romani in school” to “we, the Roma colleagues, have to con
vince the parents that mother tongue classes are of eminent importance for the development of the children”. You can see here
that here there was an explosive conflict, which however was necessary and productive at the same time. It was necessary, because we did talk about the contents of our teaching and its effects
on the children, and it was productive, because from it a methodical, didactical and highly ambitiously shaped alphabetization
program was developed.
Andrzej Wisniewski | Roma teacher, Hamburg
Roma parents often tell us that their children start to abandon
their maternal language and other aspects of their family culture
at a certain age, because they found out that their language and
culture is considered inferior in their environment. The support
of the maternal language Romani is an important part of our cultural education and elementary for the psychological and cognitive development of the children. Hereby also the experience is
crucial that what finds expression in the maternal language has a
value within society. The rejection of the maternal language, in
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our case Romani, by the social environment leads to the rejection
of one’s own culture mentioned above. By using special teaching
material we want to improve the integration of the children in
the school. We hope to give with this the Roma children and also
all the other children the opportunity to get to know better their
mutual cultures aiming at an improved integration.
Since 2002 I have been employed as a Roma teacher at the
school Rotenhäuserdamm in Hamburg. My first task was to develop an alphabet scale for Romani –the dialect Polska Roma – and
to create written form of Romani. Because up to now in the Romani language there does not exist a tradition of writing the special
problem lies in the fact that a standardized orthography has to
be fixed. I have observed that the children like are very keen on
finding and writing words in Romani by using the alphabet scale.
Often the children claim to be Hungarian, Polish or Yugoslav
nationals. They deny belonging to the Roma people out of the fear
to be exposed to discrimination and disadvantages by the teacher
and the fellow pupils. Due to my teaching in Romani and German,
they succeed in understanding the lessons and consequently fulfilling the requirements of the school better. A main problem of
teaching practice is the fact that we do not have sufficient and
adequate teaching materials in Romani for the primary school.
We want to develop this material for the classes 1-3.
“They deny belonging to
the Roma people out of
fear to be exposed to
disadvantages by the
teacher and fellow pupils”
“Through the promotion
of the Romani language
and culture they
experience a reinforcement of their ego and
their identity”.
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Hamze Bytyci
You were saying that you teach the Polish Romani language. In
Prizren, my birthplace, there are 40 dialects. Which dialect do
you teach in Hamburg?
Andrzej Wisniewski
We teach Polish Romani, because we have 80 families from Poland at the moment. I only used the Polish dialect as an example;
I can develop the material in other dialects too, there is no problem to it.
Hamze Bytyci
Are there no disagreements between the parents when the
main focus is put on Polish Romani? In Freiburg there are about
600 Roma families, who came from former Yugoslavia and I think
that they would not appreciate Polish Romani very much.
An initiative was created, in which my actual headmaster and
Dr. Mareile Krause were also engaged. They have made a large
contribution to the introduction of mother tongue, and after that
we started to develop a bilingual alphabetization together with
the German teachers. In the beginning I have decided together
with Dr. Mareile Krause and the colleagues that teaching must be
connected in parallel. When the German colleagues introduce the
letter “A” to the pupils, then we also have to introduce this letter
in Romani. This is a lot of work and one needs a lot of support.
Not many German teachers are willing to do this, but it is a great
help for the children. In the curriculum I had regular classes with
the children, but also classes where I was only present in order
to help the children when they were having problems.
In the beginning I worked as a social worker – for one year. I
took the children from the streets – there were the well-known
problems: Prostitution, drugs and all kinds of other things. The
administration, being basically pleased, because 90 per cent of
the pupils came to school, employed an extra teacher.
Now 4 to 6 Roma teachers work at the schools to support the
teachers and pupils, and consequently these children go to school
much more regularly.
Andrzej Wisniewski
There are no problems. The children learn two dialects at the
same time and this is very exciting, after all. Often the words are
very similar. The differences are really not that big.
Dragutin Petrovic
“The children can learn
two dialects at the same
time and this is very
exciting, after all.”
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I was the first teacher employed by the administration. I came
to Hamburg in 1992 through an initiative. At that time, there
were a lot of children in the quarter called Karolinenviertel in St.
Pauli, Hamburg, who did not go to school, even if the school was
only 50 meters away from their homes.
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KIEL: MEDIATOR WORK FOR MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS
Wanda Kreutz | Sinti Mediator at the German Association for
Sinti and Roma, Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
“Our main focus is the
integration of Sinti,
mainly in classes”
“The children trust
us and talk to us about
their problems”
I am one of four mediators. We have altogether 25 to 30 children
in our school. Our main focus is the integration of Sinti, mainly in
classes. Sinti children are misunderstood as a rule and this causes
problems. Over the last 12 years we developed the practice that
the teachers do not talk to the children themselves when there
are problems, but they talk to us, so that we can find a solution.
The children are not taught in Romani, but we support the pupils
by explaining certain things in Romani during classes. Luckily,
two of our mediators are now involved at primary schools because problems occurred there too. At first, the headmaster did not
consider it to be of any importance to employ mediators, but
when the problems turned out to be severe, he approached us
and now two mediators are working at his school.
Once a week we meet to discuss the problems at the schools,
the problems with the children and the problems with the headmasters and teachers.
The children trust us and talk to us about their problems. We
have two rooms where the children can for example work at a
computer. In the afternoon we offer homework assistance.
About myself – At the age of 35 I started an apprenticeship as a
social worker and at the age of 39 I started to work the school sys
tem. I am a full member of the teaching staff and I have full say.
Bogdan Georoceanu
Do you teach the Romani language at home or at school? We
teach it at school and we have a problem with two competing languages now.
Wanda Kreutz
We do not teach Romani in school, because we do not want NonSinti-teachers to learn our language. I learnt from my father that
his language was used against him while he was imprisoned in a
concentration camp. This is why we do not want it. When the
children have questions, we listen to them and give them the answers.
Claus Preißler | Integration Commissioner, Mannheim
Twelve years of work is a long time – For one, can you say something about the chances to reach the parents? To what extend
is this of importance? And secondly, after twelve years, have you
had the chance to follow the educational career of the children?
How effective was the support you offer?
Wanda Kreutz
The work with the parents was very intense. At first, the parents had a strong mistrust to send their children to school. We
organized coffee meetings for the parents and met once a month
to eat together and to just talk. After a while, the parents came
with a much greater trust to the school and started to talk about
their problems also with us. The children came back from school
with a disappointment and told their parents what had happened.
The parents, horrified, came to us and we helped them.
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“After a while, the
parents came with a
much greater trust to
the school and started
to talk about their
problems also with us.”
120
Concerning the educational career of the children – It is like
watching your own children grow up. We know that we cannot
reach all of them, but we reach a part. Up to now, five of our
children have gone to the secondary school and got their diploma. We hope that this will go on working the same way.
Isidora Randjelovic
I would like to ask once more how you have managed to get a
permanent job. Did the Senate for Education just cooperate and
employ you directly or did you have to fight for your job with the
support of the National Association?
Wanda Kreutz
“I wanted to save the
children from having
to go through what
I had to go through.”
To be honest – I did not have to fight at all. When I started my
apprentice ship, I had a lot of people supporting me. Thus, by the
end of my apprenticeship I did not end up in cold storage. I had
only to finish it was employed right away. During my apprenticeship I was not concerned with my own career, but with the future
of the children. I wanted to prevent the children from having to
go through what I had to go through. They should not have to
meet with the same difficulties in life.
Matthäus Weiss
One addition. The other mediators who now work at our schools
are not assigned to a certain school, but they go from school to
school depending on where they are needed most. In the meantime they have had permanent employment contracts for ten
years, because I simply refused to accept 600-DM-contracts. If I
had accepted them, they would have become permanent and therefore I said no to them.
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BERLIN: TRUST AS A BASIS FOR THE WORK OF MEDIATORS
Susanna Ismailovic | Roma School Mediator at the RAA Berlin
I am one of eleven Roma mediators at primary schools in Berlin. At the moment, my team works at two primary schools and at
one secondary school. What do we do at theses schools? What are
the problems we are facing?
There are many problems, for example the contact between teachers and parents has often been lost. We have to reestablish this
contact, but for this we first have to establish a contact with the
children. For us it is very important that the children develop
trust in us. Through this trust they feel protected when we are
near them. Racism exists and we offer the children a certain protection. After working in the classes in school, we tried to visit
the parents at home and in the beginning this was very difficult.
The parents met us with the greatest reservations, because they
greatly fear institutions in general. With a lot of patience, we managed to gain the trust of these people. One example – Last September I organized a class trip together with a teacher and all
four Roma children partook. Since we know that Roma parents
often forbid their children to partake in class trips because the
mothers are not present, this can be considered a great success.
“There are many
problems, for example
the contact between
teachers and parents
has often been lost.”
Now I want to speak about how Roma parents live. Most of the
time we are dealing with single mothers with many children. The
mothers are analphabets and when they get letters from their
children’s teacher, they simply cannot read them. They cannot
help their children with their homework. Many of these women
are traumatized and have to take medicine. Due to these medicines they are often not able to do anything during the whole day.
It is therefore important to visit the families at home. We can for
instance help them to read the letters, so that they know when
there is a parents meeting. Yesterday, I held a parents meeting
with three Roma families. It was a great success.
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COLOGNE: READINESS FOR CONFLICT AND POLITICAL
ACTIVITY AS A KEY
Kurt Holl | Board Member of the Roma e.V., Cologne
“We have to prevent the
motivated mediators,
but also the teachers at
the schools, from giving
up hope.”
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Two years ago we built up the project Amaro Kher in co-operation with the Youth Welfare Office in Cologne and the Integration and
Education Ministry in Düsseldorf. First of all, I would like to mention two aspects which, in my opinion, have to be taken into consideration, in order to avoid that the great project of mediation and apprenticeship will end in resignation. The first aspect is the condition
of the children when they arrive at our project. They are completely overtired, nervous and aggressive. Also, they often miss classes.
This is due to: Fear of deportation, to small, noisy and often dirty
homes, the rejection of public assistance, in many cases justified by
the most trivial reasons such as owning a cell phone or jewelry.
Even if a woman went begging, her social support would be cancelled, not even to mention work permits. These factors – and I am
certain that here we all agree – stand completely counter to successful educational and school work. Thus, we have to prevent the
motivated mediators, but also the teachers at the schools, from giving up hope. Teachers at Cologne schools have told us that teaching in such international classes is often not possible any more,
one of the reasons being that the Roma children, who have been
put into these classes without pre-assessment, cannot follow. Therefore, we have concluded that the work of mediators and the education of Roma children will not end in resignation only provided
their work is connected with a certain political activity. This means
that the Roma and their supporters must co-operate time and again
anew to fight these negative factors. All of us have to work actively
that these families are provided with a residence permit, with adequate housing and with a working permit. We cannot put this burden especially on the shoulders of the teachers and mediators to
believe that pedagogy and charity could change anything.
The second aspect is the fact that the mediators must not avoid
the conflict with the Roma families. Unfortunately it is a fact that
many Roma families reject an active participation. In the best interest of the child, the mediator therefore actually has to risk this
conflict. Approaching the families via their language, their understanding and their trust is crucial here. Roma mediators and Gadje
colleagues must confront these families to make them understand
their respective resigned situation. Many of them try to justify their
situation by saying: well, that how it is with us. You must understand this. We have always lived that way. We have developed such
survival techniques. In this case, we need to answer: It will not
work this way. You must contribute in the best interest of your
children. Your children whom we see every day and who are often
overtired, sick or nervous, can only flourish and learn, if certain
elementary things can be taken for granted. The children must be
woken by their parents every morning – often, our bus stops to pick
up a child and the parents are still sleeping – they must wear decent clothes, they must eat proper food and the parents must make
sure that their children go to bed in time and that the nights rest is
guaranteed. Due to the bad conditions of the public housing, but
also due to the lacking interest of the parents, these conditions are
often not given. We have to create a certain frame of conditions
which will allow the children to study at all.
“The mediators must not
avoid the conflict with
the Roma families.”
“We have to create a certain frame of conditions
which will allow the
children at all to study.”
So, empathy and trust are crucial factors in getting in contact
with the families and in understanding their suffering. At the same
time, we have to explain to the families that certain habits developed over time cannot be tolerated. Thank God, there are also a lot of
families who are willing to send their children to school despite
their bad living conditions. If you do not connect mediation with a
clear political statement on the one hand and with a clear, demanding attitude on the other hand, resignation will be the result and a
lot of good will and a lot of commitment will be wasted.
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“... in which situation
do we give support, in
which situation do we
challenge ...?”
Christoph Leucht
Matthäus Weiss
We can see that the tasks of a mediator are not only differing in
accordance with the job descriptions, but also in relation to the concrete families which whom we work. There are families with quite
different living conditions and very different motivations and therefore the approaches have to vary accordingly. In which situation
to we give support, in which situation do we challenge, in which situations are we dealing with a lack of trust in the success of education and in which situations with unwillingness?
Since when is it that the families, whose children come to your
project, are likely to get a residence permit? Until now even those children, who went to school, would partly be deported. Is the
city of Cologne considering a new practice to leave those alone
who send their children to school?
Dragutin Petrovic
In a word: The schools must become more attractive for our
Roma children, and then they will like to go school. From what I
understand, the schools can actually influence the residence status of Roma. Is that correct?
Sabine Schick | Office for Children, Youth and Family, Cologne
I am coming from the Youth Welfare Office and not from the
Foreigner Authorities. Thus, I cannot answer the question what
future plan the city of Cologne has in this respect. What is a major issue right now is the consideration of school attendance. If
families send their children to school on a regular basis and also
a change of attitude becomes visible, then the city administration
will start new extensive examinations in order to grant a residence permit if applicable.
Kurt Holl
Christoph Leucht
First: Apart from the fact, that the children like to come to us,
many Roma parents support the school in the hope that this
might be an additional factor leading to a residence permit. Secondly, we are in permanent contact with the Foreigner Authorities in Cologne and we just participated in a quite big conference
on the highest local level, where we made clear to the City of Cologne our expectations that the city administration will leave the
families alone whose children are with us. So far, this has been
the case, whereas we have, of course, a number of families, who
are threatened with deportation. But the families know that we
will fight for every single family. Currently, the new IMK decision
will result in a residence permit for several Roma families.
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The term “extensive examination” is a special code used in migration policy. In the end it only means in most of the cases an extension of time.
Joachim Brenner | General Manager of the Society Supporting
Roma e.V., Frankfurt / Main
Most unfortunately, there are no regulations securing that a positive socialization in school will lead to a residence permit. If in
this case Cologne has a special regulation, it might be a positive
version of the local nepotism, but in Frankfurt, unfortunately, we
have not even created permanent and sensible regulations in favor of the children and their families. Nevertheless, there has
been a recent change of the legal situation due to decisions made
126
by the Conference of the Secretaries of the Interior. In the case of
families who have lived here for longer than six years whose
children have attended school regularly, a residence permit is put
within reach.
Daniel Strauss
Now, you did not speak about the “problems of Roma” explicitly,
but about children who are especially exposed to danger. They
should be entitled to get support. Are these experiences comparable to the situation of Roma, who do not live in underprivileged districts? Are the problems there similar or are these cases beyond
your experience? Do you have any experience with Roma, who are
relatively integrated as far as their living conditions are concerned,
but whose educational situation has not really changed?
Egon Schweiger | Research assistant at the Association of
German Sinti and Roma, Baden-Wurttemberg, Mannheim
“Is mediation really the
ideal solution?”
I have a few more questions. Is mediation really the ideal solution, especially if we are facing cases in which the social frame conditions are devastating and where there are no visible signs from the
national politics that these structures shall be changed? Of course,
it is still very, very hard to understand why some people are resigning to such a degree that they cannot even lead their lives on their
own. But do we not also take too much upon our shoulders with our
approach of mediation, if we expose ourselves to the expectations
that we want to turn everything to a good end?
Sabina Xhemajli
This is exactly how I feel. I know from experience that my NonRoma colleagues often think that I must be able to solve all problems and heal all wounds. But I cannot do that. It is a long term
process. One does not make plans for two or four years. These are
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problems that stay over generations. We are the bridge from the
mainstream society to the Roma community and the families within this community. We are not magicians. We, the mediators,
can also reach the families only up to a certain point, and after
that we too cannot get further. It is exactly like in a German family who has developed learning difficulties for generations. Here
also, the social workers will only reach a certain point.
“We are the bridge from
the mainstream society
to the Roma community
and the families within
this community. We are
not magicians.”
FRANKFURT: FULLTIME CARE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Adrian Adam | Pedagogical assistant at the Day Care Center
“Schaworalle – Hello Children”, Frankfurt / Main
I have been working as a pedagogical assistant for nearly two
years. In our team, we are four Roma. We have four areas: Kindergarten, Primary School, Middle School and Secondary School.
This means we take care of children from the age of 6 to16. Formerly, we had the same problems as the colleagues from Kiel. We
answered these problems by trying to build up trust. We urged
the mothers to bring their children to school and they themselves
were allowed to stay and watch to see what exactly we are doing.
Our working schedules is quite similar to that of our colleagues
in Cologne, but we work and teach in German. Of course, if there
is a need for it, we translate also into Romani, but we write in
German.
I am a pedagogical assistant in the area of primary education,
but I also work at Middle School, where the children are 11 to 13
years old, and at Secondary school, where the children are 13 to
16 years old. I take care of an entire class when teaching the native language. But as a rule I work in co-operation with two teachers who are employed permanently. I teach geography, history
and social subjects.
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“Mommy learns German”
We also had the problem that mothers took their children out of
class, because, for example, when they had an important appointment with the Foreign Authorities and needed the children for
translation because he mother did not speak any German. Therefore, we started with the program “Mommy learns German” and
with this we showed the mothers, that we mainly work with the
children, but also do something for the mothers.
Classes start every day at 9.15 am and finish by 1.00 pm. At one
o’clock we have lunch. Lunch is prepared by a Roma woman and
after Lunch our afternoon activities starts. Afternoon activities include help with homework, music, outdoor games like table tennis.
We also have a group which we call performance group in which
the children are prepared to make the secondary school diploma.
• Prevention of criminal offences and support in case of
punishable acts, for instance in court, at the police and with probation officers.
• Support for parents (for example helping them to apply for a residence permit)
• Supporting the youngsters during an internship
• General motivational work
• Supporting classes and individual assistance
• Planning and reflection of our work (among others with the teachers, with the social workers
• Coordinating work with the teachers and heads of courses
• Offering computer courses, sport courses and driving
license courses
• Organizing one and several day trips and excursions
• Public relations
• Administration and office organization
• Keeping contact with other projects
Bogdan Mirga | Mediator at the youth activity program of the
Society Supporting Roma e.V., Frankfurt
Adrian Adam
I have made an apprenticeship in Poland and afterwards I studied “Drawing and Graphics”, which means art education. At the
moment, I am employed as a mediator at the Society Supporting
Roma in Frankfurt. Our project is called “professional education,
school qualification and sources of income for Roma, youths and
young adults”.
My work assignments are:
• Building up trust
• Co-operation
• Establishing mutual respect
• Work against discrimination
I got my high school diploma at a school in Romania, but this diploma was not recognized in Germany. This is why I am now working to get my German Secondary School Diploma. As soon as I will
have my diploma, I will start an apprenticeship.
We did not attend schools or Universities offering an education
for the work as a mediator. We have been employed, because we
are Roma and because we want to work for Roma.
My work includes the following tasks:
• Translation at public institutions, doctors and other
instsitutions
• Managing conflicts between the youngsters, their teachers, heads of courses and parents and families
129
130
MANNHEIM: SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN; PARENTS
AND TEACHERS
Sabrina Guttenberger | Mediator at the German Association for
Roma and Sinti, Baden-Wurttemberg, Mannheim
I have been working as a mediator for three years. In fact, I do
not have a pedagogical training. I am an administrator and an
English language correspondent. After my education, I have been
an intern at the National Association for Roma and was involved
at the LOS project, which has been started at two schools in Karlsruhe. With the start of the new school year 2006/2007 I moved to
Mannheim, but I am still doing my job in Karlsruhe. I look after
four children, whom I teach and coach in private lessons and whom
I help in many other ways. All this work is voluntary and comes
on top of everything else. Because of this I have given the term
“mediation” a lot of thought. What does mediation mean to me?
What do I want to realize? Which aims do I pursue together with
the children and their parents? The experiences which I now have
made for three years in Karlsruhe are important for my work at
schools in Mannheim and for the Sinti families in Waldhof-Ost.
I would like to speak to you about the educational work of the
Regional Association Baden-Württemberg and present you with
various approaches and proposals to the schools, parents and the
children.
“Mediators should be the
advocates of the children.”
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Support for the schools – The Use of Mediators at schools
As we know there often is no mutual communication between the
parents and the institution which is school. The ones who suffer are
mainly the children. In my function I have experienced many such
tense relationships and also have worked on solutions. I like to call
myself a partial mediator, always standing on the side of the disadvantaged. However, this does not mean that I am not open for
thoughts and proposals made by the teachers. Mediators should be
the advocates of the children. School is first of all about the relationship between teachers and pupils. To make everyday life here as
pleasant as possible, the support of mediators is needed.
Moreover, seminars for teachers and educators on the subject
of Antiziganism are very helpful too, because it creates sensitiveness for the history courses in the staff.
Once a month, the association offers a get-together, in which
the parents and teachers can exchange their experiences. Since
not many parents do follow the invitation to a parents’ evening,
there is an intimate atmosphere and they can speak about every
subject openly.
Support for the children and pupils – individual assistance
Individual support does not only mean private lessons but also
to take care and support the independence of the person in his or
her overall life situation. This is very time consuming, because
one has to worry about the complete daily routine of the children
and youths.
In weekly school office hours we offer the children and their
parents the opportunity to speak out. In order to gain the trust of
the children, we speak in Romani. The children can talk about all
their fears, worries and problems in our office hours. When they
know that somebody is there who is not only interested in their
school performance, but also listens to them carefully much is
gained to my knowledge and experience.
“Individual support does
not only mean private
lessons but also to take
care and support the
independence of the
person in his or her
overall life situation.”
Support for the parents
There are various ways of supporting the parents, but mostly
we accompany the parents to the parents-teacher-meeting or act
as their representatives at these meetings. I got to know parents
who were not capable to sit down in a full class room and listen
to the discussions of the other parents. They do not have the
know-how and sometimes the interest. One mother, whom I met
in the course of my work, openly told me, that she would be ashamed because she cannot articulate herself adequately.
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STRAUBING: FINANCIAL DEFICIT DECLASSIFIES A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT INTO AN EXPERIMENTAL TRY-OUT
Josef Fauner | Pedagogical social worker at the Caritas Association Straubing-Bogen e.VB.
Straubing is a middle-sized Bavarian city with about 50,000 inhabitants and 60 Sinti. This is a comparably high number of Sinti
for a city of this size, and I have been involved with this question
for about 17 years. In fact I have been doing everything already,
from Kindergarten to homework support, up to group self-help
construction projects, in which we took down buildings unworthy
for living. At some point, we reached the conclusion that we finally have come to a stand-still in the educational line and do not get
on any more. The educational outcome was quite good, actually.
We achieved the first even a Sinti with a diploma has next to no
chance to get a job. This is really so. 40 km further up the river
Danube the situation is different. In Regensburg they do not even
know the phenomenon Sinti and therefore it does not play any
role.
the afternoon when school is over. It is necessary to include the
life of the children at home. If you want to improve the communication between the institution school and the parents, then the
linking element must be represented by the same persons.
When we realized after a few months that our approach was
quite successful, we had to address the question of financing.
This question is still unanswered today, because it is a problem to
find somebody who is willing to support our project for at least
two to three years. And I am not talking about a lot of money. We
need about 120,000 to 140,000 Euros. The City Council was of
course quick in replying that they have no money. Now, we are
actually facing the problem that when you want to co-operate
with a foundation or an institution like “Aktion Mensch”, only
projects are supported which have not yet started. But we have
already started. Maybe, we should say:
“It is a problem to find
somebody who is willing to
support our project for at
least two to three years”
“Maybe it was just an experimental try-out”.
In the beginning we thought that on the one hand we have reached a point concerning education, at which we cannot progress
any further by ourselves, and on the other hand we must stop acting like service providers for the Sinti, but we simply must do
something together with them. These thoughts have led to a classical mediation project, which we call co-operation project school
& Sinti. First of all, it focuses on a special school with about 250
children and 50 Sinti children. The Sinti therefore represent 20
per cent of the pupils and are highly over represented in a town
like Straubing.
Only because of this, I am convinced that it s necessary to start
a mediation project.
We now have developed a project in co-operation with the
schools and the parents, as it all is about the world of the child
ren, which starts every morning at school, but does not end in
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The next step would be – and here it actually becomes quite
cynical and bad taste – to argue that because the focus group of
Sinti is so difficult to work with, we needed this tryout. We would
have to use the well-known stereotypes and images and this
would be really cynical.
The project itself is running quite well – in its try-out state. The
school attendance quota has improved, the children have more
fun at school and also the families, who had not sent their
children to school before, send them again to school. Many conflicts at school are tackled by my colleagues in a very professional way. There is a really good work being done, and it is a great
pity that we still do not have the money.
“There is a really good
work being done, and it is
a great pity that we still
do not have the money.”
Self-critically, I have to say that even my own association is not
giving us a lot of support. We have been left quite on our own.
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WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP 1:
STRATEGIES FOR MOBILIZING THE SUPPORT OF PARENTS
Sebastijan Kurtisi | Chairman of Roma-Union Grenzland, Aachen
Daniel Strauss
The critical situation of Roma and Sinti is not seen as urgent in
Germany as in many East-European countries. There, international funds are available to finance projects which are not explicitly available likewise for projects in Germany. Thus, I highly approve of the fact, that these funds will be made available to
projects in Germany starting in 2008, because the problem situations are the same. But one has to be aware time and again of the
fact that we do not have a legal claim to these funds.
Egon Schweiger
“Sometimes good
intentions produce the
opposite of good,
because something goes
wrong.”
135
I would like to talk once more about the limits of the work of
mediators. There are already developed concepts, but the politics
often do not react. They only think: “Should we start? Should we
train mediators? Until when should we wait?”
Moreover, I see the danger that the very moment a project is
not financed, resignation is produced. For people, to whom these
projects offer a perspective in life at last, are disappointed once
more. Therefore, we must work structurally, but we also have to
keep an eye on the effects which our actions have on the people
for whom we want to do something. Sometimes good intentions
produce the opposite of good, because something goes wrong.
We agreed that working with the parents is very important, just as important
as working with the children. There are many different kinds of events, at which
parents can participate with their children. There are still barriers between parents and school or other institutions, and these have to be abolished through
extensive information. In addition, it is very important to offer individual counseling, depending on the situation of the persons concerned. The mediators have
to recognize the situation and develop a strategy for each individual case. In
other words, there is no standard pattern that can be followed to find a solution.
And, the mediator has to know the families very well.
A significant problem concerns residence permits. Many parents only have an
exceptional leave to stay in Germany, resulting in insecurity and negative experiences that are conveyed to the children. In many cases, children are neglected
by their parents and then the school mediators actually take on the role of substitute parents. We know that parents act as models for their children. So, when
you imagine a family in a highly stressful situation, in which it faces an uncertain future, it is reasonable to assume that the child will perform unsatisfactorily
136
at school. Yet, we have also had children who are good at school despite being
neglected by their parents, despite the poor conditions in resettlement homes
and despite their trilingualism. One can imagine how hard these children have to
work to attain a good report card in school under such conditions.
Another point that came up was that more problems are encountered with
fathers than mothers, since they are the heads of the family. For some fathers it
is very difficult to accept help, to admit that they can‘t do everything and still
have to learn some things, too.
Various groups reported that all actions concerning the children have to involve the parents so that they realize that there is no other way to make headway
and progress. The work with parents will be even more successful if it is possible
to convince them of the benefits for everyone involved when their children are
supervised by mediators and participate in projects. The mothers are relieved of
some responsibility, the children are more relaxed, receive medical care and
good food.
WORKSHOP 2:
STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE INTEGRATION POTENTIAL OF SCHOOL
Mareile Krause
The central statement was: The system has to be changed fundamentally, and it
is not enough for individual mediators to gain the necessary qualifications. All
measures have to strive for real change, have to include real opportunities for
Roma and Sinti to participate in the social life, and must not be limited to marginal improvements in the educational situation. Real and serious change is needed.
A few concrete points:
• There must be more acceptance based on knowledge on both sides
• Support and assistance have to begin at an early age. The children have to
attend preschool; there must be an obligation to attend preschool.
• Schools have to learn to deal with diversity and heterogeneity,
because that has become normal today.
• Schools have to honestly and seriously want to change. It will not do for a
mediator to be considered merely one more person at a school. If a Roma
mediator, assistant teacher or Roma teacher is at a school, the structure and
conception of the school has to change.
137
138
• The history of the Roma has to be part of the curriculum; however, not only for the Roma and Sinti but for everyone. It is part of our common life.
• Schools have to know themselves, they have to know who their students are and what their students need.
• We need adequate, high-quality training programs for Roma, so that we can
reach the next level.
The job must be given a clear title and be integrated in the work of the other teachers at the schools. The teachers should attend further training courses alongside or as preparation for the work of the mediators so that they are in a better
position to work together with them. The spheres of responsibility and work must
be clearly defined so that the mediator is not only called in to handle unpleasant
and difficult tasks.
At the end, many questions remained unanswered. I would like to
mention the following four:
WORKSHOP 3:
QUALIFIED ASSISTANCE AND FURTHER TRAINING OF ROMA
AND SINTI SCHOOL MEDIATORS
Christoph Leucht
We discussed what a training program for mediators would need to comprise
and, to this end, running mediator training programs were presented. We were
interested in the organizational framework conditions and how the work was actually handled. What remained were five or six points regarding the training. In
this respect, we found that almost all training courses include a certain minimum of pedagogical instruction, so that an understanding of the work at schools
is conveyed. Many training courses also give information on school law, social
law and youth law, so that these venues can be used, too. It is important that history, culture and language are part of the training course for Roma so that the
mediators are on the same level. They must be taught communication strategies
and ways of solving conflicts and should learn the fundamentals of developmental psychology so as to understand developmental conflicts of the children. In addition, an understanding of »community development« must be conveyed so that
they, together with the parents, can develop strategies for solving certain problems in families, in the Roma community and neighborhood. If this is achieved,
then the mediator will not be limited to being only a trouble-shooter.
Then we looked at the most important points regarding the organization of the
work and we found that this kind of work is meaningful only if there is certain
political support that allows it to gain an acknowledged position at local schools.
139
• Is the work of the mediators a long-term model, or is it a transitional solution until there are enough Roma teachers and social workers?
• Should only Roma or Sinti be trained and used as mediators?
• Is qualified training a prerequisite for working as a mediator or should people who have a good position in the community also be able to work as mediators?
• If there were such qualified training, how high should the level of entry be? If the level of entry is higher, the quality of the training can be higher as well. If the level of entry is lower, more people could participate.
140
WORKSHOP 4:
ANALYSES OF NEED, MODELS OF LEGAL AND FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOL MEDIATORS
Joachim Brenner
We discussed different models. Mareile Krause presented the Hamburg initiative, which explicitly refers to Roma social workers and not to mediators and assistants. This is significant for understanding the work. The training falls within the
sphere of responsibility of the Ministry of Schools in Hamburg. A very important
point in Hamburg is that it provides a certain degree of flexibility besides an official program, which I find very impressive. Thus, for example, the city can make
special funds available quickly to schools attended by Roma if a corresponding
need arises. This is the visionary concept that new mediators could be trained
continuously, without having to fulfil the formal admission prerequisite of having a high school degree. The training of such new mediators has to be secured
financially and institutionally and perspectives for the future have to be given as
well. Another good example from Hamburg is the requirement that all teachers
attend at least one one-day further training course about Roma and Sinti.
This brings me to an additional aspect discussed by our group in connection
with surveys. It is important that an enormous sensitivity be developed in this
respect: it is essential that the unequivocal and clear-cut recriminations, which
are frequently documented in surveys and studies and refer exclusively to the
supposedly deficient Roma, be stopped. The history of the Roma – ranging from
the recording, research and, finally, the destruction of the Roma – has to be made
a theme of discussion, particularly in all scientific accompanying texts. The overall demand was that education has to be understood as an interactive process in
scientific documentation, in which all persons involved have to be included. This
is particularly true for Roma organizations, but also for school as an institution,
which creates within itself the problem of segregation, inequality and insufficient differentiation. In addition to the Hamburg model, the Cologne model, which
can best be described by its four-stage process, was also presented. The first two
stages concern regulations and political issues because a discussion flared up
about children begging on the streets in Cologne in 2001/2002. The first stage defines how to react in accordance with regulations concerning aliens. The second
stage deals with the responsibility of the parents, i.e. to what extent are they responsible and liable for raising their children? The third stage is working toge-
141
ther with the juvenile courts, i.e. reconciliation between perpetrator and victim.
The fourth stage, the one that is of interest and relevance here, concerns the funding needed to implement different models. One model was extensively presented here yesterday, i.e. Amaro Kher and the various initiatives of Rom e.V. In
addition, the fourth stage gives Roma staff and mediators the possibility of inter
vening in schools and other areas. In principle, Cologne programmatically concluded the presentation of its model by stating that, with regard to their perspectives, they are aiming to do without this special support and strive for anincreased
sensibilization in all schools and authorities so that this is no longer necessary.
As far as Finland is concerned, it is impressive how – besides training mediators for working in schools and with parents – plans have been formulated to train
mediators in equal rights issues. The Ministry of Labor in Finland is the competent institution in this respect. The training in equal rights issues also includes
international cooperation with organizations in Slovakia and Slovenia. A White
Book is to be prepared to document the situation and possibilities. In general, me
diators and assistants in Finland need to complete a 4-to-5-year program at university. Teaching materials, dictionaries, language courses and summer schools are
offered within the scope of this course of study. It should be emphasized that
Finland differentiates between the term mediator, which is primarily used in connection with the “point of intersection between school and parents”, and the term
assistant, which is clearly associated with school.
Romania once again presented the mediator training system. In the meantime,
they have reached the third phase, in which 270 people are being trained. Some
of the funds for this training come from the EU, but 70% are provided by Romania itself. Another important point is the selection criteria that have to be met by
anyone interested in this training program. It was explained that the local Roma
142
and Sinti organizations select potential students, and it has to be ensured that
they are part of the Roma community so that they can credibly act as representatives. During their training, the people receive financial support, and Romania,
too, plans to assign such training to a pedagogical college. Places at university
are to be reserved for this purpose so that people can take part in the course,
and scholarships are to be offered for these courses of study as well.
Summary: a high degree of sensitivity, planning reliability and future-oriented
plans are important. Security for the people making the plans is important, too,
so that they do not have to ask themselves every year whether they can continue
their work next year. In addition, social recognition of the degrees and perspectives for the future are important.
Claus Preißler
If it is correct that mediators are the answer to structural discrimination and segregation in the field of education, then the employment is born of necessity, because the fundamental structures that would allow equal participation are missing. However, this should not obscure our understanding of what we ask of the
mediators. I previously heard that they have to act as substitute parents and teachers and that they have to provide social-pedagogical and psychological counseling. Can we really ask all this of mediators? They may be overtaxed by these demands. Therefore, it is very important how we accompany and coach them. Is
there such a thing as supervision? How can we limit their responsibilities, so
that they know what they can do and what they should best leave alone. Otherwise we may risk running them into the ground: they may be reduced to mere
agents, become depressed and tolerate the insufficient administrative practices.
143
PARTICIPANTS
Adrian Adam | Unterrichtsassistent in der Kindertagesstätte Schaworalle, Frankfurt/Main
Valentina Asimovic | Romaschulmediatorin bei der RAA Berlin
Luise Bachmann | Berliner Institut für vergleichende Sozialforschung
Almut Berger | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Ewelina Biskup | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Joachim Brenner | Geschäftsführer des Förderverein Roma e.V., Frankfurt/Main
Anne-Sophie Brüggen | ehemalige Praktikantin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Hamze Bytyci | Amaro drom, Freiburg / Berlin
Antoinette Cherbuliez | Geschäftsführerin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Danijela Colakovic | Südost Europa Kultur e.V. Centar Bijelina, Bijelina
Gabor Daroczi | Bildungsministerium von Ungarn, Budapest
Dr. Udo Engdring-Romang | Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma, LV Hessen, Darmstadt
Sabine Ernst | Leiterin der Kindertagesstätte Schaworalle, Frankfurt/Main
Josef Fauner | Sozialpädagoge beim Caritasverband Straubing-Bogen e.V.
Dr. Gabriele Freitag | Fonds »Erinnerung und Zukunft«, Berlin
Bogdan Georoceanu | Bildungsministerium von Rumänien, Bukarest
Sabrina Guttenberger | Mediatorin beim Verband Deutscher Sinti & Roma,
LV Baden-Württemberg, Mannheim
Terno Hagert | Mediator bei der Roma Education Unit, Helsinki
Herbert Heuss | Projektbüro zur Förderung von Roma-Initiativen, Heidelberg
Antje Hofert | Leiterin der Roma-Projekte RAA, Berlin
Natascha Hofmann | Studentin, Freiburg
Kurt Holl | Vorstand des Roma e.V., Köln
Christoph Höppel | Freundeskreis der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Daniel Ibraimovic | Vorsitzender des Romaelternvereins Bashe Rroma, Berlin
Peter Irmer | Projektkoordinator beim Schulamt Köln
Susanna Ismailovic | Roma Schulmediatorin bei der RAA Berlin
Susanne Kern | Fotografin, Stuttgart
Nikolay Angelov Kirilov | Bildungsministerium von Bulgarien, Sofia
Magorzata Koaczek | Roma People Association Poland, Krakau
Dr. Mareile Krause | Landesinstitut für Lehrerbildung und Schulen, Hamburg
Wanda Kreutz | Sintimediatorin beim Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma,
LV Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Angelika Kröger | Lehrerin, Landesinstitut für Schule und Medien, Berlin
144
Brunhild Krühler | Lehrerin Arbeitskreis Romalehrer, Hamburg
Sebastijan Kurtisi | Vorsitzender der Roma-Union Grenzland, Aachen
Alexandru Lacatos | Roma Schulmediator beim Ressource Center for Roma
Communitiers, Cluj
Reinhold Lagrene | Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma,
Heidelberg
Dr. Lothar Theodor Lemper | Geschäftsführender Vorsitzender der
Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V., Bonn
Christoph Leucht | Consultant der Freudenberg Stiftung, Weinheim
Eine Lillberg | Roma Education Unit, Helsinki
Samson Lind | Mediator beim Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma, LV Hessen, Darmstadt
Claudia Macaria | Ressources Center for Roma Communities, Cluj
Prof. Dr. Max Matter | Mitglied des wissenschaftlichen Beirats der
Otto-Benecke-Stiftung e.V., Freiburg
Dejan Memetovic | Roma teacher assistant beim Roma Education Center, Nis / Serbien
Milenko Georgiev Milenkov | Roma Lom Foundation, Sofia
Bogdan Mirga | Mediator im Jugendbeschäftigungsprojekt des Förderverein Roma,
Frankfurt / Main
Kamilla Murphy | Direktorin, Nova Skola, Prag
Jovan Nikolic | Autor, Köln
Dragotin Petrovic | Romalehrer, Hamburg
Christian Petry | Geschäftsführer der Freudenberg Stiftung, Vorstand Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Claus Preißler | Integrationsbeauftragter der Stadt Mannheim
Isidora Randjelovic | Romaelternverein Bashe Rroma, Berlin
Kathy Reymann | Geschäftsstelle der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Alla Rundigina | Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V.
Günter Saathoff | Stiftung »Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft«, Berlin
Zvonko Salijevic | MediaRroma Berlin
Sabine Schick | Amt für Kinder, Jugend und Familie, Köln
Reinhard Schlagintweit | UNICEF Deutschland, Bonn
Judith Schlehahn | Fonds »Erinnerung und Zukunft«, Berlin
Egon Schweiger | wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im Verband Deutscher Sinti & Roma,
Katja Schütze | ehemalige Stipendiatin der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Monja Steinbach | Sinti-Mediatorin, Caritasverband Straubing-Bogen e.V.
145
Daniel Strauss | Vorsitzender Verbandes Deutscher Sinti & Roma,
Studiendirektorin Claudia Stuhrmann | Referentin im Gymnasialreferat beim
Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart
Marius Taba | Roma Education Fund, Budapest
Joanna Talewicz-Kwiatkowska | Roma People Association Poland, Krakau
Vlada Vik, Nova Skola, Prag
Anna Weiß | Verband Deutscher Sinit und Roma, LV Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Manuela Weiß | Sinti-Mediatorin, Kiel
Manuela Weiß | Sinti-Mediatorin beim Caritasverband Straubing-Bogen e.V.
Matthäus Weiß | Vorsitzender Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma,
LV Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Dr. Uwe Wenzel | Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma, Heidelberg
Andrzej Wisniewski | Roma-Lehrer, Hamburg
Sirick Wohlers | Praktikant der Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Sabina Xhemajli | Roma Mediatorin Rom e.V., Köln
146
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PORTRAITS OF ALL PROJECTS
1. Amaro Kher
ANNEX
147
Amaro Kher, which means “Our House” in Romani, is a school and integration
project of Rom e.V. in Cologne that prepares children for regular elementary
schools. It was modeled on the “Schaworalle” project, which has been running
successfully in Frankfurt for many years. Since 2004, the school project, managed by the association Rom e.V., has been dedicated to promoting the education
of 6-to-14-year-old Roma children and adolescents who never attended kindergarten or school because of their problematic circumstances of life. With the support of the ministry responsible for immigration issues, a special concern of the
project is to help young Roma who have committed a criminal offence and habituate them to attend school every day. The objective is that they successfully
make the transition to a regular school and gain the qualifications necessary for
occupational training. Amaro Kher is projected until the middle of 2007, but
plans to extend the project are underway.
Amaro Kher offers a broad program: besides three school stages (1. Language
promotion and pre-school (ages 5-7); 2. Primary stage (ages 6-10); 3. Secondary
stage I (ages 10-13)), it offers recreational activities in the afternoons, ranging
from computer courses to sports to art classes to individual coaching. The days
follow a clear-cut structure: the children have breakfast together, classes follow
until lunch, and in the afternoon they can choose from various recreational activities. The parents of the children are included in the school program, too. They
can attend courses teaching literacy skills and language courses. “We would like
to recruit more staff from among the parents, that would improve the atmosphere,” says Marlene Tyrakowski, project manager at Amaro Kher. Thus, there are more and more courses for parents, assistance in legal questions is offered
and a pediatrician regularly visits Amaro Kher to examine the children. In addition, a “Parents’ Café” is under construction so that there will be more room for
joint events, because Amaro Kher also wants to be a cultural center and meeting
place for Roma.
It goes without saying that the work also involves conflicts: The difficult situation prevailing in many families, especially the insecurity regarding residence
permits, affects many children – they exhibit behavioral disorders and find it
very difficult to adjust to the daily school routine. The parents frequently have to
be convinced that attending school is necessary for their children tohave a secure future. In order to solve these kinds of conflicts, not only non- Roma but also
148
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Roma work at Amaro Kher. “Nothing would work without them”, explains Kurt
Holl, member of the Advisory Council of Rom e.V. In view of their personal background and their knowledge of Romani (the language of the Roma), the Roma
staff members can communicate directly with the children and their families. A
Roma staff member sits in every class to solve any conflicts arising among the
children (usually fought out in Romani) and to mediate between teachers and
children or to systematically assist individual children. Contrary to their work at
regular schools, the mediators for Roma predominantly are called in to solve internal conflicts between the children or within the families. At the present time,
25 or 30 registered children are attending Amaro Kher regularly, but there is a
long waiting list. Unfortunately, space and funds are limited. Just recently, the
badly dilapidated shack on the school grounds was renovated in many hours of
volunteer work. Now classes can be held there, too.
Unfortunately, children 14 years and older cannot be assisted. All attempts to
bind these adolescents to Amaro Kher failed because it was not possible to offer
appropriate classes or activities. It is a great concern of the staff members to expand the program to include this age group, because older adolescents in particular need effective assistance: schooling will help them find jobs; otherwise unemployment, crime and poverty threaten. The pedagogical work has to take into
account the stressful everyday problems of the families, i.e. difficulties obtaining
residence permits, which are the greatest problem facing the Roma in Cologne.
For this reason, Amaro Kher works closely together with the Youth Welfare Office, the Juvenile Court Service and housing assistance services; in addition, contacts to the municipal social services are established. In February 2006, the UN
Ambassador for Migration, Mr. Vernor Munoz Villalobos, visited the school project and found it worthy of supporting. He pointed out the outstanding features
of this model project, which is planned to continue until the middle of 2007. He
spoke out in favor of further supporting Amaro Kher so that it could continue to
exist. It remains to be hoped that the project will be kept alive through the enormous commitment shown by all persons involved and the Roma‘s own initiative
so that the children’s prospects for a better future can be improved.
Amaro Kher
Schulprojekt für Roma e.V.
Venloer Wall 17
50672 Köln
149
Phone: +49 221 3558174
Fax: +49 221 3558175
Internet: www.amaro-kher.de
2. Autonómia Foundation, Hungary
Autonómia Foundation (AA) was founded in 1990, at the beginning of Hungary‘s
transition to democracy. Its mission has been to contribute to the emergence and
support of the non-profit sector, through a number of different programs, with a
special focus on the Roma community. This has been achieved through support
to local civil initiatives, which mobilize also the ressources of the community.
Autonómia‘s activity focuses on the following fields:
• Leadership training
• Project management and project planning training
• Small enterprise development
• Support to local Roma community houses
• Support to local economic initiatives by a combination of grants and loans and mentoring
• Employment creation
• Promotion of cooperation between the members of the Roma and
Non-Roma community
• Strengthening of Tolerance
Since 1990 AA has delivered more than 1000 grants in support of concrete projects of national, regional, but primarily grassroots organizations in the country.
AA has been the only private foundation in Hungary to fund over 500 subsistence and development projects of Roma people, a community confronted with
widespread discrimination and poverty. Thanks to the generous support of our
donors, the dedicated board, and to the efforts of the staff AA has become a prominent name in the Hungarian nonprofit sector. In the course of the last fourteen
years Autonómia has also organized and supported other initiatives, which have
contributed to the overall aims of the organization.
These were, for example:
• the organization of seven courses of Romani Entrepreneur Training,
• awarding of a yearly Tolerance Prize, between 1992 and 2002, for journalists who promote tolerance between minorities and the majority living in Hungary,
• the establishment of the first legal defense bureau for minorities in Hungary, which has subsequently served as a model for others in 1994,
• the provision of technical support, to the European Commission Delegation in Hungary for running the PHARE Democracy Program Micro-project scheme in Hungary between 1995 and 2000,
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• the provision of technical support in 1999 to the United States Agency for
International Development, Democracy Network Program through the
administration of the Roma Education and Entrepreneurship program.
• the management of the Regional Roma Program supported by the European Union PHARE Ad Hoc Program. Here activities in the areas of setting up legal defense bureaus, leadership training and Roma radio were carried out in
Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, in partnership with local Roma
organizations,
• the management of a support scheme to refugees in Hungary, management of a UNHCR program (small enterprise development, community development, training) between 2000 and 2002,
• technical support for Pakiv, a joint initiative of Autonómia, Romani CRISS
(Romania), and the Freudenberg Stiftung (Germany). Pakiv seeks to facilitate the development of new mechanisms in CEE countries, which generate income
and jobs among Roma since 1996,
• organization of yearly conferences to promote Roma economic community
initiatives (best practices) from 2000 on,
• technical support to the World Bank small grants program in 2002 and 2004,
• implementation of a Roma civil organization development, mentoring program in 2003.
In 1995 Autonómia was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the
Alternative Nobel Prize) and the Hungarian Prime Minister‘s “For Minorities”
Award. Apart from the awards other signs of the recognition of our work have
been the multiplying effect of our methodology and know-how in certain areas.
For example, in 1993 we initiated a monitoring system. At that time neither preevaluation field visits of project proposals nor follow up on distributed grants
were taking place. Autonómia’s monitoring practice called the attention to the
necessity of such evaluations. Now the Soros Foundation, Hungary, the Public
Foundation for the Roma and the Hungarian Employment Fund as well as others
apply partly or entirely our methods.
Autonómia Foundation
Pozsonyi út 14. II/9.
1137 Budapest,
Hungary
151
Phone: +36 123 76020
Fax: +36 123 76029
Internet: www.autonomia.hu
3. Basic Education for Roma in Bosnia and Hercegovina
Roma in Bijeljina and Zivinice
Bijeljina municipality is located in the northeastern corner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the region of Semberija. It has about 120.000 Semberija has always
had a well-developed agricultural production, in contrast to the industrial production in this region. Before the war Bijeljina municipality had one of the biggest Roma population in BiH. Many of them worked abroad, mostly in Germany
and Austria. Out of the approximately 6.500 Roma who had lived in pre-war Bijeljina, only an estimated 40 families stayed in Bijeljina during the war. Some
2.000 – 2.500 Roma have returned so far. Most of them live in three settlements:
Divlji Zapad, Copor and Tombak. Only two Roma people living in Bijeljina are
employed. Today, around 80 Roma children attend primary schools in Bijeljina.
There are five localities in Zivinice inhabited by Roma: Ciljuge, Bisinska, Savino Brdo, Rasadina and Djurdjevik. Approximately 4.500 Roma are living on the
territory of municipality of Zivinice and only four of them are officially employed. 140 Roma children from Zivinice municipality attend primary and secondary
school – 132 attend primary schools and 8 secondary schools. Bisinska, Ciljuge 1
and Ciljuge 2 are neighbouring settlements situated on the outskirt of Zivinice
town, with around 130 Roma households ( 650 persons). Many of them are returnees from Germany. Roma from Bisinska live mostly on selling goods at the socalled Arizona market. Their living conditions are better than of those from Ciljuge 1 and Ciljuge 2 due to some investments made by international community
(water and sewage system, electricity, housing).
70 children from those three
~
settlements attend primary school. Roma in Bijeljina and Zivinice are confronted
with poverty, unemployment, little or no education, lack of professional qualification, bad housing conditions, lack of proper documents, etc. Most of them earn
money by gathering secondary raw material, by begging and throughseasonal
jobs. The children usually take part in generating the family income. There is a
significant number of illiterate Roma of all ages.
Project Basic Education for Roma in Bosnia and Hercegovina
The project supported by “Schüler Helfen Leben” (SHL) Germany.
Place: Bosnia and Herzegovina, municipalities of Bijeljina (RS) and Zivinice
(FbiH). Implementing period: January 2005 – May 2007.
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Activities carried out:
• Enrolment in school
• Summer school for the Roma students
• Support during the school year
• Empowerment of the Roma youth
Südost Europa Kultur e. V.
Centar Bijeljina
Beogradska 38
76300 Bijeljina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Phone: +387 55 220250
Fax: +387 55 220251
Internet: www.suedost-ev.de
4. School projects for and with Roma and Sinti in the RAA Berlin
The Roma school mediator project of RAA Berlin was launched at the end of
the 1990s because it was understood that successful school instruction of Roma
children could only be achieved by expanding the services offered at schools.
Recreational projects, homework assistance, school mentoring and intensive
counseling of the parents generally failed because the schools were not aware of
the special problems of Roma refugee children and the lack of positive educational role models for the Roma children. The three school mediators, funded with
the help of the Lindenstiftung from 2000 to 2002, were able to support the child
ren at school (in and outside school), train the teachers in a flexible manner as
required by the prevailing situations and practical needs, and improve the parents’ trust in and cooperation with the school. From 2002 to 2005, one of the
projects conducted within the framework of the Equal Development Partnership
coordinated by RAA, called “Roma and Sinti – Employment and Economic Security Through Self-Organization”, concentrated on how suitable and motivated Roma
could be trained to be school mediators. Communication courses helped improve
the relationship between parents and teachers, and the theoretical part about the
education system in Berlin increased the competence for educational counseling
within the community. In view of the indisputable and visible improvements
achieved through the project, the three schools involved were able to put pressure
on the School Senate and finally gain the much-needed political support in 2005.
153
In the meantime, RAA is conducting numerous interconnected projects to improve the educational situation of the Roma and Sinti in Berlin, above all in the Neukölln and Mitte/Wedding districts.
A center for mothers, women and children at Weisestrasse 24 in Neukölln offers
a self-help project for women so as to promote the education and health of women and children from immigrant families as well as families from the Roma and
Sinti communities in the Schillerpromenade district. The program comprises
counseling services (health, education, qualifications, Children‘s and Youth Welfare Services Act (KJHG), Federal Social Security Act (BSHG)) and training courses
for bilingual assistants (mothers) for a multiplicator program (Rucksack), networking within the community, and long-term groups for mothers and children to
prepare them for kindergarten and school as well as alongside school.
In two elementary schools and one Hauptschule in the Wedding district, three
Roma school mediators who were trained within the scope of the Equal Project
assist ten to fifteen children respectively in and after class. This support is planned to continue for an extended period of time. If necessary, the mediators also
conduct short-term counseling sessions at other schools and RAA projects. Within
the scope of the project “Kiezmobil”, teenage school drop-outs are given the opportunity to complete the Hauptschule and participate in job-qualification mea
sures in the field of media and event management. Partners for these practical
training courses are private companies and MediaRoma, a small media agency
organized by Roma.
“Kumulus plus”, the RAA‘s current project in the Equal Development Partnership, continues to provide literacy courses to adolescents, parents and grandparents primarily from Roma refugee families as well as to provide qualified job
counseling and assistance in finding employment.
RAA Berlin
Britta Kollberg
Chausseestr. 29
10115 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 24045100
Fax: +49 30 24045509
Internet: www.raa-berlin.de
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5. Counseling Center for Education/Antiziganism of the Association of
German Sinti and Roma – Regional Association Baden-Württemberg e.V.
The Regional Association of German Sinti and Roma in Baden-Württemberg represents about 10,000 Sinti and Roma living in Baden-Württemberg. The association was established in 1986 as a result of the civil rights work of the German
Sinti and Roma that brought attention to the unequal treatment and segregation.
It represents the members of this minority group in all social and civil rights issues, it is supported by the government of Baden-Württemberg and offers its services free-of-charge to Roma. The association is a member of the Central Council
of German Sinti and Roma as well as of the Documentation and Cultural Center
of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg.
The regional association is active in the following areas: researching and documenting the history of discrimination, working against racism and segregation,
and acting as a counseling and assistance center for Sinti and Roma to help them
help themselves.
The Counseling Center for Education/Antiziganism is developing a comprehensive and integrative concept for a school that is explicitly oriented towards diversity, understands itself as a place where perspectives can be changed and mutual
respect can be learned and made possible. Within the framework of developing
such a school, the center is working on a counseling profile that supports, analy
zes and evaluates these processes, and, above all, helps develop an effective culture of communication. A major consideration in this respect is to design the lear
ning processes in such a way that they remain part of the school program and, at
the same time, also are highly effective by finding solutions directly as needed
without having to refer to other measures.
The key activities are as follows:
•Individual counseling in Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Ravensburg,
Heidelberg and Freiburg.
•Promoting mentor-oriented schooling through mediators in Ravensburg,
Karlsruhe and Mannheim since 2004.
•Spreading information on the history and present-day life of the Sinti and Roma
as well as about Antiziganism through lectureships, conferences, speeches and
discussions at schools and with administrative authorities.
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•Promoting efforts to include the history and present-day life of the Sinti and Roma as well as Antiziganism in the core curricula.
•Planning, developing and implementing a comprehensive education project in the form of a youth contest.
Educational work with and for Sinti and Roma must not be limited to counseling and coaching members of the minority; it must also show how discrimination, segregation and prejudices towards the minority can be overcome effectively,
and it must be addressed to everyone involved in the education process, in particular to schools since they are mediators between the social and cultural worlds.
A very promising key to achieve individual and successful schooling is the model
of mentor-oriented schooling: teachers, parents, older students or headmasters/
headmistresses and counselors give undivided attention to individual children or
adolescents and do everything in their power to ensure that the child or adolescent receives optimal support and instruction. In particular mediators coming
from the minority, who are trusted by and, hence, can make things easier for everyone involved by acting as intermediaries in crises, are needed for this purpose,
especially for strengthening the native language Romani. Taking stock of the educational situation of Sinti and Roma in Baden-Württemberg continues to be an
objective so that an adequate education program for members of the minority can
be developed.
Since 2004, the Regional Association Baden-Württemberg, amongst other things,
has been working with school mediators in Karlsruhe and Mannheim, who assume a role model and mediating function for children from Sinti families. The
work is coordinated by the Counseling Center for Education/Antiziganism, which
is one of the four counseling centers of the Association of German Sinti and
Roma, Regional Association Baden-Württemberg, responsible for handling these
types of issues. The job of the mediators involves promoting and assisting the
children at school, helping them with their homework and preparing for school
and, in particular, motivating them to take up an apprenticeship. Another important task is working with the parents to help them help themselves, and this also
includes accompanying parents to class meetings at school. Besides mediating in
conflicts between parents and school, the mediators also help when conflicts
between students and teachers arise and if there are problems between the
children and their parents, for example with respect to job qualification issues or
problems at school.
Due to the cancellation of funds, one Roma mediator, who worked at an elementary school and Hauptschule as well as at a school for children withspecial
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needs, can only work sporadically and voluntarily since July 2003. Other projects
such as a “Parents’ Café” with homework assistance were also cancelled in 2004,
even though they were successful and needed. In order to resume these activities – which would call for a coordinated and systematic employment of school
mediators in the main Sinti and Roma neighborhoods in Baden-Württemberg –
the Landesstiftung would have to be willing to support the needs of the minority.
Association of German Sinti and Roma
Landesverband Baden-Württemberg e.V.
Daniel Strauß
Phone: +49 621 1569645
Fax: +49 621 1569877
B7, 16
68159 Mannheim
Internet: www.sinti-roma-bawue.de
6. The Sinti mediators of the Regional Association Schleswig-Holstein
Due to the pilot project “Strategies to improve the educational situation of German Sinti” conducted by the Technical College of Kiel (Professor Wurr) and the
Association of German Sinti and Roma e.V., Regional Association Schleswig-Holstein with the support of the Federal Ministry of Education the Sciences and Research from 1997 to 1998, it was possible to lay the foundation for the Sinti mediators who are still working at several schools in Kiel today. With the objective of
“improving the educational opportunities of Sinti children, promoting social behavior, language and learning”, the coordinators of the project, Ute Weidt (teacher), the Sinti Wanda Kreutz (social-pedagogical assistant) and Regina Kreuzer
(mediator) work in the special and regular elementary classes of the MatthiasClaudius School. Monika Weiss is working at a school for children with special
needs in Klausdorf, and Sibylle Bruszinki has been working as a mediator at the
Wallsee elementary school since the beginning of the school year.
The services are intended for all schools in Kiel and comprise both counseling
sessions and developing concepts when problems at school arise, accompanying
individual students to their classes, on class excursions and field trips, as well as
teaching individual children with learning difficulties for a limited period of
time. Thus, the classes can be relieved of these tasks. At the same time, the work
with and contact to the parents is intensified, enabling participation at meetings
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with parents and teacher conferences. Whenever needed, the mediators may become active directly in the classroom; then they do not only help the Sinti child
ren understand and solve the assignments.
The project helped improve the understanding between Sinti parents and teachers, led to mutual respect and acknowledgement between Sinti and non-Sinti,
improved the motivation and, consequently, regular attendance at school, and reduced the number of children who had to be sent to special schools. The circumstance that after a long time two Sinti children were able to advance from a special school to Hauptschule for the 2006 school year was a special highlight. Due
to the significantly higher percentage of Sinti children, the project was connected
to an Assistance Center. At the same time, the close cooperation with the Sinti
families has allowed many more Sinti children to attend regular schools.
In the spring, the project received the Otto Pankok Award of the “Foundation
for the Roma People” established by Günter Grass. The Minister President of
Schleswig-Holstein, Harry Carstensen, and the Chairman of the SPD, Kurt Beck,
praised the effectiveness and importance of the work of the Sinti mediators.
Based on estimates of the Regional Association, about 6000 Sinti and Roma live
in Schleswig-Holstein, most of them in Kiel and Lübeck. Recently, assistance programs were initiated at schools in Lübeck as well. Wanda Kreutz is employed directly at a school. The other three mediators are financed completely by the Ministry of Education of Schleswig-Holstein through the Regional Association. A
fifth mediator started working in Kiel this year.
Besides the school projects and the counseling center, Matthäus Weiss, Chairman of the Regional Association, established a housing cooperative with Sinti families in 2005. It will begin building the first apartments next year, and this will
improve life in the families. The construction work is to be linked to employment
and qualification projects so as to integrate the educational assistance in a comprehensive improvement in the standard of living.
Landesverband Deutscher
Sinti und Roma e.V.
Matthäus Weiß
Dorfstr.12
24146 Kiel-Elmschenhagen
Phone: +49 431 1220922
Fax: +49 431 1220924
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7. Förderverein Roma e.V.
The Förderverein Roma e.V was established under the name “Association for
Building a Roma Community Center” in Frankfurt in 1993. The name was changed in 1999. At the present time, the association employs 22 persons; about one
third are Roma. Besides German Roma, Roma refugees from Eastern Europe, especially from Romania, were and still are the main concern of the association.
The Förderverein Roma e.V. was formed at the initiative of Arbeitskreis Roma,
a working group that came together at the end of the 1980s. The different members
of this group (teachers, social workers, activists from the civil rights movement)
believed that organized activities against racism, segregation and discrimination
would be much more effective than individual actions. The initiative bundled its
efforts to provide social and refugee counseling (residence permits, securing the
individual’s means of subsistence, education) and public relations work (numerous articles, films, publication of a book, information events, mounting a memorial plaque for the victims of NS terror on the wall of the municipal health
authorities, occupation of the social welfare offices for three days, demonstrations, participating at international conferences in Japan, Poland, Spain, France
and Scotland, maintaining contacts with similar initiatives in Austria and Greece,
participating in EU projects in the health, education and employment sectors). At
the same time, the association offered social-pedagogical family assistance and
street work, which became part of the project “Schaworalle” (Hello Children).
The most important areas of action of Förderverein Roma are as follows:
•Social counseling forms the basis of all activities undertaken by the association, which range from problems related to residence permits, earning a living,
housing, health, crime, education, school, employment to counseling survivors of Nazi persecution.
•The day-care center “Schaworalle” with its integrated school program for
students at elementary school and Hauptschule is a nationally recognized model project. At the present time, about 70 children ages three to sixteen, mainly
Roma from Romania, are being assisted at the center.
•Due to its special profile which offers occupational training and orientation as well as school qualifications for Roma between 16 and 26 years of age, the
employment project “Job qualifications, school qualifications and employment for Roma adolescents and young adults” is unique. It was started in 2003.
The participants complete different practical training courses, a business and computer course and have the possibility of gaining.
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•further educational qualifications. In the first phase of the project (2003-2005), half of the young people passed the leaving examination of the Hauptschule.
•The mobile social-pedagogical learning and family assistance works with Roma families in the various districts of Frankfurt/Main. The primary objective is to provide concrete help to children in their families when problems in or outside school arise.
•The small social-pedagogical group in Frankfurt/Main-Höchst supports five to
seven children between 7 to 13 years old. The focus is on their development at school, working with the parents, staying in contact with the teachers and
offering recreational activities.
Philharmonic Association of the Sinti and Roma, Frankfurt/Main:
• Förderverein Roma e.V. was a founding member of the Philharmonic Association of Sinti and Roma in 2001. The Förderverein provided rooms, equipment as well as practical and financial support so that the Philharmonic Association could become active, i.e. keep alive the musical heritage of the Sinti and Roma.
Förderverein Roma e.V.
Geschäfts- u. Beratungsstelle
Joachim Brenner
Stoltzestrasse 17
60311 Frankfurt/Main
Phone: +49 69 440123
Fax: +49 69 15057952
Internet: www.foerdervereinroma.de
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8. Nova Skola – A Roma Education Project in the Czech Republic
Nova Skola was established in 1996 in the Czech Republic. Today it is one of
the leading organizations in the field of Roma education, training of Roma school
mediators and creating alternative curricula for students with special needs. At
the beginning, in 1996, Nova Skola set out with the goal of decreasing the high
number of Roma school drop-outs and to prevent Roma children from being sent
to special schools. The spectrum of activities has expanded since then, but the
method has remained the same: Roma assistant teachers work directly with the
children in the classroom.
“Our assistant teachers can be employed in many areas,” explains Lucie Jandrakova, the project coordinator. “There are bilingual assistant teachers who can
help the children in their language, i.e. Romani, there are pedagogical assistant
teachers for giving individual assistance and ethnic assistant teachers to improve
the relations between the school and family.” In addition, the function of the assistant teacher as role model must not be underestimated. “Through their own
biographies, the Roma assistant teachers show the children that education is
meaningful and provides many opportunities,” says Dr. Hana Kostalova from the
organization “Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking”.
However, Nova Skola does not want to limit itself to merely changing the current situation. The objective is to initiate fundamental changes. “We want to
change the general approach to education taken by the Office of Education,” says
Vlada Vik, Director of Nova Skola, who has already been successful in some instances.
In 1998, the Czech Office of Education officially recognized the position of the
Roma assistant teachers and began financing their work. For the first time, the
Czech government took over the policies of a civil initiative and considerably improved the educational situation of the Roma.
Besides promoting school mediators, Nova Skola has initiated three additional
projects: Rozlety (Taking Off), community service schools and Roma Suno. In the
Czech Republic, only a minute number of Roma children actually make it to a secondary-level school. For this reason, the pilot project Rozlety has been helping
Roma children make the transition to a secondary-level school since 2000. Mehrzad S. from Iran successfully completed the Rozlety program and believes that it
not only helped him in Math and Czechoslovakian but also taught him a lot about
Czech society. The Community Service School program was started by Nova Skola in order to help schools learn how to work with Roma. It promotes cooperation
among the schools and helps find financing and sponsors.
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And, last but not least, Nova Skola explicitly promotes Romani culture and language by organizing an annual literary competition in Romani called “Romano
Suno” (Romani Dream). The main focus, however, is not on perfect Romani but on
creativity, self-awareness and discovering one’s own culture. “More than anything
else, we hope to encourage young people to write about their lives, dreams and
problems,” explains Iveta Pape, a Roma program coordinator. Thus, Nova Skola is
an omnipresent Roma assistance project in the Czech Republic, the activities of
which correspond completely to the goals of the “Decade” to integrate Roma in
our society.
Nova Skola, o.p.s
Vlada Vik
Na Porici 30
110 00 Praha
Czech Republic
Phone | Fax: +42 221 733068
Internet: www.novaskola.org
9. Pakiv European Roma Fund, Theodor Heuss Medal in 2006
The Hungarian foundation Autonómia Alapítvány, the Romanian Roma organization Romani Crisis, the Roma Lom Foundation (Bulgaria) and the Freudenberg
Foundation – with the support of the European Council – jointly founded a new
organization called “Pakiv European Roma Fund” in 2002. The mission of Pakiv,
which means “Loyalty and Belief” in Romani, is to strengthen civic organizations,
especially of Eastern European Roma, as well as to develop income generating
projects. Pakiv, which has the legal form of a registered dependent foundation in
Germany and Bulgaria, has offices in Sofia and Budapest.
With the help of the World Bank, the Ford Foundation, the Freudenberg Foundation and others, the first Pakiv project was a two-year training program for 20
young Roma from Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. In the first year, the
participants learned business administration, English, leadership skills and responsibility, and management in Hungary, Denmark and Great Britain. They learned how to write applications, prepare business plans as well as how.
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to found and manage non-profit organizations, i.e. they learned how to distinguish between business and civic organizations, the “third sector”. The year ended
with internships in non-profit organizations, and they were asked to make practical suggestions for the second year. In 2003, Pakiv started with the second group,
which pursued the same program in the first six months: intensive training in
England, Denmark and Budapest – as long as the funds from the World Bank lasted. When the funds ran out at the end of 2003, the group continued nonetheless.
Without scholarships, they returned to their home towns and established organizations with minimum funds, filed applications for different educational objectives and job qualification activities, trained and activated young people and
showed just what can be done when one becomes active and takes the initiative.
Of the 45 Roma who completed the training course, 27 are still active in local initiatives. The others have found jobs in ministries, have begun studying or are
working for other qualifications. Some of them have been invited by the World
Bank to participate – as »young leaders« – in developing the national action plans
for the Roma Decade that began in 2005. The graduates of the training program
are still in contact with each other. They have formed a network extending beyond national borders and are currently developing plans for new projects.
Pakiv European Roma Fund
Nikolay Kirilov, Jennifer Tanaka
Pozsonyi útca 14.II.9
1137 Budapest
Hungary
Phone: +36 1 2376027
Fax: +36 1 2376029
[email protected]
Internet: www.pakiv.org
10. Roma Education Center, Nis, Serbia
When the elementary school teacher Refika Mustafic saw how few Roma
children, though the majority at her school, made the transition to further schooling, she and her Serbian friend Sanja Tosic met with 11 other Roma and tried to
find solutions to this problem. The Roma Education Center (REC) that they later
founded in Nis began, in 1997, by offering homework assistance to students in
7th and 8th grade as well as courses in Serbian and Math to prepare for the
entrance examination of vocational schools. When children from lower grades
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also wanted to participate in the classes, young graduates from or students at teaching colleges were asked to help so that classes could be offered in parallel
groups. Shortly afterwards, groups with students from other types of schools and
adolescents who no longer had to attend school also were formed.
With the support of UNICEF, George Soros, the Swiss Pestalozzi Foundation and
other sponsors, the Roma Education Center in the Roma neighborhood Stocni Trg
was founded in 1998. Now it was possible to hold the growing number of activities and programs in four classrooms. As before, the activities concentrate on instruction for grades 1-4 and 5-8 as well as for secondary school students in three
parallel classes for 90 minutes per afternoon. This has led to a significant increase in the number of Roma children attending vocational/secondary school and
only very few children still drop out of elementary school prematurely. The assistance measures are based on a poll taken by REC once a year in all Roma
neighborhoods to determine the exact number of students, their problems and
aspirations as regards schooling and to maintain contact with all parents. REC
develops teaching materials in Romani and makes sure that the results are presented in the media.
In 2002, REC became the operational partner of the Roma Teacher Assistant
Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education together with the Open Society
Institute. Within the scope of this program, 10 suitable Roma, with and without
teacher training, completed a joint pedagogical training (step-by-step), anti-bias
workshops and seminars about certain cultural aspects in the Roma communities. Due to financial difficulties, the program had to be limited to 5 RTAs, who
still work at two elementary schools attended primarily by Roma children. Currently, plans are being developed to train young Roma as peer educators in order
to support the work of the Roma teacher assistants.
REC also is a non-partisan, non-profit civic association working for the development and emancipation of the Roma, fighting against stereotypes, promoting human rights for the Roma and improving the legal situation of the Roma minority
as well as promoting cultural self-awareness, studying social relations of the
Roma in Serbian society and communication among Roma. In its function as a
cultural and community center, REC conducts summer school programs, workshops, seminars and events on such issues as human rights, cultural identity, intercultural communication and healthcare, meets with parents and organizes
scholarships for Roma who would like to study or complete vocational training.
In the summer of 2005, REC was able to move into a house financed for it by private sponsors. Based on the diversity of its projects and activities as well as its
concentration on improving the educational achievements of Roma children, the
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REC is a very successful model that extends beyond the borders of Serbia. Already in its short time of existence, it has, on a local level, contributed to a sustained
improvement in the educational situation of the Roma communities involved and
the quality of instruction at the schools concerned.
The REC is managed by Refika Mustafi, President, and Sanja Tosic, General Secretary, and supported by a group of approximately 20 Roma and non-Roma, who,
in their positions as teachers, drivers, cooks, janitors, lawyers, journalists and
computer scientists, determine the program of the organization. Refika Mustafic
is one of the best known European Roma education activists and a sought-after
lecturer for the most important European conferences on improving the situation
of the Roma.
The Roma Education Fund is organized into four areas:
1. Roma Education Fund projects which are financed by donations. The board
gives its approval in advance on the basis of precise criteria.
2. The program for political development, which comprises studies, technical
support, strategic development and educational activities to support the projects
stated under number 1 above. In addition, the program is to serve as a communication forum for governments and the population to discuss reforms of the education system and the integration of the Roma.
3. An advertising and communication program to promote political reforms.
Roma Educational Center (REC)
Refika Mustafic
Urosa Dimica 45,
Niš, Serbien
Phone/Fax: + 381 18 23377
11. Roma Education Fund, Hungary
The Roma Education Fund (REF) is part of the Roma Decade initiated by the
World Bank and supported by ten governments, which started in February 2005.
The objective is to promote the integration of the European Roma through innovative education projects, first in Eastern and then in Western Europe. In order
to achieve this goal, the fund supports private as well as public institutions of
education so as to improve the scholastic performance of the Roma. However,
REF cannot replace government funding; instead, it considers itself a critical catalyst for promoting the education of Roma. In addition, it informs about the general educational situation of the Roma and propagates improvements, e.g. in a
report that is published at regular intervals.
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4. Administration
One good example of the work done by the Roma Education Fund is the education project in Slovenia that it saved: in 2005, a pilot project for the integration
of Roma in Slovenia was launched. It was managed by a human rights organization in Bratislava. Despite the fact that it achieved outstanding results, the funds
from the ESF were long in coming. One year after the beginning of the project,
the Roma teachers were still waiting to be paid. Fortunately, the Roma Education
Fund became aware of this situation, took over the financing and tried to provide
compensation for the work that had already been performed. The results that became evident after a short time are very promising; however, the integration and
struggle for equal rights of the Roma call for long-term development and support.
Within the framework of the Roma Decade, the Roma Education Fund is responsible for securing sustained development, and if you look at the long list of projects promoted by REF, the future looks promising.
Roma Education Fund
Váci u. 63. II/1
H-1056 Budapest
Hungary
Phone: + 36 1 2358083
Internet: www.romaeducationfund.org
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12. Roma Lom Foundation, Bulgaria
Roma Lom Foundation is a non-profit organization, registered in Bulgaria in November 1996 under the Family and Persons Act. It works for empowerment and
improvement of the social emancipation of the disadvantaged groups in the region of North-Western Bulgaria, with special attention to the development of the
Roma community.
Roma Lom Foundation was established by a group of adherents from the Roma
community in Lom who had been working for two years as an informal group of
community activists. During this period (1995 – 1996) the group implemented two
projects. The first one is related to the improvement of the infrastructure in one
of the Roma neighbourhoods in Lom, and the second is related to the roof reconstruction of a primary school in Lom, situated in the Roma neighbourhood Mladenovo.
The founders of the organization – the chairperson Nikolay Kirilov – and the
Board members – Diana Anguelova, Tzvetanka Pavlova, Assen Slavchev and Vassil Kirilov – created the initial executive team for projects‘ implementation. Gradually together with the expansion of the activities more coordinators and volunteers were joining the core team, who were motivated young men and women of
the community. On campaigning and specific program activities the Foundation
involves about 120 – 150 volunteers from the four Roma neighbourhoods in Lom.
Since 3th of June 2002 Roma Lom Foundation has been registered on the basis of
the new Law for non-profit organizations. The mission of Roma Lom Foundation is
to stimulate the empowerment process of excluded groups and the social emancipation of the disadvantaged communities.
Roma Lom Foundation works for integration and social emancipation of disadvantaged communities irrespective of their ethnicity. The stress is put on the development of the Roma community as it is in the most difficult conditions and
meanwhile is the most numerous, with highest concentration in the region of
Northwestern Bulgaria (only in Lom the Roma are about 14.000 and represent
nearly 50 per cent of the total population of the town).
• Stimulation of the communication and ethnic-cultural dialogue for mutual
understanding, overcoming prejudices and promotion of tolerance as a norm in the relations between different ethnic groups in Bulgaria;
• Provision of methodological assistance for the development of other community organizations from the region and the whole country; Mobilizing the internal potential of the community and attraction of partners for joint resolving of the problems.
The long-term objective of Roma Lom Foundation is to ensure access to
development of the excluded groups and the disadvantaged communities through
• Stimulation of civil society development through building the capacity and
the expertise of the citizen organizations and initiative groups, working for
local development, and inclusion of these organizations in the third sector;
• Increasing the level and quality of education of the children and young people;
• Income generation and improvement of the economic status of the groups in disadvantaged position; Improvement of the quality and the access to social services in Lom through offering new type of services.
Basic aim of direction Education is to increase the level and quality of
education of children and young people in Lom.
• Improving the conditions for equal start in all schools and kindergartens in Lom town
• Motivation for increased school attendance and keeping children in school
• Increase the number of young people admitted to universities
Roma Lom Foundation
4, Neofit Bozveli Str.
3600 Lom
Bulgaria
Phone | Fax: + 359 971 66 751
Internet: www.roma-lom.org
In accomplishing its mission Roma Lom Foundation perceives its role as an
active agent of change, which works purposefully for:
• Stimulation of initiative citizen groups working for sustainable community
development;
• Development and approbation of practices and models for problems solving and lobbying for successful practices application on regional and national
level;
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13. Roma and Sinti as teachers and social workers at schools in Hamburg
In response to a campaign against Roma children begging on the streets, the
Hamburg Senator for Education, Rosemarie Raab, together with the Roma and
Cinti Union Hamburg began developing concepts for improving the educational
situation. The social workers selected by the Roma and Cinti Union helped establish contacts to the families and motivate some children to attend school
again. The situation was particularly critical in the Karolinen district of Hamburg, where begging and the prevailing social problems were augmented by theft
and dealing with illegal drugs. Already at that time, Hamburg had a program
promoting instruction in the native language, which allowed children to receive
instruction in their native language at school. Helga Büchel, the headmistress of
an elementary school (Laeiszstrasse) with many children from Roma families, the
majority of which never came to school, requested a colleague who could speak
Romani. Since none could be found in Hamburg, she asked the families if they
knew a Roma teacher from their country of origin. Despite considerable resistance on the part of the municipal authorities, Helga Büchel and the Rosemarie Raab were able to bring Dragutin Petrovic, a Roma from Serbia and trained
teacher, to Hamburg and integrate him as a regular teacher after a period of transition. The instruction given in Romani, the assistance provided in Romani for
the regular school work and numerous visits with families led to quick and evident improvements in the performance of the Roma children and also helped decrease the parents‘ distrust of the previously purely German school. We need to
thank Mareile Krause that the counseling center »Education with Roma and Sinti«, which she built up, subsequently developed materials for teaching literacy in
Romani together with the Roma teachers and external experts and continuously
organized further training courses for teachers working with Roma children. Since that time, altogether 6 suitable and highly motivated Roma and one Sinto have
been hired as teachers, social workers or mediators at 15 schools.
The special characteristic of the Roma teachers in Hamburg is the political will
and the administrative support shown by the committed headmasters/headmistresses and school authorities, who provided funds despite tight budgets and did
not let structural conditions such as formal qualification requirements become
obstacles to the success of the project. In cooperation with RCU, 2 Roma, who offer information and counseling services at schools, are employed by REBUS in
Hamburg. Five of the seven teachers meet every week with the teacher Brunhil-
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de Krühler to discuss problematic cases, develop materials, prepare conferences
on the Roma and exchange experiences gained in their everyday work. One of
them, Andrzej Wisniewski, works at 4 schools simultaneously, one day a week at
each respectively. The spectrum of his tasks, depending on need and the school‘s
willingness to cooperate, ranges from co-teaching, homework assistance and visiting the families to regular instruction in Romani, which is offered to the children
two hours per week respectively.
Since new schools keep requesting counseling services, events and Roma as teachers and social workers, Hamburg is planning to employ additional colleagues.
Landesinstitut für Lehrerbildung und Schulen
Abteilung Fortbildung
Dr. Mareille Krause
Phone: +49 40 428012794
Felix-Dahn-Str. 3
Fax: +49 40 428012799
20357 Hamburg
[email protected]
14. »Schaworalle – Hello Children«, Theodor-Heuss Medal 2006
The name »Schaworalle« comes from Romani, the language of the Roma, and
means »Hello Children«. »Schaworalle«, founded in 1999, is a day-care center. It is
designed for 50 children and adolescents ages 3 to 16, and it is financed by the
Youth Office Frankfurt and the State Youth Office. The »Schaworalle« day-care
center evolved from the three-year project »Schaworalle«, which was commissioned by the Youth Office of Frankfurt in 1996 to help Romanian Roma children
who were supposed to attend school, but were known to roam the streets begging, stealing and working as prostitutes. Many Roma children of school age attend regular school only sporadically, or not all. The fact that a high percentage
of Roma teenagers do not have any kind of school degree indicates that many
children, though they may be motivated, cannot be found in regular schools.
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Since 1996, the Förderverein Roma e.V. has been supporting the project »Schaworalle«, which, against the background of the identity, culture, history and tradition of the Roma, works to gain educational support as well as economic security and, in cooperation with a teacher cooperative in Frankfurt, prepare Roma
children for attending school and accompanies them. Currently, the project is
working with 40 children. Based on their experiences, skills and inclinations, the
children are supported by qualified Roma and non-Roma staff. Kindergarten, preparatory classes for school and literacy, lunch and varying recreational activities
in the afternoon form the overall structure of the education work. Family counseling and assistance offered by the Förderverein Roma e.V. complements the program. »Schaworalle« is a nationwide pilot and model project.
Kindertagesstätte Schaworalle
Sabine Ernst
Stoltzestr. 14 – 16
60311 Frankfurt am Mai
Phone: +49 69 13389993
Fax: +49 69 13389994
Internet: www.foerdervereinroma.de
15. The National Board of Education / The Romany Education Unit, Finland
On February 1, 1994, a Romany education unit was initiated at the National
Board of Education. The operation of the unit is financed with special funds set
aside from the adult education appropriations of the national budget. The Romany education unit is functionally independent. Operations are led by a management group with Romany representation.
Operations are based on the positions taken and decisions made by the National Parliament, the Government and the Ministry of Education on the development of Romany education and the actualisation of Romany culture. Further
more, the education of linguistic and cultural minorities has been incorporated
as a specific task area in the work programme of the National Board of Education.
Primary task of the unit is development and implementation of the nationwide schooling for the Romany population. A second task is furtherance of Romany language and Romany culture. A third task is the maintenance of an adequate information service and network.
171
The education unit, on its own, arranges courses and seminars of varying
lengths and contents. In addition to these there is also co-operation with other
authorities what comes to arranging conferences and information meetings for
Romany and majority population.
Information about the tasks and activities of the unit is been disseminated
through various publications. International contacts have been broadened and
information services and research developed. The unit also provides expert and
advisory services for members of Romany and majority population.
Activities in 2002 – 2003
• Production of teaching materials in Romany
• Nationwide project on Roma children´s education
• Organisation of exhibitions and events involving Romany culture
• Organisation of seminars in parenting and education as well as in Romany
language and culture
• Training of cultural mediators
• Publication of regular information bulletin (Latso Diives) in Finnish
• EU-Comenius-2-project , DROM-EDU-project
Composition of management group in 2003 – 2005
The National Board of Education has appointed a management group for the
Romany education unit whose given task is to support and coordinate the development of Romany education and steer the activities of the education unit.
Finnisch National Board of Education
The Romany Education Unit
Eine Lillberg
Telefon: + 358 9 774 775
P.O. Box 380
Fax: + 358 9 77477865
00531 Helsinki
Finland
Internet: www.oph.fi
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16. The Resource Center for Roma Communities (RCRC), Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The Resource Center for Roma Communities aims to become the most important partner of Roma NGOs and Roma communities in Romania, through the preparation and implementation of coherent programmes designed for improvement
of the situation of Roma and the development of the communities where they
live. The mission of the RCRC is to contribute to the improvement of the life conditions of the Roma communities in Romania. The Center supports initiatives
made by Roma communities to solve the specific problems they face, and contributes to the identification and prevention of the different forms of discrimination
encountered by the Roma. It also contributes to the improvement of communication between Roma and Non-Roma, and supports a network of Roma NGOs capable of developing, in partnership with the authorities and local communities, concrete solutions to the problems they face.
Actual the center is running the following projects:
“Roma trainers – agents for interethnic rural community development”, a vocational development for 12 Roma trainers and community facilitators from Romania within a period of 2 weeks in Italy with the general objective to improve the
quality and encourage the access to the long life learning and acquiring skills
and competencies in order to develop the adaptation capacity and to support the
technological and organizational changes of the Roma youth from Romania.
“Income generating projects for interethnic rural NGOs – a step toward better”,
a professional development for 15 Roma trainers and community facilitators –
RCRC collaborators, in project management and human resources management;
financial management and specific legislation; marketing and elaborating of business plans and trainings for 30 Roma and Non-Roma community leaders 30 with
the general objective, to improve the managerial capacities of 15 NGOs and community initiative interethnic groups from 15 rural communities in Romania in
elaborating / implementing in-coming generating projects.
“Empowering Roma experts”, a professional development of 30 Roma experts/
elected counselors in City Halls/Councils in Romania in the following fields:
Legislation (social and public administration), Political Education (the major political doctrines), Negotiation and communication in crises, Community Development and leadership, Elaborating Project Proposals, local budgets and Project
173
Management with the general objective – to empower the Roma experts in City
Halls/Councils in Romania so that they can respond better to the legal and social
problems that Roma community face
• to increase the civic/political participation of 30 Roma experts/elected coun-
selors in City Halls/Councils in Romania
• to increase the level of transparency, responsibility and implication in the
decision making process of 30 Roma experts/elected counselors in City Halls/
Councils in Romania
• to increase the Participation of Roma women in public administration and com munity life “Accredited Social Services for Employment in Roma Communities”, a training for a period of 7 months of a number of 20 employment agents, from 10 non-governmental Roma organizations that, through the activities they un dertake, cover all the Euro-regions in Romania and the initiation and providing of accredited social services of counselling and professional mediation by the 10 Roma non-governmental organizations, for a period of 3 months, in 40 Roma
communities from the urban and rural areas in Romania in which they deve lop their activity improvement of collaboration between 10 Roma non governmental organizations, public institutions (National Office for Employ-
ment) and Non-Roma NGOs that provide social services in the field of
counselling and professional mediation, throughout the entire period of
the project and after its end. The general objective is to increase the ability
of Roma NGOs to provide accredited social services of counselling and
professional mediation in the Roma communities in Romania.
“Empowering the Roma Teachers”, a professional development of 50 Roma teachers who teach Roma language and history and Roma traditions, training 10
Roma trainers in education field and including the RWCT (Reading and Writing
for Critical Thinking) methods within the initial and continuous training programs, to increase the quality of education for the Roma pupils from Romania already finished is the project:
Civic education in Romani Language between 2003 and 2004 with
• Organizing 4 training sessions in civic education for the 30 selected
Romani language teachers.
Elaboration of an alternative bilingual (Romani – Romanian) civic education manual responding to the target group needs.
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• Organizing extra-curricular activities, discussion groups with the Roma youth that do not attend the school, parents and other Roma communities members in order to promote civic education values and to support the education that Roma children reveive at school.
• Organizing civic education campaigns by the Romani language teachers
focusing on electoral education and raising the awareness on the voting im
portance in 30 Roma communities. Monitoring the educational process in school by CREDIS coordinator and the extracurricular activities from the Roma
communities by RCRC and APD Cluj.
The Resource Center for Roma Communities
Claudia Macaria
str. Tebei, nr.21
Telefon: +40 264 420474
400305 Cluj Napoca
Fax: +40 264 420470
Romania
Internet: www.romacenter.ro
17. The Roma People Association in Poland
The Roma People Association in Poland was established in 1992. Our main goal
is to achieve full equality for Roma people in the Polish society. Despite the specific Roma identification, we see ourselves as a integral part of this society. Stereotypes, existing for hundreds of years, consolidated the negative image of Roma
people in Polish society. Therefore we have been very active in the field of improvement of social, cultural and economic situation of our people. One of our goals
is also to commemorate the mass extermination of Roma people during the Second World War. The Association of Roma in Poland has accomplished this task
by conducting scientific research, publishing activity and organizing exhibitions
and celebrations, connected with the history of Roma Holocaust.
Main goals of the Roma People Association in Poland:
• activity for full equality of Roma in public life of their homeland – Poland;
• striving after recognition of Roma people as a ethnic minority, as a subject of legal protection and obtaining by them guaranties of free realization their
political, social and cultural rights;
175
• active participation of Roma people in public life of the Republic of Poland;
• cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations, based on the principle of tolerance and mutual recognition of rights;
• popularization of Roma culture, history and other themes concerning Roma people in Polish society;
• providing Roma people with social and legal help and representing them in
local governments, state institutions and before courts.
The Roma People Association in Poland has approximately 4.000 members. There
are 15 local branches of the Association. Our activity embraces the majority of
Roma environments in Poland. We have always been well-informed about difficult living situation of Roma people in Poland. The members of our minority usually
are people without an education, unemployed and poor - living under very difficult healthy, sanitarian and social conditions. They usually are not beneficiaries
of any social, governmental help. It had been proved e.g; by the research, conducted in 1997, which resulted in the report about education of Roma children. In
this connection The Roma People Association in Poland took steps to set up The
Center of Monitoring and Activation Roma People in Poland. Our employees had
been trained in the domain of social and legal aid for Roma environment. Therefore the Association of Roma in Poland has a well-trained staff at its disposal and
has been monitoring Roma environments in Poland. Our centre in Ošwiecim has
been directly cooperating with all local – governmental Teams For Social Care
and thanks their help also with several hundred of communities in this field from
1998. This cooperation allowed us setting up the data bank, making possible permanent monitoring and research of Roma population in Poland in different way.
Based on this data bank The Roma People Association in Poland provides members of our minority with aid of legal assistance, social care, educational help,
health care, social and professional activation, civic activation.
In the years 1998 – 2001 The Roma People Association in Poland was responsible for distribution of funding (together with Swiss Fund for Needy Victims of Holocaust SHOAH) intended for Roma people - citizens of Poland. Fulfilling this project, the Association of Roma in Poland provided 1517 Roma people-beneficiaries
of the project with aid of different kind of total estimated value of over
5 000 000 zl. The completing of the program had been examined three times by
an adequate auditor firm and highly appreciated by the general secretary of the
Swiss Fund for Needy Victims of Holocaust – Mrs. Barbara Ekwall. In 1999, together with the Polish Home Work Office, The Roma People Association in Poland
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conducted the one year long research “Roma people in the work market” which
resulted in several projects of concrete educational programs for Roma people
and also in providing them with different social, legal and material aid. The results of the research were made accessible to the Polish parliament and to President of the Republic of Poland and to other governmental organizations. (Program to Provide Aid for Roma Minority in Małopolska Province was based on the
research and its results). Previously, we established the Bureau of Advice for Citizens, helping Roma people to contact them with local and governmental administration. The Roma People Association in Poland organized also Day Care Home
for Victims of Holocaust, with its residence in a building, which was bought in it
is maintained for money from financial sources of the Association.
The Roma People Association in Poland organized an archive documenting the
tragic fate of Roma people during the Second World War. The employees of the
archive collect documents and interviews with the living eyewitnesses of these
tragic events. The activity of The Roma People Association in Poland made it possible the opening of the permanent exhibition in the block 13 in State Museum
Auschwitz-Birkenau, dedicated extermination of Roma people in Europe during
the Second World War. The exhibition was opened in 2001.
The Roma Historical Institute continues the scientific researches considering
history of our minority in Europe. In charge of the fund SHOAH in Los Angeles,
whose founder was Steven Spielberg, the Association has been documenting the
fate of victims of Holocaust (1997-1998). Our organization possesses an unique
collection of video tapes considering the Holocaust of Roma people. The Roma
People Association in Poland cooperates also with the German “Stiftung für
Deutsch-Polnische Aussöhnung” considering the compensations for Roma victims of Holocaust. The chairman of the Main Board of the Association – Roman Kwiatkowski – is a member of the International Auschwitz Council and International Council for Commemoration of Roma killed during the Holocaust. One
of our achievements was the Local Centre of Information and Documentation of European Council (it was established on the initiative of the Main Board of The Roma
People Association in Poland and the Center of Information and Documentation of
Council of Europe in Warsaw).
177
The Roma People Association in Poland has been taking a part in two programs,
connected with European integration and co-financed by European Institutions as
a part of a program: “Integration now”. The Roma People Association in Poland
keeps regular and direct contacts with the Chair of Ethnology of Warsaw University and Institute of Sociology of Jagiellonian University in Cracow.
The Roma People Association in Poland
Daniel Bartlomowicz
5 Berka Joselewicza St.
Telefon: +48 33 8426989
32-600 Oswiecim
Fax: +48 33 8425392
Poland
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SPONSORS
Freudenberg Stiftung GmbH
The Freudenberg Foundation was established in 1984 when members of the
Freudenberg family transferred shares held in the exclusively family-owned
Freudenberg company to a non-profit foundation.
The Freudenberg Foundation was formed as a non-profit limited liability company. According to its statutes, earnings are used to promote the sciences and
education as well as peaceful coexistence in society. The foundation grants about
Euro 1.75 million every year. The work of the foundation primarily concentrates
on children and adolescents. All projects generally strive to further social inclusion or integration. The starting point always is a need for action, either proposed by the foundation or determined in the course of scientific work. For example, young people with an immigrant background, who cannot find an
apprenticeship; Turkish children who do not know enough German to manage at
school; right-wing extremist groups of young people who dominate public life;
small business founders who cannot find adequate counseling or assistance at
the existing institutions; or schools that want to become more accessible to their
district and need resources for this.
•
•
Learning democracy and assuming responsibility in school and the community
Projects and initiatives that strengthen democracy as a form of life and help
develop the skills needed for this are initiated and supported, irrespective of
whether these projects are developed for kindergarten, school or in the com
munity.
Developing local models in selected towns and districts
This area concentrates on projects that promote local integration potential in
kindergartens, schools and civil society initiatives and contribute to a cult-
ure of respect.
Freudenberg Stiftung GmbH
Freudenbergstr. 2
69469 Weinheim
Phone: +49 6201 17498
Fax: +49 6201 13262
Internet: www.freudenbergstiftung.de
Program areas:
• Integration and migration
Here the focus is on promoting the acquisition of the German language
and intercultural education in programs that include the parents as well.
•
179
Young people between school and working life
This relates to issues of job orientation and preparation and strives to help
young people successfully cross the »first threshold«, i.e. between school and
job training, as well as the »second threshold«, i.e. between job training and
employment.
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Fund »Rembrance and Future« of the foundation »Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future«
The »Remembrance and Future« fund is part of the foundation »Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future« which was founded in 2000 with the objective of making humanitarian payments to former forced laborers. The fund was set up to
last an extended period of time and primarily supports international projects
and programs that build bridges to Central and Eastern Europe, Israel and the
United States.
With the support of the Theodor Heuss Award, the »Remembrance and Future«
fund underscores its interest in continuing the support of projects concerned
with the needs of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. The foundation »Remembrance, Responsibility and Future« has granted more than Euro 13 million up to
now for humanitarian assistance and promoting projects helping Sinti and Roma
in other ways.
Humanitarian assistance of the foundation »Remembrance, Responsibility
and Future«
Sinti and Roma are a major group of victims persecuted under the Nazi regime.
Therefore, they belong to those persons who received individual payments from
the foundation »Remembrance, Responsibility and Future«.
In addition, funds of the foundation have been used to support humanitarian
projects in Central and Eastern Europe since 2002, i.e. more than Euro 12 million
has been granted to Roma who survived the Nazi regime. Besides food, clothing
and heating supplies, the assistance also included medical care and legal counseling. The foundation commissioned the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) in Geneva with distributing these funds.
A scholarship program endowed with Euro 280,000, which the fund tenders together with the Open Society Institute in Budapest, allows young people in Central and Eastern Europe to study law in their home countries. Up until now, 79
students have received a scholarship.
In future, the fund »Remembrance and Future« wants to concentrate on promoting the educational opportunities of Roma. It will participate in the Roma Education Fund (REF) and contribute Euro 500,000 over the next five years. The Roma
Education Fund was set up by the Soros Foundation and the World Bank. Its mission is to promote a systematic change in the national education policies of Central and Eastern European countries in order to help the Roma. The Roma Education Fund believes that the direct involvement of Roma in designing the
education programs is necessary to ensure that they can be implemented successfully. By participating in the Roma Education Fund, the fund »Remembrance
and Future« wants to help achieve sustainable improvements in the situation of
life of the Roma.
Fonds »Erinnerung und Zukunft«
Markgrafenstr. 12 – 14
10969 Berlin
Phone: + 49 30 25929780
Fax: + 49 30 25929742
Internet: www.fonds-ez.de
Project promotion of the fund »Remembrance and Future«
In its function as an assistance foundation within the Federal foundation, the
fund »Remembrance and Future« continues this commitment. The fund has approved more then Euro 250,000 for projects assisting Sinti and Roma. In particular, these funds are used to organize international meetings between NS survivors and young people so that they can learn about and from the history of
persecution suffered by Sinti and Roma under the Nazi regime.
181
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Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V.
Manfred Lautenschläger Stiftung GmbH
The mission of the Otto Benecke foundation is to facilitate integration in a global context through the counseling and education programs implemented by its
projects in Germany and abroad.
The Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V. was established in 1965 at the initiative of the
German student associations. It is a politically neutral association that has its
seat in Bonn and 20 regional offices throughout Germany. In the meantime, it has
helped many thousands of immigrants and refugees complete training and scholarship programs in Germany, Africa and Palestine, so that they have career perspectives in the future.
Since its foundation, the Otto Benecke foundation has been commissioned by
the Federal Government to conduct integration programs. The focus is on the
Universities‘ Guarantee Fund of the Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens,
Women and Youth as well as the Academics Program of the Federal Ministry for
Research and Technology. Both programs, which have a volume of altogether
more than Euro 20 million p.a., give the participants the opportunity to continue
their studies or deepen the knowledge gained in their home countries.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the transformation process has given rise to new
areas of concentration which consist of three components:
•
•
•
Manfred Lautenschläger Stiftung gGmbH
Ernst-Reuter-Str. 12
69251 Gaiberg
Phone: + 49 6222 3081002 e-mail: [email protected]
Fax: + 49 6222 3081112
assisting members of the German minority in Central and Eastern Europe as
well as in Central Asia,
building up democratic structures in youth work, primarily in the Near East
and Eastern Europe/Central Asia, and
developing and implementing measures to prevent violence and decrease
xenophobia in Germany.
Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V.
Kennedyallee 105-107
53175 Bonn
Phone: + 49 228 81630
Fax: + 49 228 8163300
183
The work of the Manfred Lautenschläger foundation primarily is dedicated to
promoting the sciences and research. In addition, it is involved in the areas of
education, art and culture as well as international understanding.
The Lautenschläger Research Prize, for example, is awarded every two years. It
honors scientists who are connected to the University of Heidelberg and have
done outstanding research in their respective scientific field. The prize of Euro
250,000 is one of the highest scientific awards donated by a private person in
Germany.
The »Heidelberger Ballschule«, the new building of the pediatric hospital of the
University of Heidelberg, diabetes research and numerous other large projects
are promoted to a significant extent by the Manfred Lautenschläger foundation.
Internet: www.obs-ev.de
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CIVIS medien stiftung and ARD Media Prize CIVIS for Integration
and Cultural Diversity in Europe
The European ARD Media Prize for Integration and Cultural Diversity honors
outstanding radio and television programs that are particularly well suited for
promoting peaceful coexistence in European immigrant societies. The ARD Media
Prize strives to encourage radio and television journalists and program directors
in Germany and Europe to inform about and give new insights to the political
discussion.
Integration and multicultural cooperation are of fundamental importance for
Europe‘s future. Accepting ethnic, cultural and religious change as a reality and
forming it in a positive way is becoming an ever more important task of the European societies and European politics as such.
The media play a significant part in connection with this process and how it is
portrayed. Achieving mutual understanding between different cultures and religious groups, analyzing the many causes of violence, and finding effective ways
of managing conflicts over and beyond national borders are great challenges. It is
the responsibility of the media to convey information about the complex social
and political events. One aspect of this responsibility is to refrain from denying
existing conflicts and taking sides.
The radio broadcasting companies in Germany and Europe already frequently
report about integration and cultural diversity. The ARD Media Prize CIVIS wants
to publicize these efforts and, at the same time, dissipate ideas by means of
exemplary programs from all over Europe.
The European ARD Media Prize CIVIS is tendered in all 25 EU member states
and Switzerland by the Working Group of the Public Broadcasting Network of the
Federal Republic of Germany (ARD), represented by the West German Broadcasting Company (WDR), and the Freudenberg Foundation. CIVIS is supported by
Deutsche Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV), the Federal Commissioner for Immigration Issues, Refugees and Integration, the European Parliament, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), ARTE, 3sat, the Austrian Broadcasting Company (ORF), PHOENIX, SRF SSR idée suisse, the European
Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Hungarian foundation Autonómia and the foundation »Remembrance, Responsibility and Future«.
185
The non-profit foundation CIVIS medien stiftung GmbH for Integration and Cultural Diversity in Europe is responsible for organizing and conducting the ARD
Media Prize CIVIS. The foundation wants to contribute to intercultural understanding and European integration through the work of the media. It organizes the
international ARD Media Prize every year. Michael Radix is the Director of the
foundation.
CIVIS medien stiftung GmbH
Breite Str. 48 – 50
50667 Köln
Phone: +49 221 2775870 Fax: +49 221 27758716
Internet: www.civis.ard.de
Lindenstiftung für vorschulische Erziehung
The Linden Foundation for Preschool Education was called into life by the Lindenmann family in 1972. Its mission is the pedagogical and social promotion of
preschool children and their families as well as the promotion of scientific studies related to this purpose. The Linden foundation views its commitment as a
contribution towards strengthening social marginal groups and, in particular,
supports projects calling for the self-initiative of the persons involved. The project work focuses on learning democracy at the elementary level, assisting particularly disadvantaged groups (Roma, Sinti refugee children), and helping children
in crisis areas.
The Lindenstiftung für vorschulische Erziehung is administered
by the Freudenberg Stiftung GmbH
Freudenbergstr. 2
69469 Weinheim
Phone: +49 6201 17498
Fax:
+49 6201 13262
Internet: www.freudenbergstiftung.de
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189
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Opre Roma! Erhebt Euch! Eine Einführung in die Geschichte und
Situation der Roma,
München: Spak-Bücher.
Romani Rose (Hrsg.) (1999):
›Den Rauch hatten wir täglich vor Augen.‹ Der NS-Völkermord an Sinti
und Roma,
Liégeois, Jean-Pierre (1999):
Die schulische Betreuung ethnischer Minderheiten:
Das Beispiel der Sinti und Roma,
Samer, Helmut (2000):
Die Roma von Oberwart. Zur Geschichte und aktuellen Situation der
Roma in Oberwart,
Oberwart: edition lex liszt 12.
Lindemann, Florian (2005):
Schule muss schmecken! Ermutigende Erfahrungen junger Roma im
deutschen Bildungswesen,
Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Verlag.
Solms, Wilhelm; Strauß, Daniel (Hrsg.) (1995):
›Zigeunerbilder‹ in der deutschsprachigen Literatur:
Tagung in der Universität Marburg vom 5. bis 7. Mai 1994,
190
› Annex
Tebutt, Susan (1998):
Sinti and Roma. Gypsies in German-speaking Society and Literature,
New York und Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Vossen, Rüdiger (1983):
Zigeuner. Roma, Sinti, Gitanos, Gypsies. Zwischen Verfolgung und
Romantisierung,
Frankfurt: Ullstein.
Weyrauch, Walter O. (2002):
Das Recht der Roma und Sinti. Ein Beispiel autonomer Rechtsschöpfung,
Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Widmann, Peter (2001):
An den Rändern der Städte. Sinti und Jenische in de deutschen
Kommunalpolitik,
Berlin: Metropol Verlag.
Winckel, Änneke (2002):
Antiziganismus. Rassismus gegen Roma und Sinti im vereinigten
Deutschland,
Münster: Unrast.
ARTICLES AND NEWSPAPERS
Christina Kalkuhl; Wilhelm Solms (Hrsg.) (2005):
Antiziganismus heute,
in: Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung Band 2, GFA e.V.; I-Verb. de, GbR,
Seeheim.
Engbring-Romang, Udo; Strauß, Daniel (Hrsg.) (2003):
Aufklärung und Antiziganismus,
in: Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung Band1, GFA e.V.; I-Verb.de, GbR,
Seeheim.
Engbring-Romang, Udo; Wilhelm Solms (Hrsg.) (2005):
»Diebstahl im Blick«? Zur Kriminalisierung der »Zigeuner«,
in: Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung Band 3, GFA e.V. / I-Verb. de, GbR,
Seeheim.
European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) (2007):
The Impact of Legislation and Policies on School Segregation of
Romani Children,
Budapest: Research Papers Issue Nr. 03.
Wippermann, Wolfgang (2001):
Wie die Zigeuner. Antisemitismus und Antiziganismus im Vergleich,
Berlin: Espresso Verlag.
Katharina Stengel (2004):
Tradierte Feindbilder Die Entschädigung der Sinti u. Roma in den
fünfziger u. sechziger Jahren,
in: Fritz Bauer Institut, Materialien Nr. 17 Frankfurt.
Wurr, Rüdiger; Träbing-Butzmann, Sylvia (1998):
Schattenkämpfe. Widerstände und Perspektiven der schulischen
Emanzipation deutscher Sinti,
Kiel: Agimos.
Landesinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht Stuttgart (Hrsg.) (2002):
Antiziganismus, Geschichte und Gegenwart deutscher Sinti und Roma,
Anregungen für den Unterricht,
in: Heft FTh 523.
Wurr, Zazie (2000):
Newo Ziro – Neue Zeit? Wider die Tsiganomanie.
Ein Sinti- und Roma-Kulturlesebuch,
Kiel: Agimos.
Stadt Herbolzheim; Landesverband Deutscher Sinti und Roma BadenWürttemberg (2003):
60 Jahre: Vergangen, verdrängt, vergessen,
in: Herbolzheimer Blätter Band 5, Herbolzheim.
Zülch, Tilman; Rose, Romani; Stöhr, Martin; Waldschütz, Erwin;
Kenrick, Donald; Puxon, Grattan; Stengelmann, Astrid (1981):
Sinti und Roma. Die Vernichtung eines Volkes im NS-Staat,
Göttingen: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V.
191
192
› Annex
Links
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/fundamental_rights/roma/
index_en.htm
Roma Homepage der Europäischen Union
www.raa-berlin.de (Berlin)
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/publications/2005/
ke6204389_de.pdf
unter dieser Adresse kann ein ausführlicher Bericht der Europäischen
Kommission über die Situation der Roma in der erweiterten EU heruntergeladen werden.
www.romaeducationfund.org (Roma Education Fund)
http://www.errc.org/
Homepage des European Roma Rights Center; Informationen über die
heutige Situation der Roma in Europa, Länderberichte
www.stm.fi/Resource.phx/eng/index.htx (Finnland)
http://www.minderheiten.org/roma/
Homepage des Europäischen Kultur- und Informationszentrums Thüringen;
Informationen zur Geschichte der Roma, die Gegenwart und ihre Kultur
http://www.romnews.com/
Homepage der RomNews Society; Newsletter, Events, News für verschiedene
Länder
www.romacenter.ro (Rumänien)
www.roma-lom.org (Bulgarien)
www.schaworalle.de (Frankfurt)
www.stowarzyszenieromow.hg.pl (Polen)
Links to the Foundations
www.obs-ev.de (Otto-Bennecke-Stiftung)
www.freudenbergstiftung.de (Freudenberg Stiftung)
www.fonds-ez.de (Fonds Erinnerung und Zukunft)
Links to the participating projects
www.theodor-heuss-stiftung.de (Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung)
www.amaro-kher.de (Köln)
www.foerdervereinroma.de (Frankfurt)
www.novaskola.org (Tschechien)
www.pakiv.org (Pakiv European Roma Fund)
www.sinti-roma-bawue.de (Mannheim)
193
194
› Annex
THEODOR-HEUSS-FOUNDATION
The supra-partisan Theodor-Heuss-Foundation was initiated in 1964 after the
death of the first Federal President by Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, his son, Ernst
Ludwig Heuss, and a circle of friends of Theodor Heuss, with the aim of distinguishing examples for democratic engagement, civic courage and commitment for
the strengthening and developing democracy in memory of his personality and
his political life’s work. As Carl Friedrich v. Weizsäcker pointed out in 1965, the
Theodor-Heuss-Prize was meant “to turn attention to something which, in our democracy, has to be done and to be developed without being already completed.
Theodor Heuss was not only instrumental in creating the Basic Constitutional
Law and not only did he shape the beginning of our democratic culture by the
quality of his way of administrating his office. Throughout his whole life and
work he has set an example of democratic-liberal attitude and civic responsibility. »Democracy and liberty are not only words, they are life-shaping values.«. The
Theodor-Heuss-Foundation wants to keep alive the memory of the personality
and the life work of Theodor Heuss and to contribute to the development of democratic traditions and values in Germany and Europe. The Foundation wants to
point out time and again the manifold possibilities of making the right use of our
liberties and of strengthening every single person’s responsibility. It promotes
exemplary democratic behaviour, outstanding civic courage and model commitment for the public weal. With the annual awarding of the Theodor-Heuss-Prize
the Foundation has, from the beginning, endeavoured to create also public awareness about important political and social developments at an early stage by the
honouring of civic initiative and civic courage. By this, issues and prize-holders
chosen by it, have become a “democratic time signal”.
Bodies of the Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Executive Board
Ludwig Theodor Heuss, Vorsitzender; Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, stv.
Vorsitzende; Robert Picht, stv. Vorsitzender; Michael Klett, Schatzmeister, Joachim Gauck, Günther H. Oettinger, Christian Petry, Wolfgang Schuster, Rupert Graf
Strachwitz, Beate Weber, Beatrice von Weizsäcker, Hildegard Hamm-Brücher,
Gründungsvorsitzende, Walter Scheel, Ehrenvorsitzender | Kooptation: Gabriele
Müller-Trimbusch
Board of Trustees
Jutta Limbach, Vorsitzende; Reni Maltschew, stv. Vorsitzende; Carola von Braun,
Andreas Flitner, Ulrich Frank-Planitz, Hermann Freudenberg, Wolfgang Harder,
Helmut Haussmann, Hartmut von Hentig, Ursula Heuss, Thomas Hertfelder,
Burkhard Hirsch, Anetta Kahane, Rolf Kieser, Armin Knauer, Sabine Krüger,
Jürgen Morlok, Cem Özdemir, Ulrike Poppe, Hermann Rudolph, Friedrich W.
Schmahl, Gesine Schwan, Klaus von Trotha, Roger de Weck, Richard von Weizsäcker,
Cornelius Winter, Elke Wollenschläger, Walther Zügel
Executive Borard of the Circle of Friends
Prof. Dr. h.c. Lothar Späth, Vorsitzender; Harald Panholzer, stv. Vorsitzender;
Armin Knauer, Schatzmeister; Ursula Heuss
Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung zur Förderung der politischen Bildung und Kultur e.V.
Im Himmelsberg 16
70192 Stuttgart
Phone: +49 711 559198
Fax: +49 711 559207
Internet: theodor-heuss-stiftung.de
195
196
› Annex
PUBLICATIONS:
BROCHURES OF OUR COLLOQUIES
Brochures:
BROCHURE NR. 1
Education and Upbringing:
Test for our democracy, Colloquium 2003, Stuttgart
BROCHURE NR. 2
Individuals (not) like you and me:
Illegality as a social challenge, Round Table 2004, Stuttgart
BROCHURE NR. 3
Poverty and exclusion in Europe – by way of example the Romany
Roma and Sinti as educational mediators, Conference 2006, Stuttgart
IMPRINT
Editor
Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung
Editorial staff and translations
Antoinette Cherbuliez
Johannes Cherbuliez
Laura Marschall
Birgitta Reinhardt
Kathy Reymann
Sirick Wohlers
Design and Production
United Ideas
Agentur für Kommunikation,
Stuttgart
Photography
Pressefoto Kraufmann & Kraufmann
Print
Leibfarth & Schwarz GmbH & Co.KG,
Dettingen/Erms
Translation: Virginia Schildhauer, Übersetzungsbüro, Stuttgart
Pages: 53-95 and 137-187 (with the exception of the originally English texts)
Warm thanks to Mr. Johannes Lynn, The Wolfensohn Initiative, Washington D.C., for
sponsoring this translation.
197
198
2006
Colloquium and Symposium THEODOR-HEUSS-STIFTUNG
zur Förderung der politischen Bildung
und Kultur in Deutschland und Europa e.V.
Im Himmelsberg 16
70192 Stuttgart
Telefon+49 711 559198
Telefax +49 711 559207
Internet: www.theodor-heuss-stiftung.de
Colloquium and Symposium 2006
POVERTY AND EXCLUSION IN EUROPE –
BY WAY OF EXAMPLE THE ROMA

poverty and exclusion in europe – by way of example the roma roma

Transcription

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