Galery

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Now they are telling them that the amounts are "frozen" and that is killing the people. That was the situation also with the "Gypsy loans". Although they were approved, the money for funding were again "frozen". We, however, were never sent a document showing that we are entitled to receive the already approved amounts or that the program is suspended and will no longer continue. Who gets this money? They only tell the Roma that money is "frozen" until they get tired of asking and stop dealing with it".

According to Sabiha people who really deal with the problems of the Roma are very few. "Most of us do not know how to ask for what belongs to them. When a person is illiterate he does not know where to go and what to say. Thus many companies are placed in a very difficult situation and do not know what to respond to people. The reasons for this are many. Sometimes they are political, other times someone is "acting smart" or just racist "come on now, are we really going to deal with the Roma".

It's very tiring. It would be better if Europe made no programs for Roma, because the money does not go to them. Don’t let the other take it.

And then they talk about transparency. Why don’t they apply it first to themselves? They tell Europe, that the program goes well, because all documentation is signed, but the money does not go as intended.

Let’s not talk about the cases when the competent official of a ministry finds a Roma person, whom he gives some money to be the "face" of the whole story. Then begin also "civil wars" between us. We fight between the Roma so that the others can be better, yet once again. I think those Roma who have very few are suckers because they do not realize how much they harm their own people this way. I'm sure that if they knew they would not do it.

And then people say "Roma are like this". They can not get to an understanding between each other and therefore we "froze the program.

After the opening of the campaign by the Vice-minister of education Fofi Gennimata and the Special Representative of the Council of Europe for the Roma Jeroen Schokkenbroek threr was hosted a round table in which participated university teachers. Most of them work for years on the programs aiming at attracting Roma children at the schools. They shared the problems they face and stressed that it is very important that children learn in schools with other peers, and not in the ghetto neighborhood schools.

The speeches of several representatives of Roma organizations in which they presented the real and urgent problems of the Roma such as the lack of basic things like running water, electricity and paved streets in their neighborhoods brought in the necessary dose of realism in the otherwise splendid evening in the building of the "Mihalis Kakogiannis" foundation.

Later, the music and colorful dances cheered up the otherwise rather heavy atmosphere in the hall.

Very interesting seemed to me the title of the campaign. I asked quite a lot of Roma what that meant in their language and they told me that there is no such word.

"I asked the organizers and they recognized that the word is Serbian. I had not realized what it was. When I was told that the campaign is called so I thought this is a name that they had given to the program. I did not know the word is presented as Roma".

Nevertheless, what is important in this case is for the prejudices and stereotypes against Roma to be rejected. And yet "enough" in Roma language is "ekhol".