Eleni and Fotini proudly hold the certificates of attendance of the program. Bright visions even though they have to face mountains of difficulties due to the social exclusion of the Roma.
“Thanks. Thanks to you we learned some things. For our food, in case of emergency what to do, you helped us in matters of equality”, Fotini will say.
The program Rom-boost aims at the social and economic empowerment of Roma populations in Greece, mainly women, through intensive training and skills development, enhancing access to a coherent training package, adopting a participatory ‘bottom-up’ approach.
The Rom-boost project was implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund program (with the management of the grant for Greece being undertaken by the Bodosaki Foundation and SolidarityNow), with their implementing agency Doctors of the World.
“We have no illusions that we will break all stereotypes”
“Doctors of the World has had a very close relationship with the Roma for 35 years, since its establishment. What we have learned over the years is that the key to the camps is held by the women. It is women who make the big change in families.
So we thought that if we had to intervene more strongly from somewhere, it should be those who keep the family together, that is, the mothers, the young girls, the grandmothers who can make the change in the next generation”. Nikitas Kanakis, Vice President of the Board of Directors, reports to BIMA. of Doctors of the World of Greeceexplaining why Rom-boost focused on Roma girls and women.
“The purpose of the program is to be able to educate them on health issues, to empower them so that they can step more firmly on their feet and to direct the new girls to other options and not the traditional ones. We have no illusions that we will break all stereotypes.
But it is these small cracks that make the difference. And the most important; Through the program, we now have women who realize their role and their power.
I always keep a quote that an old gypsy woman told me 30 years ago: “you think you’re breaking down walls, but walls have a door that always opens from the inside and we hold the key“. I saw this in all the humanitarian actions.
We understand them, we respect them and that’s why they respect us. We recognize them as persons with specific needs, with a name, surname, status, history and we think that this makes a change”, adds Mr. Kanakis.
Women in Roma communities hold the key to change
Cracks in a stereotypical society that perceives otherness as a foreign body and reserves a position of contempt. At the same time as placing the responsibility of the exclusion on the victim. “They don’t want to join. They have it in their DNA». But the reality is far from this dangerous generalization that simplifies the issue by blatantly ignoring the many and complex reasons why Roma communities have been marginalized over time.
THE Elli Xenou, Program Manager spoke about the creation of the educational guide that was adapted to the needs of the target group and covered the following topics: Health, Society, Work (Education).
136 people were approached. 96 were trained. 15 lessons per group. 45 trainings in total. 15 people participated in the advocacy exercise.
«In any case, women are multipliers and are the persons who act as catalysts in the community. However, at the same time they also experience difficulties because we are talking about young mothers, who have been charged from a very young age with the care of many children, while they are children themselves.
We targeted the woman with the thought that no targeted actions have been taken in this direction, considering very often that it is more difficult to open such issues within the community, issues related to gender equality, equal access to work, in education”, Anastasios Yfantis, Operations Director of Doctors of the World Greece explains to BIMA.
They have the power to lead their lives
The participation of women was great, as was their desire to discover their creativity and to exchange opinions even among themselves, which they otherwise would not have been able to do.
“This is considered the most important thing that the action offered, the exchange of experiences, that is, to feel that they are participating as a whole now and to exchange opinions with each other that in another context they would not have had the opportunity to interact.
There are taboo subjects that would not be opened up in the community, such as gender equality. We opened it up and saw how interested younger and older women were in the conversation.
We didn’t have the grandiose plan of women’s social inclusion within a semester, for approximately the duration of the program. We saw it as an opportunity to provide the stimulus, to plant the seed of critical thinking about the social issues of the day, but also to make them believe that they can have an opinion and express it with confidence. We tried to make them understand that they have the power to lead their lives. That was our goal,” adds Mr. Yfantis.
Everyone’s business
“I hear “you and us” very often. I would like in the near future not to have this separation. Let’s all be together and let’s all try together for the people who need help to go one step further”, she says Eleftheria Koumalatsou, Coordinator of the Action Group for the Social Integration and Empowerment of the Roma, from the DG of Social Solidarity and Combating Poverty.
And this step further will mark the creation of a cohesive and inclusive society in which everyone can dream and can make those dreams come true.
Roma social inclusion and equal opportunities are not a matter of one, let alone one or the other. It’s everyone’s business because as very rightly stated by Andriani Papadopoulou, Specialist Scientist of the Equal Treatment Circle of the Ombudsman:
“Why should we care, why should we care what happens to the gypsies? Ask yourself. Because I see that if I were in that position, I would want someone to speak for me and give me the opportunity to live my life the way I plan it, if the law allows it.”
Roma, we the people
Most Roma populations across the territory remain excluded from the wider community, some without legal documents, living in inadequate conditions, facing severe or extreme poverty, food insecurity, limited access to public services, low levels of education, unemployment and under-representation in public sphere.
These problems reinforce a vicious cycle of degradation and exclusion, which includes and perpetuates introversion, social inequalities and ultimately delinquency as a negative coping mechanism.
Let’s all look in the mirror and do a real self-criticism, starting with what “are we doing wrong?” Why do we perpetuate stereotypes?’
“Our own anthropo-geography has allowed more Gypsies to join Greek society than we might think. We are not only singers and dancers, we are doctors, lawyers, sociologists, university professors, journalists,” says Christina Halilopoulou, Internationalist / Lawyer specializing in Social Policy Formation and CEO of ALYSOS ALERT.
And she is the one who will put the epilogue. “In our very beautiful dialect the term Roma means “we the people”».
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