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Listening to young Roma voices
01/12/06 — The picture is all too familiar and seen all over Central and Eastern Europe and beyond: masses of Roma children drop out of school at early ages, if they get there at all. Many children of Roma background are sent tot special schools for underachievers and children with mental impairments.
And yet, in spite of all the barriers that are put in front of them, still considerable numbers of Roma children go to regular basic schools, do well there, move on to secondary education and even make it to university, ending up in appealing and responsible positions. In every community there are people that manage to do better. Why is it that they succeed where others fail? The phenomenon that is tackled here is called 'positive deviance'. The term relates to people who succeed in life despite having all odd against them. In a special report 'Learning from winning Roma youth' Roma children Daniela, Ivana, Juraj, Justna, Mria, Michal Michal, Michaela, Silvia, Simona, Vierka and Zuzana tell their story in order to improve the policy of Roma organisations and authorities.
In December 2006 this report has been published with financial support of Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, partner of the Co-operating Netherlands Foundations for Central and Eastern Europe. You can download this report here.
Projectvoorbeeld India
Madhuri (14): Mijn ouders wilden me uithuwelijken aan een man uit een ander dorp. Gelukkig hebben dorpsgenoten aan de bel getrokken bij medewerkers van Bhoomika Vihar. Dankzij hen woon ik nu bij mijn tante.
