Tuesday 30th September 2008, 00:40RomaRoma
Earlier this year I was invited to give a speech at the World Bank in Washington, USA. It was a great honour as I have a deep respect for the work of the World Bank and the impact they have in the most remote and desperate parts of the world. After the speech I had the chance to meet and discuss issues with many of the people who attended, they explained their areas of work, their perspectives on international best practice and their personal goals for the next few years.
There was one person who told me about the plight of the Roma people. A proud group who are excluded in every country they reside. They are split, disadvantaged, unemployed, poor, excluded, even in some communities openly hated, but still proud of their traditions and history.
There are thought to be more than 300,000 Roma/Gypsies/Travellers in the UK. Greatly unloved. Although they have been here since about 1500 they have never been assimilated into our psyche. During the reign of Henry VIII it was a capital offence (punishable by hanging) to be a Gypsy. Even those who mixed with Gypsies were punished.
And even today there is little else more likely to galvanise a local community in the UK than the threat of an official site being established for these travellers. The only exception being ‘Barbaraville’ which is a private site in the Welwyn and Hatfield area of Hertfordshire that was given to local Gypsies by the famous late novelist Barbara Cartland in the 1960s. Barbara Cartland was a great friend of the Roma people here in the UK and funded many projects to help these people.
It is not just the UK were they struggle to exist. The World Bank calculates that there are approx 11 million Roma people in Europe – making them the largest disadvantaged community in Europe.
Last week in Poland I had the chance to meet a couple of people who have found ways to support, engage and enthuse the Roma communities. It is hard work but they have built up trust and confidences with the community leader. They have found some successful tools and techniques which are acceptable to this community. As we talked and reviewed their methodologies it was clear to me that there is a real synthesis between our work and the work they have built for the Roma communities.
Over the next few months we will be building a programme to bring Improving Peoples Lives to another community struggling for recognition, support, care, challenge, education, skills and jobs. Watch this space and if you have links or experience with the Roma community please get in touch.
Thanks
Roy
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