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A letter from Burkhard Paetzold in
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February 2003
Aldas, bekesseg!
This greeting is Hungarian and means "blessing and shalom."
But the people where I work don't speak just Hungarian—they
also speak Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian,
and many other languages. A growing minority also speaks Romani
(and its different dialects), the language of a nation that most
people call Gypsies and which is spread all over Central and Eastern
Europe and many other countries after their 500-year journey from
northern India.
Most of the people I would like to write to you about prefer
to be called Roma instead of Gypsies. This is a sign of growing
self-awareness in a dark situation of social inequality and human
rights violations.
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"In areas where the unemployment rate of the local majorities
is high the unemployment rate among Roma is even higher—in
some places it's close to one hundred percent."
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In the course of the last two years
I have visited many Roma camps in different countries. Even if Roma
families are settled, as soon as you come into the village or town
you recognize that Roma are separated in shabby neighborhoods. In
areas where the unemployment rate of the local majorities is high
the unemployment rate among Roma is even higher—in some places
it's close to one hundred percent. Living conditions, housing, sanitation,
and health are terrible. The worst situation comes in the winter
when it is freezing and the insulation and heating doesn't work
well. |
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When I have spoken with black people in the United States about
the Roma situation, they often comment that the story of the Roma
in Europe has similarities with the situation of black people
in the United States in the 1960s. Still, I have also found small
signs of hope.
- The European Union, in facing the situation in the accession
countries in 2004, supports democratization, self-help programs,
integrated school models, and local self-government. NGOs are
trying to establish humanitarian bridges between West and East
Europe.
- And in a situation of deep cultural gaps, prejudices, and
malicious stereotyping, the role of the churches becomes evident.
Knowing that some churches and Christians played a shameful
role in supressing Romani cultural expressions and thus supporting
discrimination or violent assimilation, the majority churches
and many Christians in the area have realized their guilt and
started to change. And they know this is not an easy task since
the gap is already big.
- Many national churches met in Bratislava with the Church Commission
on Migrants in Europe to discuss new ways to build bridges between
Roma and non-Roma in Europe and to think about the role of the
churches in a necessary reconciliation process.
- Czech Roma youth met in Brno, facilitated by an organization
called ENYA (Ecumenical Network for Youth in Action) to communicate
with non-Roma youth.
- Laszlo Csoma, a Reformed pastor in Drahnov, Slovakia, opens
his church center for self-organizing meetings of Roma groups
in his region and has taken over a municipal school to practice
a new style of cooperation among Roma and non-Roma students.
- Kaeja and Stephen Cho in Hungary have collected thousands
of U.S. dollars from Korean Presbyterian churches to build a
church and social center in the town Hosszupalyi for the Roma.
- In Bucharest I attended a meeting of young Roma and the municipality
leaders to discuss problems of mutual interest.
- Kristen Johnson and their friends of YWAM run a school in
the midst of a Roma neighborhood in Pogradec on Albania's Lake
Ohrid.
- In Munkacs, in the western Ukraine, the pastor Eszter Dani
is organizing leadership training courses with Roma from the
surrounding communities. In order to find their own way of Christian
life, Roma need to have their own leadership. I was able to
attend one of these courses and it was very encouraging to see
that a Roma woman spoke about her life experience in front of
a non-Roma meeting.
- A German young adult volunteer came to Szernye, Ukraine. Her
name was Verena. She helped in a kindergarten together with
another volunteer from Hungary. In a report, she described her
transformation during the year—coming from a rich Western
country, shocked that she had to live in a poor, dirty, and
very unpleasant environment, but then discovering the warmth
and hospitality of her new Roma friends. After that experience
she was ready to speak about this hidden area at home and to
come again.
I felt this transformation is a challenging example. The European
Diaconal Year Network EDYN decided on its last meeting in Hungary
to expand this program and to include other young volunteers in
the program, including volunteers from PC(USA). At the end of
this meeting the Hungarian national TV came to record some interviews
and I was asked why Americans are ready to help build bridges
between Roma and non-Roma and I told them about my talks with
black people in the United States. The reporter's final question
was: "Do you think that black people from the United States
might serve as volunteers in a Roma camp?" Of course I don't
know if this will happen but I know they would have a lot to share.
Peace and Grace,
Burkhard Paetzold
Facilitator for Roma Projects
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