Water wells and drinking water for a Roma community

By Clara Nunez

Water is a basic service that many of us take for granted, but not for this Roma community. Picture by Clara Nunez. Three years ago I visited the Roma community of Rusky Komorovci, Transcarpathia, Ukraine. This is a community of more than fifty people living at the edge of a dusty road. Children played with water from a ditch, a dirty old bottle was their toy. Through all the difficulties facing this community, including discrimination and lack of basic services, they received us with big smiles and open arms. I am delighted that the people in this community asked the Self-Development of People to partner with them. They received a grant for $8,000 to build two water wells and to grow vegetables.

The Roma community of Rusky Komorovci, Transcarpathia, Ukraine faces many difficulties, including a lack of basic services. Photo by Clara Nunez.This year people were very motivated to continue cultivating the land because of the results from last year’s work. Harvesting their crops of potatoes, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and carrots provides ingredients for healthy salads or a tasty soup. Last winter it was a blessing to have access to stored food they’d cultivated to feed their families. Winters in Ukraine are dark, cold and have several months of snow.

A Grant from SDOP helped establish two water wells for a Roma community in the Urkraine. Photo by Attila and Livia Tomes.Before the project started this community did not have running water. Now two wells provide drinking water to the whole village. Men from the community helped build the wells. The second well construction encountered problems because the ground was so dry. For the Roma community this was a minor set back compared to the joy of having drinking water in their village.

The community has learned that working together is the way for a better life. They help and depend on each other. The project has changed the way the Roma think and how others, outside the community, see them — now as hard working people. Even with the hard work, they did not limit themselves to work only on this project. To bring economic stability, community members worked land owned by Hungarians. This project, and their relationship with the Presbyterian Church through the Self-Development of People, has greatly enhanced the spiritual lives of this group of Roma people.

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