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FROM THE FIELD

Community-based organisation wins grant to build houses for Roma
03 Feb 2009 13:39:52 GMT
 Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
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Children dig for scrap metal in freezing temperatures, which they will sell to buy food. Photo by Isabela Stefan
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Children dig for scrap metal in freezing temperatures, which they will sell to buy food. Photo by Isabela Stefan
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org

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A Romanian Community-Based Organisation (CBO) has won its first European Union grant in partnership with a local council and city hall to build eight houses for disadvantaged Roma families in Cumpana commune, Constanta County.

The Cumpana Association for Community Development founded by World Vision Romania, in partnership with the Cumpana local council and city hall has been awarded more than 250,000 Euros of European Union 'Phare'* funds to implement its first project, aimed not only to give impoverished Roma families better housing, but to integrate them into the wider community and try to restore a sense of mutual trust in the Roma and in the majority non-Roma population.

The plight of the Roma is dire across Europe and in Romania there is no exception. Located 5km from Constanta city, Cumpana hosts just under 400 Roma people – most of whom haven't benefitted from the successful community development elsewhere in the rural commune. Roma are confronted with extreme poverty, illiteracy, lack of houses, lack of qualifications and work experience. Teenage pregnancy is common.

Just one percent of all Roma people from Cumpana lives in adequate housing. The majority patch together crude huts made of stone, cardboard or any other material recovered from demolished constructions. They don't have toilets or clean drinking water and typically parents, siblings and even grandparents share a bed or space on the floor.

'None of the Roma parents know how to read or write. When it's necessary to fill in a statement, I write it for them and they sign by putting a fingerprint on the paper. They have started to send their children to school, but the number of Roma students is still very small', said Cornelia Mircea, a young Roma girl and association member and counsellor for Roma people in Cumpana's town hall. Cornelia is enrolled in 'A second chance' project that offers disadvantaged groups the opportunity to finish school and progress on to further study.

Lack of education also prevents Roma people from finding gainful employment. Some resort to crime and end up in prison. Roma battle to survive on just 220 RON (US$70) a month, in the form of government welfare. Not surprisingly, Roma children are forced to scavenge for pieces of iron alongside their parents which they then sell to buy food.

The Initiative Group founded by World Vision in Cumpana commune, as part of the Constant Community Development Project, envisages a much brighter future for these children and their family members.

'The Cumpana Association was founded as an answer to the community's need to access European funds and help itself. This grant was won by God's wish and I hope it will mark just the beginning of productive activities in the future', said priest Ion Soare, who is the Association's president and oversees the social canteen and implements 'The Youth Bible Curriculum' in the community.

Some of the association's members who contributed to the proposal writing, alongside the local Cumpana council, had attended training facilitated by World Vision. Others will work to implement the project and a group formed by the association's members and town hall's social assistants will monitor the Roma families as they settle into the new houses.

Even before construction began, the association had organised identity cards for 80 Roma persons, provided food and clothes and helped them to address any health problems.

'The Local Council co-financed the project with some 52,725 Euros and assisted with data collection and beneficiary selection. PHARE gave us 200,000 Euros. We know that eight houses won't solve the entire Roma population's problem, but this project will try to integrate them into the community by helping them to qualify for construction work and encouraging them to send their children to school', said Marcela Avram, Cumpana town hall's superior social referent and the project's assistant manager.

The eight 65m2 houses will have four rooms, a kitchen and one or two bathrooms. Roma families will have to cover water and electricity costs and after five years of satisfactory tenancy will assume ownership. Families that do not take due care of the premises will forfeit the opportunity of ownership – a condition that association members believe will enhance the sense of responsibility and ownership right from the beginning.

'The main problem of my fellow Roma citizens is their mentality. Here in Cumpana they are still organised in clans and follow the orders of the clan leader even if it is illegal. The blind obedience shown to these chiefs is the result of mistrust in local authorities and the Romanian population. Roma people feel disrespected and have lost hope for a better life', said Mitu Stan, local counsellor for Roma people and also an association member.

'This project is very important for the entire commune because it will change Roma people's mentality. Seeing that houses are being built for them, Roma people will start to believe that the community really wants to help them. Trust will be restored. Also, if they receive a decent place in which to live, they will feel respected like human beings and will appreciate and take care of the houses', he added.

The town hall is working on a similar project to obtain funds to build a further 10 social houses for Roma people – following after the exceptional project being implemented by the Cumpana Association for Community Development.

The association has also implemented a small project named 'We want to live in a clean environment'. World Vision donated the tables, banks and flag stones for the central park, but community members rallied to carry out the work.

'The association's members are very proud of their community. This can be seen in their perseverance to write the project and search for funding to improve their community', said Loredana Giuglea, World Vision zonal manager for Constanta Area Development Programme.

The Constanta Community Development project started in 2001 and will conclude in 2012. Apart from establishing the Cumpana CBO, the project opened a community centre in Cumpana commune, it runs a social canteen for disadvantaged children and it offers different training for adults and youth. The activities encourage initiative and independence, so that they can continue after World Vision hands them over to the community.

*The Phare programme is currently the main channel for the European Union's financial and technical cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe (CEECs).


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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