Članek v nadaljevanju sta napisala Luis in Selina, ki sta obiskovala našo obštudijsko dejavnost v študijskem letu 2023/24. Bila sta na izmenjavi iz Nemčije in nista znala slovensko. Potrudili se bomo, da članek prevedemo.*
Članek je nastal na podlagi dveh obiskov romskega naselja pozimi 2023/24.
The Roma-community in Slovenia is highly discriminated. The fight against this discrimination has been going on for decades. In a small settlement in Dobruška Vas, two teachers are leading this fight. In small steps, the two are working to achieve what has been neglected for decades.
An economic zone covering more than ten hectares adorns the municipality of Škocjan in south-east Slovenia. The zone and its surroundings paint a picture of living realities that could not be more different. A settlement of small self-built houses adjoins the huge economic zone. It has hardly any access to running water or other infrastructure such as the internet. Roma families have been living in this settlement for decades. For just as long, the municipality seems to have been blind to the settlement’s most basic needs.
A small grey container stands just a few metres away from the zone. In front of it are two mobile toilets. The grey container, which stands right next to the road, is not part of the economic zone. It marks the entrance to the settlement, which has stood apart from all the villages in the region for many years.
The container is to serve the settlement as a kindergarten and preschool. The municipality near Dobruška Vas has placed it on one of the already rare water sources in the settlement, residents say. The container measures around 30 square metres – for a settlement with over 200 people, many of whom are children. The municipality placed it on the edge of the village in September 2023. Since then, Petra and Marija have been working there as teachers. The two of them mainly support the children and young people of the Roma families in everything they need help with. On some days, between 20 and 30 children learn in the room. Many of them need one-to-one support, Petra explains.
Many of the Roma children and young people who live in Škocjan are barely integrated at school. They do not travel together with the other children on the bus, but are segregated in another one. They only really meet each other in class. Another problem is the language. Many of the Roma children only speak a Roma dialect at home and not Slovenian. As a result, a large proportion of them have difficulties reading and writing, and some can’t do it at all. Only a few complete primary school in Slovenia at all – only three percent were expected to do so in summer 2023. This is what politician Franci Kek said last year, as reported by the news platform DELO. The three percent is a rate that has improved little in recent decades.
In the settlement in Škocjan, Petra and Marija and the container, in which they work, appear to have been a first step towards improvement. At the beginning of their time in the settlement, the Roma families were suspicious of them. It seemed unclear to many in the settlement whether Petra and Marija had come from an office to control families and take children away from them. However, the mothers and fathers now bring their children to the container every day.
Today, a young man is sitting in the container, studying for his driving test with Marija. The two teachers have become contact persons for everyone and almost every topic. In addition to school education, they help with questions about documents, health problems and driving licence tests. The Roma families trust them. Petra and Marija have become a voice for the Roma community in Dobruška Vas. In their 30 square metres of space, they take care of everything that Slovenian institutions should actually be responsible for. With more families placing their trust in them, this task is getting bigger and bigger. For many months, the teachers have therefore been making it clear to local authorities, local politicians and the mayor that they need more than just a small tin container without a water connection.
At some point, Marijas and Petras attempts to persuade them were successful. In spring 2024, a larger school complex is to be built in the Roma settlement near Dobruška Vas. One with a kindergarten and a person to help families deal with documents. A representative of the police is also expected to be on site. The building, if it becomes one, will even have a water connection. An end to the work with dozens of children in a few square metres of space and many empty water canisters seems to be in sight.
During a short tour of the Roma settlement, Petra shows us the area intended for the project. The meadow on which the new school and kindergarten are to be built is barely buildable when we visit at the end of January 2024. The area is uneven, there are piles of rubbish lying around and there is still no connection to infrastructure. In the following weeks, the site will first be cleared of rubbish and then levelled. The plan is to build a new centre for the Roma families this year.
The tour of the settlement attracts the attention of the families. Small clusters of people form. Petra and Marija talk to each family. They know the names of the children, parents and siblings. When Marija and Petra walk through the neighbourhood today, many residents come out of their houses and greet them. Families approach them as if they were good friends, as if they were an integral part of the community here on the estate. Small children cling to Petra and Marija. One family shows Petra their youngest child. Between dogs, goats and geese, she takes a child on her arms. The girl with dark hair and a pink T-shirt that is too small seems to feel at home with Petra. She trusts her.
But that wasn’t always the case. Especially at the beginning of her time in the settlement, there was a great deal of fear of contact with the teachers.
»It took a while for the people here to trust us,« says Petra.
Three years ago, she and Marija came to the settlement for another project. After the project ended, they stayed. Petra actually studied social work, but works as a teacher here. The fact that the children and their parents now come to the container to study or when they have problems and ask for advice is not a matter of course. It is the result of patient work and great effort. Until a few years ago, police officers were the people the residents of the settlement saw most often outside of their community, Petra explains. Not even the Red Cross visits the settlement. Amnesty Slovenia occasionally sends team members to deliver clothing and other donations. The Roma community of Dobruška Vas seems isolated from the rest of Slovenia.
Over the months, the two teachers, Marija and Petra, have learnt to be happy about various small successes.
»Some time ago, a mum came and told us in passing that she had enrolled her daughter in kindergarten,« says Petra proudly, »we were totally surprised, nobody persuaded or convinced her, it was her own idea.«
It’s easy to hear how happy she is about it. The mother must have noticed that her child felt comfortable with learning in the container and thought on her own that it was the right thing to try out the kindergarten. Petra says that her project in the Roma settlement taught her that school education is only a very small part of education. That you often have to throw all expectations overboard and start much further ahead with the children. She also learnt how long it takes to gain trust. She has learnt how important it is for the people on the estate that she and her colleague are there. Otherwise there is no one else. Today, she can be happy when two more Roma pass their driving test or a mother sends her child to nursery school without any persuasion. And even with a larger container, things have the chance to improve in small steps for the time being.
* Če znate prevajati, bomo veseli, če boste članek prevedli vi. Kontaktirajte nas na akademija@amnesty.si.