the ones we were waiting for 2 - roots.utopia.sk

In the first part of the report, we learned how Marie Oláhová and Beáta Berkyová, through their work with children in folklore ensembles, came to work with their families and eventually with entire Roma communities, and how their efforts to "uplift Roma women" led to the founding of the Union and the systematic struggle against domestic violence.

The dream of recognition
"We talked about the fact that the non-Romani people don't accept us yet and that we want to fulfill our dreams. We realised that we lacked sufficient education to be socially recognised," Beata recalls of the discussions at the beginning of the Union. They started talking about what she wanted to do and helping each other to complete her education. Some got their high school diplomas, others started college. Education opened doors to positions they could not otherwise hold. They are also persuading other women to complete their schooling. At the same time, they are trying to persuade the authorities to create jobs for women with less education. For many of them, for various reasons, higher education is out of reach, but they need jobs anyway. These women can be particularly capable counsellors and become an effective bridge between the municipality and the community. The Union has a good relationship with most mayors and offers to help them solve problems. They always know who to turn to. Marcela Balogová, who has only recently graduated from high school, has been employed by the municipal office in Málinec. "The mayor often calls me into his office and asks me what I know about certain problems and what he can do," she says.

At the time when Beáta started studying social work at the university, the municipal office announced a selection procedure for the position of field social work assistant. "The women encouraged me to give it a try. They said at least someone would be in the office for us and we would be closer to information." She was successful in the selection process. After graduation, she was able to work as a field social worker. And later, her education enabled her to get a job at a community centre, where she could finally devote herself fully to working with children, young people and their mothers.

The Union is trying to get women leaders, who do most of their community work as volunteers, into paid jobs. For many, being active in the association will make a difference. Recently, working with the Union helped one member get a job with the Citizens' Law Enforcement Patrol. After the last elections, the Banská Bystrica self-governing region started to intensively support the development of the social economy and one of the first social enterprises was established in Rovňany. The region counted on the cooperation of the Union when selecting a location for the enterprise and looking for female workers, as its members know the local situation and the needs of the people in detail. Anna Čonková, who has been Beata's long-time co-worker, says that thanks to this cooperation she got a good job even without a high school diploma: "At school they were looking for assistant cooks, but working for the VUC is better and better paid. And I've never seen such a good employer - and I've been working almost continuously since I was seventeen."

Stolen institutions and elites
Sometimes higher education requirements are a barrier to achieving quality outcomes from public institutions. Meeting formal criteria is more important than the results achieved. Marcela's dream is to work at the Community Centre. "The children in our centre have no respect for non-Roma women at all and do whatever they want with them. And it is clear that they are there only for the salary. They do what they have to do, but otherwise nothing. In Poltár, the community centre used to do camps every year. So I asked why they don't do them in Málinci too. And last year we suddenly had a camp too. I have already told everyone to make an exception and employ people without the required education. After all, experience is the best school." To make her dream come true, however, she'll have to supplement her education. Several long-time activists from excluded backgrounds experience a similar situation. Neither their years of experience nor their achievements outweigh bureaucratic formalism. The founder of the Union, Marie Oláhová, is in a similar situation. She has been doing community work in Detva for more than thirty years, but the municipal office is unable to offer her an adequate job position.

Of course, the national projects Field Social Work and Community Centres, which are the main targets of this criticism, are not the only bastions of bureaucratic formalism. Beáta recalls several situations where poorly set conditions prevented them from getting involved in projects that could have helped children in the district: "They couldn't understand our situation. They said that only children from Poltár and not from the catchment area could be in mentoring. We were happy when two Roma got into the ninth grade. But there was only one from Poltár. The other was from Rovniany. I could only work with the one from Poltár and I couldn't help the others. In the surrounding villages there is no school or only the first grade of primary school. A lot of our projects get away from us just because they are badly set up. Everyone wonders why the children do not study. They say they have lots of opportunities, scholarships and so on. But many forms of support are unusable for us. At the Ministry of Education, we said that compulsory schooling should be compulsory until the third year of secondary school, so that pupils leave school with at least a certificate of education. For years they have been leaving the first year, because that is when compulsory schooling ends. We've been dealing with this for years, and nothing."

The fight for self-government

Ahead of the last local elections, some Union women decided to try and persuade other members to stand for local and city councils. They told themselves that they were already doing municipal politics anyway, so why not give it a try. And in the councils they would have more influence in shaping it. The Union managed to mobilise a group of twelve women. They worked with them for half a year, preparing them for the elections. Potential female councillors learned all about the powers and responsibilities of elected women representatives on city councils. Although initially apprehensive, in the end most of them decided to give it a try. They wanted to make a difference. Only two of them did not run. In one case, the candidacy was prevented by Roma men who could not accept that a woman from their community would become a deputy. At least they stood themselves in the end. In the other case, the husband's health problems prevented him from standing. However, ten women stood in the elections. And they ran in ten different communities. No one has ever attempted anything like this in Slovakia.

In the end, only one of the women was successful. "My daughter," says Erika Vyhrabáčová. "She enjoyed it despite the challenges. They threatened her. She was getting anonymous text messages. But she didn't give in." At eighteen, she became the youngest deputy in Rovnany. Many people in Rovňany vote for Kotleba, so it was a surprise. And apparently she got votes from the non-Roma as well. "She is on the council, on the culture commission and in charge of the library. She had enough of that, so the women chose me as the representative of Rovnian in the Union. I always tell her what we do at the meetings. We are a team," she adds. For most of them, however, the candidacy itself was a victory. They overcame their fears and ventured into uncharted ground. Despite the setbacks, several have taken up jobs on council committees or in offices and hope to use their experience of running and working for local government in the next election.

Equality is born slowly and in daily struggles
In the end, the effort to "uplift the Roma woman" has far more fundamental and complex implications than many people would expect. At the same time, an improved quality of life for women means a better situation for their families. Change is also taking place in the wider community. Most of the time it looks quite subtle and not immediately noticed by everyone. Often it is because it only becomes apparent after a long time. It is not only linked to the activities of the Union, but is also linked to other activities of its members. "I can see it, for example, in the way the children I had in the ensemble bring up their children," Beata points out. "I raised a lot of youngsters. And even though some of the first generation of my girls didn't go to high school, they got married very early and had children, I see them trying to get their daughters to learn and go to high school. Some have told me directly that they don't want their daughters to get married as young and tie themselves down too early to children and family. I now have twenty kids in my ensemble and ten of them are in high school. It wasn't like that before. We enjoyed every ninth grader. Many ended up in sixth or seventh grade." The younger kids see that their older friends and girlfriends are in high school. Today, they have role models in their neighborhoods who can inspire them. But active UU women are also an inspiration. "Some of the girls shout after Beata every now and then that she should retire, that they will be the ones in charge," Anna laughs.

Many changes may seem insignificant or uninteresting to outsiders, but they play an important role in local life. They reflect a shift in everyday relations between people and in the breaking down of Roma-Ner Roma stereotypes and prejudices. A good example are the public events of the town of Poltár. Today, Roma people have no problem going to sit among non-Roma on a bench or buying goulash or other refreshments. According to Beata, these small changes clearly show that the situation in the town is improving. The Roma have always kept to themselves. And to take food from a non-Roma, they were prejudiced against that. Maybe even more than the non-Roma had prejudice against them. Now I see that they have no problem going into a restaurant and ordering. It may sound strange to some, but we who work with these people see a shift for the better. For example, also in the fact that a mother can advocate for her child in school. She doesn't withdraw. She speaks her mind. We see an increase in self-esteem." Gradually, the perception of the majority is also changing. "Mostly we have taught people in the city that we cannot blame individuals for their behaviour. They can't think that if one of us does something, we're all bad. We made them think that there are differences between families and between Roma."

P. S.: After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of measures to restrict physical contact, the women of the Union mobilised their members in Poltár and together sewed veils, which they then distributed to people in the town. They took their other activities to the virtual space and help each other and keep in touch in discussions on social networks.

The second part of the report was first published on 7 May 2020 in the monthly magazine Kapitál.

Translated by deepl.com. Not edited.