Around the world, April 8 is marked as the International Roma Day, a day to celebrate Roma culture and raise awareness of the problems that Roma people are facing. On that occasion, this story takes us to Una-Sana Canton.

„I hope that the veil of mystery about my people will be lifted because the unknown always scares people. We, Roma people, have a big heart and we love all people. We live life like other people, only we have differences in customs and origins, but that is the richness of one community“, considers one of the participants from the workshop implemented by the humanitarian organisation "Alfa" from Bihać.

100 workshops will be held between end of January and May 2021 with participants from Bihać and Bosanska Krupa aged nine to 20 years. These workshops are part of the activities within the project "Joint, sustainable and creative preservation of Roma culture and heritage" designed by the organisation "Alfa" in order to reduce inequality and highlight the beauty of diversity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe action „Promotion of diversity and equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina“. Bihać and Bosanska Krupa were chosen for the realisation of project because of the largest number of Roma people living in these local communities in Una-Sana Canton.

In the desire for a better assimilation, especially younger Roma generation accept the culture and customs of the area in which they have settled, which leads to less knowledge about their own culture, tradition and customs. Therefore, workshops such as "Alfa’s” are very important for learning about their own origin. The way of working is additionally motivating because in addition to the educational part, it also includes creative segments of activities and connects schools, parents and the local population. "Alfa" representative explained that this approach contributes to the development of the love of young Roma people towards their own culture, customs and language and the feeling of pride, not shame because of their own origin and national identity.

Apart from learning about their origins, thanks to these workshops, Roma youth is learning about their rights and how to protect them, but also about the ways in which rights are violated, such as preventing children from attending school regularly.

In an atmosphere of mutual support, during workshops it has been discussed about experiences that the participants went through, whether it is the inability to continue secondary education for a young Roma woman because her parents oppose it or the inability of a young Roma man to practice football because his parents are not in position to pay team membership fees.

“I am unhappy because I can't hang out with the girl I love because she is not a Roma girl and other children would avoid her because of hanging out with me. I wish to show by my actions that Roma are good people who should be loved and respected. There are good and bad people in every nation", said the twelve-year-old participant of the workshop, who will together with the rest of the group have the opportunity to learn how to deal with prejudices, but also how to transmit information about the values of Roma tradition and people who are the most successful representatives of this community, which is unique and contributes to the wealth of every society.

The humanitarian organisation "Alfa" points out that through this project and other activities it is important to create a number of preconditions for a better social integration of Roma community and to eliminate prejudices due to which Roma life is interpreted as a consequence of culture, tradition and habits, and not as a result of poverty, lack of understanding of the environment and life on the social margins.

The humanitarian organisation "Alfa" is a beneficiary of the joint programme of the European Union and Council of Europe „Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkan and Turkey 2019-2022“. The views expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author and do not represent the official views of the European Union and the Council of Europe.