By Sejdo Jasarov, Qualification Program Coordinator, RPP

Since its inception almost two years ago, DROM in Kumanovo has been extremely active and completed many successful projects. However in this article, I would like to focus on a particular initiative whose outcomes exceeded all expectations.

Kumanovo is a town situated 35 kilometers from Skopje. Its proximity to the Serbian border and the escalation of the Kosovo conflict has brought this hitherto little-known conurbation into the full glare of the international media. Over 5000 Roma live in the four Roma settlements of Bedinje, Stari lozja, Sredorek, Barake. DROM community center is based in the largest of these settlements, Sredorek, where over 2000 Roma dwell. When the RPP team visited Kumanovo in 1997, we found that the community was living in appalling conditions. The population of the ghetto, a settlement crisscrossed by muddy dirt tracks, was forced to subsist in circumstances where there were no facilities for garbage collection, no functioning sewage system, no access to clean drinking water. Effectively the Roma community was forced to live in its own waste. After the center was founded, the team working there first set about organizing the removal of rubbish from the rivers and pathways. This project was funded by RPP, and assisted by Boris Protic, the Mayor of Kumanovo, who provided mechanical equipment. With cooperation from the mayoral office, and volunteer labor from the local Roma community the appearance of the ghetto was transformed within one week. The project was especially significant in that Roma could see for themselves what they could achieve to transform their living conditions. The success of this initial endeavor generated much optimism about the potential for change and gave DROM the motivation to take the next step. After one month, they took upon themselves the responsibility to bring clean drinking water to the ghetto. This project received financial support from RPP. The Mayor, impressed by the success of the first project agreed to provide match funding and the necessary mechanical equipment. Once again, the local Roma provided the volunteer labor to realize this initiative. They also took the opportunity to lay over 1500 meters of asphalt paving and install street lighting. The enduring significance of such initiatives has been to instill in the community a sense of self-reliance and a belief that they can participate as active subjects in changing their living conditions.

Roma Participation Program