newsletter registration "On the map of Moldova my village has been marked only two years ago, because we are Roma."
Anatolii (13), Moldova
My name is Anatolii. I live in Moldova, in the small village Schinoasa. Our village has been there for ages. I know my grandmonther grew up here, and that I understand is a long time ago. But on the map of Moldova my village has been marked only two years ago, because we are Roma. I don’t know, why nobody seems to like us in Moldova. I used to go to school here in the village from the 1st to the 4th grade. Most of us finish their education after four years at school and start to do the work which they know from their parents, or any kind of job they can imagine. I wanted to continue learning, and for that I have to walk to the neighbouring village, which is 7km away.
I did not like it at all at school. They did not like me at all there and they kept telling me things like “gipsy” and they said that I was dirty. I believe I was really dirty, we do not have a bathroom or water in our house. I also did not know so well how to behave at school. Anyway, after a few days I was really fed up with this school, and I just stopped going there. My parents understood – they know well how it feels to be despised because of the fact that you are Roma.
The Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation lays the foundations for removing or overcoming this hurdle through the project “Step by Step Roma Children can succeed” in Moldova.
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