I ran away to the Netherlands. I gave birth to my tenth child. I had my eleventh child in Sweden. I am forty years old. I speak Roma (my mother tongue), Russian, Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and a little English…. My family is so "Europe in miniature". I got old…
These are excerpts from the poem "CV 1", romology, writer and philology Hedine Tahirović Sijerčić from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). These verses about the migration of Roma and Roma women are only a part of her opus. She published fairy tales, poetry, memoirs, as well as various folk tales to preserve Roma culture.
No teaching subject in Montenegro deals with Roma identity, origin, tradition, literature, language... This was shown by the research of the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG).
If children in our country learned more about the rich Roma culture at school, the ethnic distance and lack of understanding of the life of Roma men and women, of whom there are about six thousand in Montenegro according to the last population census from 2011, would be much smaller, according to the interlocutors of CIN-CG- a.
"Then, for example, it would be discussed why the Roma write bilingually or why poetic expression is the most acceptable for them. However, how can children learn anything about the culture of their fellow citizens, when there is no teaching staff to educate them? That is why from of great importance to establish romology studies that will produce that staff", explains Tahirović Sijerčić for CIN-CG.
"The water is shallower than blood, The song of the strings died in it. From the cries and moans of many beings".
This Romani folk song, in which Romani men and women summed up their experiences from India to Europe, was recorded by Rajko Đurić, one of the most famous romologists from this area. Đurić, who died a few years ago, was also a doctor of sociology.
He said that the most important thing for Romani culture is to be, not to have, and that it is best described by the Romani language, in which there is no verb to have. Đurić wrote that, in order to express the concept of ownership, Roma and Roma women will say "man si love" instead of "I have money", which loosely translated means - "money owns me".
If students in Montenegro had the opportunity to read some of Đurić's works, they could, for example, learn about the exodus of the Roma people, the first Indian king Harshi who is considered to have had Romani origins, Romani religion and mythology, literary creativity or how the word Gypsy became a diagnosis.
Đurić also wrote about a phenomenon that has only just begun to be scientifically researched - Roma are bilingual in all countries where they live, that is, they speak two languages.
When asked about which Roma author children could and should learn in schools, the Ju Center for the Development and Preservation of Minority Culture told CIN-CG:
"O Ruždija Rus Sejdović, the author of several books and collections of stories - 'Eremit', which we published in 2011 and is the first book in Montenegro in the standardized Romani language, and 'Light at Midnight' and 'Kosovo Carousel'".
General Director of the Directorate for General, Secondary, Vocational and Lifelong Education, otherwise professor of history and geography, Slobodan Savović for CIN-CG explains why nothing about Roma history is taught in secondary schools.
"One of the problems is that history classes are reduced to a minimum... With such a small pool of classes, we cannot talk about any serious analysis or study of any content related to ethnic characteristics or the cultural and economic life of any community, not even the Roma. Everything has been reduced to a more or less recognition level in the teaching contents".
Another problem, Savović points out, lies in the fact that the main emphasis within this course is on political history.
"Given that in the past the Roma did not significantly influence the political history of Montenegro, it is logical why nothing is learned about them in that sense," he states.
So far, the NGO Roma youth organization Koracajte sa nama - Phiren amenca has not noticed that within the Montenegrin education system Roma culture is taught through teaching aids.
"Roma history, customs, literary works, language are still a complete unknown. This is also one of the reasons why the trend of increasing ethnic distance does not change," the executive director of this NGO explains to CIN-CG Elvis Berisha.
The overwhelming majority of Podgorica high school students know nothing about Roma identity, history, and culture
A convincing majority of high school students from Podgorica know almost nothing about the identity, history and culture of the Roma, according to the 2020 study, Acquaintance of high school students from Podgorica with the history, language and culture of the Roma by Berisha's NGO.
Where do Roma come from? In what century did they come to Europe? Since when have they lived in Montenegro and what groups exist? What are the glories in Roma culture and tradition? These are some of the questions asked to secondary school students in Podgorica.
As many as 77 percent of those surveyed have no idea where the Roma are from, while the rest are in doubt - whether they come from India or Egypt. Nine out of ten high school students do not know when they came to Europe. There are only so many people who have information about how long Roma have lived in Montenegro that they can be counted on the fingers of both hands.
An almost absolute majority, 98,2 percent, does not even know which Roma groups live in Montenegro. Only a little less than five percent of high school students know that "Djelem, Djelem" is the Roma anthem.
Secondary school students from Podgorica do not even know the meaning of the term Gypsy. Most of them, as many as 62,7 percent, said that they did not know what it meant, while 21,8 percent of those who answered that it was a synonym for Roma. The rest were divided between the options derogatory name for Roma, black, dirty, untouchable, poor, one who does not have a permanent residence, thief and uncultured. About 87 percent of students do not know how many Roma died during the Second World War and why.
It is worrying that more than 75 percent of respondents say that they would be against a member of the Roma population being their spouse or family member. The majority, on the other hand, are okay with a Roma being their neighbor, friend, boss, professor or president.
More than half of the respondents, about 56 percent, are of the opinion that the culture and traditions of the Roma are not treated sufficiently in the textbooks. Slightly less than half of the high school students, about 45 percent, stated that during their schooling they encountered some text/content about the Roma. 42 percent of them stated that they are interested in learning about Roma culture and traditions through the school program.
"The level of ignorance of Podgorica high school students about the language, history and culture of the Roma is extremely high - from 50,8 to 98,5 percent. Such a result indicates an underdeveloped awareness of multiple identities and a significant disrespect for diversity," the conclusion of this research states.
The teaching content is insufficiently diverse
If similar research were conducted in other municipalities in Montenegro, the results would probably not be much different. According to the author from the NGO Roma youth organization Phiren Amenca, they are the result of insufficient teaching content regarding different cultures.
The Institute for Education confirmed to CIN-CG that Roma culture is not taught in educational institutions in Montenegro.
"Our curriculum is such that there is a free section in which content about Roma culture can be inserted," they indicate from this state institution.
The Law on Basic Education also provides for a free curriculum within which teachers should, in cooperation with the local community, the network of parents and children, problematize those issues that are socially sensitive.
CIN-CG interlocutors, however, warn that we cannot even expect results from something that is not clearly defined by law.
"It is impossible to force the teaching staff to include content related to learning about Roma identity in the curriculum. Teachers have the freedom to choose how to plan that 20 percent of the material. Given that they themselves have almost no knowledge of history , the culture and language of the Roma, then we can't even expect them to know how to plan for it," says Beriša.
That is why, in his opinion, it is important that during their basic studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, students also study some segment of Roma culture.
"That way they will acquire knowledge themselves".
This barrier can be removed if the teaching staff makes an effort to hire someone from the Roma community who, through creative workshops, will bring the history, language and culture of the Roma closer to the children, says Beriša.
In the Institute for Education, however, they say that teaching content is created by experts.
"We have never included ethnic or national groups as such, but only experts and reference persons participate in the creation of program content that includes outcomes that have scientific, national and local significance".
The Ministry of Education (MOE) for CIN-CG points out that, in addition to the free part of the curriculum, in primary and secondary schools there is a cross-curricular area: "Education for and about human rights", which is mandatory.
"This implies that the students become familiar with all the principles of social, civic, multicultural and peace education, and that, among other things, they understand the way a democratic society functions," they state from this government department.
According to Beriša, the Roma Council plays a key role in the process of improving teaching programs and content.
"However, due to the lack of capacity among the members of the Roma Council or insufficient advocacy at the Ministry of Education, all the contents created so far do not include a program on Roma culture, history or language in any part," he explains.
CIN-CG contacted the Roma Council and asked a number of questions. Until the publication of this text, we have not received any answers.
Romology at the Institute for Foreign Languages
Since a few years ago, studies of romology (the science of the life of Roma men and women), as well as Roma studies, a special academic discipline within romology that deals with the study of the Roma language, have existed in Croatia, where there are fewer Roma than, for example, in Serbia. However, student response is weak.
There were similar initiatives in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but they did not take off.
Even in Italy, for example, the Roma language and Romology are poorly studied. Universities generally lack direction, and courts struggle to find translators. However, good initiatives of individuals live on. Italian of Roma origin, famous musician and professor Santino Spinelli, with the support of the Union of Roma Communities in Italy (UCRI) launched the Roma National Academy (ANR) in 2021. It is located in the city of Chieti, where Spinelli has been working as a professor of Romani language and culture at D'Annunzio University since 2008. Today, that academy gathers experts, publishes research papers and holds romology courses.
The Romology program was also launched in Montenegro last year at the Institute of Foreign Languages. The following four modules are studied: "Roma identity and identity dilemmas", "Roma culture", "Roma language and culture" and "Roma literature". Classes take place in the evening. The initiators of the program are the dean of the Faculty of Philology Igor Lakić and Hedina Tahirović Sijerčić.
"Our goal is to help the state to initiate activities in the area of Roma language, culture, literature, but also to raise public awareness of the Roma," explains Lakić.
So far, the Institute has implemented two modules, which were completed by fourteen candidates each.
"The participants were Roma, activists in various organizations related to Roma initiatives, as well as people from the wider population. Given that this type of program is being organized for the first time, we are satisfied with the number of participants, but we hope that even more people will be interested in the future ", states Lakić.
One of the priorities is the introduction of Romology studies at the Faculty of Philology, says Lakić.
"This would enable us to train teachers who would teach the Romani language in schools when it is introduced in the third cycle of education in primary schools, which, according to my knowledge, is being prepared. In this way, it would also be possible to provide education necessary for work in the field of journalism where we also lack educated Roma, but also in other areas. I had some preliminary discussions about this with colleagues from the relevant ministries. Certainly, the initiative cannot take off without the involvement of the Roma community as well."
The Romani language is dying, and few people ask why
Tahirović Sijerčić says that the Romani language is dying, and few people ask why.
"Roma are ashamed to speak Romani in public places because others shy away from them and stay out of their way like a virus... Fear for the future has led to young people not wanting to learn their mother tongue. Discrimination has contributed to the extinction of the language, but also the extinction of the people, which shows the more and more frequent deliberate and conscious loss of identity by declaring the Roma to be of another nationality," writes Tahirović Sijerčić in the book "Romani Čhib: Special reviews of the language and culture of the Roma".
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Roma are the most numerous national minority, in 2022 in the Tuzla Canton, where about 750 students of the Roma nationality attend school, the process of introducing the subject of the Roma language with elements of national culture into elementary schools began. It is planned to be an optional subject. However, it is not known when it will be officially introduced in schools, because, according to local media, a major problem is the lack of staff, that is, teachers of the Romani language.
Although Montenegro ratified the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe in 2006, which protects minority languages and provides for the protection of the Romani language, there is no such initiative in BiH yet.
The Ministry of Education states that every year they announce a competition for awarding scholarships to students who are studying for occupations in deficit. Two stipends are awarded each year for the study of the Romani language. They say that there have been no applicants so far.
According to Tahirović Sijerčić, it is not much different in the other countries of the former Yugoslavia.
"As far as I know, Roma are not taught in schools anywhere in the region," she states.
Roma origin did not bother Charlie Chaplin, To Sonja Kovaljevska, Pablo Picasso, To Ronnie Wood...
During education, within the course of art education, one learns about one of the world's most important painters, sculptors, draftsmen and graphic artists. Pablo Picasso and his influence on the founding of the Cubism art direction. However, his Roma origin, which he proudly emphasized, will rarely be mentioned.
Charlie Chaplin, the man of the world, the biggest silent film star in Hollywood, was Roma.
Rita Hayworth she was Roma. And one of the most famous actresses of the 20th century.
English writer John Bunyan, whose work Pilgrim's Journey, after the Bible, is one of the most translated, was also Rom. Dombrovski Juri, a Roma writer from Moscow, is the author of several novels, the most famous of which is Cuvar starina. During the Stalinist era, he was exiled to Siberia and spent several years in a camp there. Today, his testimonies are of great importance for the study of Stalinocracy.
Roni Wood, guitarist of the legendary Rolling Stones, is also Roma.
The fact that she was Roma did not bother her To Sonja Kovaljevska, the first great Russian mathematician, the first professor of Northern Europe and the first editor of a scientific journal to conquer heights in science.
Helio Gomez, graphic artist and painter, was a Roma and the most famous political graphic artist in Spain.
Today it is at the top of fine art and Selma Selman, a Roma woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Many do not know about the Roma origin of these people. Their contribution to world culture is immeasurable.
The legend of the Romani goddess Bibi
The legend about Bibi (aunt), one of the important Romani goddesses, says that a wicked disease was raging on earth, which some called the plague, and others cholera. Many were dying.
At some point, Bibi appeared. It was raining and very cold. She walked for miles, with her two lambs. Frozen, she knocked on the doors of many houses in the village. No one wanted to open for her. At one point, at the end of the village, she noticed a few lonely, unsightly houses. She tried to try her luck again. She knocked on the door, and a child's cry and a man's and a woman's voice could be heard from inside. The housemates opened. Around the hearth on the straw lay six children, each sick with cholera. Although poor and scared, this family took pity on Bibi and allowed her to spend the night there.
Before dawn, the aunt wanted to continue the journey. The man asked why he shouldn't stay with them a little longer, to get warm, and Bibi answered him:
"Thank you, good man. I came to see if the world lives according to God's advice. This illness is God's punishment. You hosted me last night, the way you could, and your children will get well. And tell all the Roma, never they do not turn away from their doors the traveler who seeks lodging, and to anyone who begs for a piece of bread they give their last piece. In return, I will take care of your children. And celebrate my day every year, and love me and remember me." After telling him that, she disappeared.
Today, Roma around the world celebrate the Bibi holiday and consider her the protector of the family and children's health.
There are similar legends in numerous other cultures, only they are not threatened with oblivion.
Bonus video:
