Dance Video

Here is a video clip of the Roma Dance Troupe
on the 29 of August 2008.

The beginning and end are cut short by 5 seconds.

It was taken at dusk as you can see so it is a little
dark and the angle was so - so. It was the best
location available at the time.

Hope you like it.

Never Easy

Well, the mini-Roma festival and Nadlac days was
held. Here's what happened.

In prior articles posted this month, I mentioned that we
were going to have a little Roma festival on the Friday
night right before the yearly 'Nadlac Days'.

Also, it was going to consist of 4 dance troupes and one
musical group.

As the heading of this article states 'It's almost never easy'
... well ... it wasn't easy this time either. What happened was
one group showed up and that's it. The others ... of course ...
waited to the last minute to cancel or in one case ... didn't
answer their phone. The head of the musical group said that
they couldn't come because a friend got into an accident.

Despite that, they trekked on and of course, it was a bit
shorter than planned. The two dance troupes danced great and
... in the risk of being bias ... our dance troupe danced with
heart and showmanship. They could use a little more practice
but they have that showmanship that one can't teach.

Stefan, the Roma man in charge was disappointed, and rightly
so. He worked hard to organize the festival. But nothing is lost
as there are always things to learn for the next time.

Fast forwarding to Saturday.

The town's dance troupe was slated to be part of Saturday's
extravaganza. There were flyers placed throughout town
with the list of events. There were at least 10 dance troupes
(Slovakian, Hungarian, Romanian, German and Roma) and
musical groups to perform that day.

The activities began with a parade from the Mayor's
office to the central park.

Upon arriving and after a speech or two, the entertainment
began.

From the time the parade arrived in the park to the time that
the Roma troupe was supposed to perform was 4 hours. It was
becoming cold and I actually ran home to get a jacket between
performances.

All the time I can see the Roma dance troupe inch up for their
chance. I see that they are next in line and then all of a sudden
... where did they go?

Immediately in my mind came ... no, this couldn't have happened.
All the positive things that have happened to these kids could
be destroyed in a matter of minutes.

Like I mentioned in one of the prior articles ... after their trip to
Constanta ... they were transformed. They were self motivated, and
they practiced hard to be ready.

The mayor (to his credit) helped the troupe out by donating money
for these skirts for the girls. See picture below ...

What happened was that the man in charge of the events (he's
the man that's the boss at the town's cultural house) told Stefan
(the Roma man) that they would go on an hour an half later than
the original schedule. That sounds normal at events, sometimes
things like that happen. But ... and there's always a but (in this
case it was more like ... butt ... with two TT's).

The Roma troupe was supposed to go after the German Dance
Troupe. They were lined up and ready to go. They had been waiting
for a total of 5 hours at that time. It was cold they were hungry and
in a matter of minutes ... they would have done their 6 minute
dance routine ... then finished.

But no, the Butt that's the head of the cultural house told them
that they couldn't dance at that time and maybe if they waited,
in about an hour and a half more, they could.

As I was waiting for them to dance I looked around and saw
many, many Roma people from town in the crowd. When I
realized what had happened, I noticed that almost all of them left.

The part that angers me a bit is that ... they were the only ones'
put out of order. The rest of the acts went on on schedule.

What I am really concerned about is that the kids may lose their
ambition. It would be normal. What do we adults teach our kids?
If you work hard, you'll go places in this world.

And here and now ... what ... what do you tell these kids? I went
to their practices and I'll tell you, they worked hard. My heart
kind of cried for them.

For their effort what did they get ... second class treatment.

Tell me how do you convince them to continue?
These are impressionable kids, they are good kids too.

I have to say at this point that it is only the work of
one man ... the cultural house man.

Personally, I don't care about him, I care about those kids.

I went to Stefan's house and he was discouraged. We talked for a
few hours and I have to say that I know how he feels. For me this
isn't the first time I've seen this. I saw things like this in El Salvador
with the campesinos and in the village in Senegal with the Fulbe.

I know that the only way to overcome these things is to persevere,
stick with it and to continue to carve one's place in society.

But in the world of the impressionable young ... all it takes is one
instance like this to make them want to quit.

I am telling you that this Roma dance troupe has potential. They made
such a transformation in just under a month. They have natural stage
presence and energy that only the town's award winning
Slovakian Dance Troupe has.

I am going to use everything I can and know to encourage them to
continue on. I know that in time all these things will be in the past.

It's for these kinds of challenges that I continue on in the Peace Corps.

A big day

Tomorrow is the big day for our first Roma mini-festival.

Everything is pretty much set and again the program
will be four Dance Troupes. Three from towns and
cities named ... Santana, Pescka and Semlac.

There will also be a traditional Roma band consisting
of eight musicians and singers.

As mentioned in a prior post it will be the first such
event of it's type in this town. It is a smallstart. The hope that it will be the beginning and base
of experience for more yearly festivals of it's type.
Despite the fact that the festival hasn't taken place
yet there is discussion as to expanding it next
year.

I almost forgot to mention that the festival was
given a name ... in the Romanian language it is ...

Inima de Tigan - 2008

actually the word 'Tigan' wouldn't be considered a
politically correct word but it is what they used.

'Inima de Tigan' is translated into ...

Heart of the Gypsy or The Gypsy Heart.

There is a plan to have someone video the event
and if it is possible to receive a copy, I'll place a
link so that you'll be able to see some of it.

A volunteer's dream

I doubt that I will be able to communicate my feelings
about what I've seen yesterday. Of course those of you who've
read some of the articles in this blog can agree with me that
I am not a master of the English language.

With that in mind while thinking about how I would put this
article together I realized (well, at least in my limited
vocabulary skills) that I can describe sadness and pain and
negativity easier than happiness. Maybe I need to hit the
dictionary but it just seems that the only way to put it is ...
simple like.

I am happy at what I saw yesterday, a rare claim for us
Peace Corps volunteers. Throughout my years at this
I've heard that statement (I'm happy) ... humm ...
not too often.

What I saw was the Roma Dance Troupe practicing
with a totally new attitude.

Before the trip to Constanta it looked like they were just  

going through the motions.

But ...

Yesterday it was as if they were different people. They
were happy and having fun but also serious about the
new routine that they were as a team

 putting together. Before it was just a ...
yeah, yeah, yeah style of practicing.

When I saw that I was totally shocked (happily).
At first Stefan (before leaving for the trip) mentioned
that he thought that the dance troupe's tour to Constanta
wasn't anything special. I explained to him that I thought

that the experiences that the kids would get,
was real the goal. The dancing was just the
medium to make it happen. I hoped that the dancers
seeing other troupes would make them think. They
just needed to get out of this town and see new things.

 Well, it worked, and 50 times better than in my wildest dreams.
I thought that there would be some change but nothing so
quick and drastic. I could see that they took a part from
a dance routine of one of the other troupes and added some
imaginative ones of their own.

A few of the girls got a bunch of bottle caps and hammered
them flat and made holes in them, then they attached them
around their waists. When they dance it gives the sound
of something similar to little symbols of a tambourine,
what an impact it adds to their dance routines.

They also saw the dresses of some other girls and realized that
their dresses were too tight and not flowing enough. A few
went to the market place last Thursday looking for a
flowing skirt. A few must have went through their mother's
wardrobe and brought a couple to the practice. It is just
positive energy and great to see.

Here is why I am happy. Throughout the years I have
evolved an opinion on development and change. I have
found that money thrown around wildly isn't the solution.
The crux of the problem is stagnant cycles.

What I mean by that is that ways of life are generally
handed down. Kind of depends on the ancestors/influences.

I am happy about the dance troupe's transformation.
As a result of their trip, they were thinking in a positive
way. The only sustainable thing I've seen so far is that
of the mind and what it learns. If these kids are thinking a
little differently, it isn't only limited to the dancing.
The changing of the mind and the positiveness will
hopefully be revealed in some of their choices in life.

It is similar to my time in Senegal. There it was problems
with health and with basic infections. When I arrived, not
one treated their cuts, infections would set in. This
would lead to workers missing days in the fields.
When you are substinence farming, missing days had an
impact (eating or not) on how the next year's harvest will be.

So, we began a program of teaching the kids how to treat
cuts by cleaning ... etc. I knew that it was a success
(also I was very touched) when a young girl of 6 brought
her 1 year old brother (who was tied to her back) to
my hut for treatment. He had a cut that produced about
a drop of blood. I really couldn't see where the cut
was. But, the thing most incredible about it was that
she did it on her own. I asked her mother if she sent
her daughter with her baby brother to me for treatment.
The little girl's mother said that she didn't know
anything about it.

At that time I knew that changing cycles work. The little
girl will become a mother one day and teach her kids
about treating cuts and the results of that will go on
forever.

A small example but just as relevant as the Roma dancers
acquiring their new outlook and I want to believe ...
pride in being Roma.

Yeah, once in a while things go just they way they're
planned or how a volunteer would want it to be.

As I was sitting there watching the dancers and their new
energy, I had a little attack of nostalgia and thought
about the last 8 years and the little successes here
and there. I thought that I must be blessed to be able
to have seen the things I've seen and received the
unique experiences I've had.

In the end it can sure make a volunteer happy to see
some results.

Roma Dance Troupe returns from Constanta

As was mentioned in this blog's posting ( August 07, 2008 )
the Roma Dance Troupe was making an excursion totally
across Romania to participate in cultural events in Constanta.


( Black Sea - Constanta )

They returned 7 Monday morning after an all night mini-bus ride.

In the afternoon I went to the Roma man's house to get
the scoop on what happened. All week I was thinking
about how they were making out.

So here is the story as it was told to me from the Roma
man (whose name is Stefan) and I will refer to him by
name throughout the remainder of this entry.

Also, I must prelude this by stating that none of
the dancers have been further than 50 km
(city called Arad) from their town.

So at about 8 o'clock Sunday evening the 10th they put all
their bags and baggage on the mini-bus and off they go
across Romania on their first big adventure.

The trip went well and it took them about 17 hours to arrive
in Constanta. They were also traveling during the peak
vacation time in Romania and all of Europe for that fact.
Those familiar with Europe know that the month of August
is vacation time. So they experienced bumper to bumper
traffic for much of their trip.

Of course we all know that no trip of this nature goes
without some problems or drama. The dancers and entourage
( to include the mini-bus driver and his wife ) arrive at where
they were going to stay the first night. It was a hostel with
one bathroom/shower. So the mini-bus driver sees this and
immediately says that if they don't give him and his wife a
normal room, he's out of there in 5 minutes. They didn't
even have time to take their bags off the bus yet
and this guy is complaining.

Also, without him, the dance troupe didn't have any
transport home. So after Stefan making a few calls to
the organizers of the event, they got it resolved.

At this point everyone is dead tired, hot and basically standing
in line to take a shower ... they get a call that they are supposed
to get ready to dance in an hour or so. Here's what they
looked like after the all night trip.



But after that first night they got better accommodations.

The festival was actually an international one with dance
troupes and musical groups throughout Europe ... Italy,
Spain, Hungary ... etc.

Here is where another drama comes in. When they planned
the festival someone forgot to put time in for the Roma
( Gypsy ) dance troupes and musicians. Stefan told me that
the man from the Ministry of Culture was basically
upset and threatened to call the European Union minority
rights section and other places that work with human rights.

But that was resolved and the Roma got their time. In all
there were 12 Roma dance troupes. Here are some pictures
of a few of them ...



Don't know where these two groups are from
( above and below ) other than there are from the
east of Romania.



I wasn't there to take pictures and these actually came from
a cell phone.

But here are a few of the dancers practicing near their
hostels the first day.



Below ... they are from our dance troupe.



The little guy is from the dance troupe of Hunedora
which about 5 hours drive from us here in the west.



We have a little guy dancer in our troupe too. They told
me that our little guy was better than the little guy above.
Ours does a cartwheel as he enters the dance routine.

The schedule was a daily parade through the city and
Stefan told me that the people were kind of surprised to
see a bunch of Roma dance troupes marching through
the streets.



But in the end it was a great time and a tremendous experience
for the dancers. They met dancers from other parts of
Romania and became friends. They exchanged contact
information and probably made lasting friendships.

Throughout my time here I lobbied for a Roma Dance Troupe
because I felt that it was important for our Roma community.
Our Slovakian and Romanian communities have had their
cultural dancers and musicians for 20 and 10 years
and counting, respectively.

For the Roma to integrate I felt that they needed to take their
place in our town. No one was going to give it to them. But it
is a two sided coin. Both sides must do their part. For the
Roma to be integrated they also need to try.

With this dance troupe I am thinking and hoping that it will help
bring cultural pride and a ... we belong here too attitude.

But most important is the Roma kids. I saw that all they did
was sit around all summer with nothing to do. Throughout
the world kids need activities so they can develop.

The dance troupe was the chance to bring some of those
Roma kids together and when you have a group, there
is something to work with.

Because of the dance troupe, someone in town contacted the
people in Bucharest and through that ... they received their
invitation and the adventures of their lives ... up till now.

Our town's Roma dance troupe saw that the troupe from
Hunedora was the best. Now our troupe wants to practice
more. Isn't the best motivation, one's own pride?

I've talked to the kids who went on the trip and they're all
animated and really not the same. They've had an experience,
their minds have been opened a little. Hopefully it is the
beginning.

In the end, there is nothing better that could have happened
to these kids this summer. I am so happy for them.

But this didn't just happen without people helping out.

I want to give those people their due ... without financial support
by our town's mayor and from Bill ( in picture with dance
troupe ... blog entry 07 August 08 before they left ) ... it
wouldn't have happened.

The package for the dance troupes were room and board
for a week in Constanta. That was without transportation.
With the collaboration of the mayor and Bill it happened.
Again, they deserve a huge thanks.

To end this article I put a picture of Stefan and his wife Daniela.



I can't wait to see the town's mini-Roma Festival
next week, hope it goes as well as Constanta did.

Roma Dance Troupe heads to Constanta

The town's Roma dance troupe ( seen below with Bill )
received an invitation to participate in a national cultural
festival in Constanta.
They will be representing the Arad region.

The festival will have 10 Roma dance troupes from
throughout Romania.

For many of the kids it will be their first time traveling
across country.

Constanta is a tourist city on the Black Sea. It is located on the
opposite side of Romania, it will be a trip of approximately

900 km or about 560 miles.

They will be spending the week there and it should be a huge
adventure for them. The kids are just nuts with excitement and

it is an incredible thing to see how happy they are.

Hopefully they will have a bunch of stories to tell about their new
adventures and a few pictures to show. I'll pass them on as soon
as I get them.

Personally, I am very happy to see these kids get such a chance.

Three weeks till the annual Town Festival

August is the time of year when people begin to speak of the
upcoming yearly festival. It's habitually held during the last weekend
of this month.

There will be the usual activities of Slovakian and Romanian
cultural dance troupes and singers.

This year there are plans to add one extra cultural activity as a part
of the usual town festival, which also would be new for this region.

It will be a mini Roma Festival consisting of dance troupes and
a professional Roma musical group. Above I mentioned that it
would be new for this region of Romania. It is thought that it
will be the first one of it's kind because no one has ever seen
or heard of anything similar ever being held before.

This mini Roma festival has resulted in motivation for two of the
other participating towns to organize brand new dance troupes.

It will be small to start as there will be three towns sending
Roma dance troupes. With our own dance troupe there will be
four presenting their routines on the cultural house stage Friday
evening of the 29th.

So far so good as the invitations have been sent out and as it will be
the first edition of this mini Roma festival ... no one knows for sure
how well it will work out.

Return to this blog at the end of the month and I hope to have some
pictures and hopefully an entry describing how successful it was.

* To update the situation with the Rroma (Gypsy) community.
This article is kind of a follow up from the March 27th entry …

http://paulinromania.blogspot.com/2007/03/poverty-is-reality-
that-exists.html

At the coffee shop this morning I was speaking with my friend
who works in the Mayor’s office as the liaison between the office
and the Rroma community.

As of now there are still a few from the community that are
making a living at the customs stations. Albeit it is a very small
living, but it is a living. These are mostly the people who don’t
have any education (usually and 8th grade education is required
to get a factory job) and have been able to manage to continue
to earn some money.

The liaison is really a great guy and really cares about his
community. But, as predicted with the scope of what would be
needed to change the community, it has been a series of one
thing after another.

There are some positive happenings, in the recent weeks there
have been approximately 20 or so women and an equal amount
of men finding stable jobs. It will make an impact in the
community in general but there are quite a few more that are
in need.

One situation that will be happening soon is that the customs
station will be closing for a few months and if I understand
correctly, there shouldn’t be any traffic coming through. This
will eliminate the little opportunities for those whom are making
a living there at the moment. Also, it is bad timing as school has
just started up again and they won’t have money to pay the
expenses needed for their children to attend.

Also, the winter is coming soon and that means heating concerns.
Many use wood and that costs. Some get some social assistance
to help them out (which is really only a band aid to the real problem)
and that hasn’t come this month and no one knows when it will
arrive.

So I guess that there will be some rough times ahead and some
action that will be needed to be taken. This action will have to
come from both sides … for example … going to school to get the
8th grade diploma … and the school system offering the
opportunities for that to happen. The liaison has facilitated a
class for this purpose and we’ll see how many take the
opportunity.

Despite the difficulties ahead it appears that it is the best thing
that could happen. It will force actions to be taken and eventually,
with patience and a good thought process, result in what should
have happened right after the revolution … a metamorphosis.

* Poverty is a reality that exists everywhere , it is in every
culture and for many reasons.
Yesterday I received an invitation to go to the‘poor side of
town’. Which is the Rroma or ‘Gypsy’ neighborhood. It was
an eye opening experience and regardless of the fact that I
lived in poor villages in El Salvador and Senegal it doesn't
stop that feeling in the gut when seeing poverty.
Here is the worst situation … two families live in that house.



Recent history for the Rroma in Nădlac is that during the
communists' time they had to have a job. The Government
forced them to work, somewhere. After the Revolution, when
democracy arrived, they were free to do as they pleased.
Nădlac is a border town and many of the Rroma made a
living from the custom station. They either changed money,
washed windows or sold duty free cigarettes. The work was
easy, without time constraints, and unskilled.
Fast forwarding to Romania’s ascension into the European
Union and how it affected the Rroma community is where
the most difficult aspects of the problem lie.
The custom station is virtually closed and there isn't any
more duty free cigarettes. Many of the Rroma men wash
trailer trucks but that brings in pennies.
There are jobs available in factories in the city of Arad
(50 km) away, but to get a job there, one has to be literate.
When the people worked at the customs they didn’t need
an education and that is what’s coming back to haunt them
now.
It would have been better if they had to face the reality of
needing education or a skill after the Revolution. The work
at the customs did more harm than good.
This leads us to the present and a complicated situation. It is
very difficult to convince someone that they need to get literate
so that they can survive. For 20 years they lived somewhat well
without the need to either read or write. Also, they are poor now
and sending their kids to school is a far off solution. Though that
cycle of poverty can only be broken with the next generation
being literate and skillful.
They need an almost complete makeover from the life they
knew. It would have been better if the makeover started 20
years ago but the customs stations asured that it wouldn't.
An interesting thought came to mind. In the villages in El
Salvador and Senegal, though being equally as poor, the life
was a lot better.
Those villages are agricultural and like the indigenous of the
United States would say. If you have land you will eat. In the
villages there was no electricity or running water, ergo no
expenses. They grow their own food and despite the fact that
they will never be rich from that type of 2 hectare farming life,
they will be able to eat.
Here in the city, life is even more difficult. No money, no food …
no education, no job in the factory.
Despite all those miseries there is always the best part of a
population and that is the children. They do not have problems
like the parents do. But what will their lives be 15 years from
now if they don’t get education?
Here are a few pictures of some of the next generation …



We are beginning to work on this and it is a challenge … to
say the least. We have made a few positive steps and we are
finding some resources for immediate help. But that is nothing
more than a band-aid … so to speak. The permanent solution
is a long way off. Again the hardest part is to convince the
older generation that education is essential for their children.



But those children are the reason that there must be hope,
perseverance and compassion.