The reason why I work for Roma rights

The film "Time of the Gypsies" by Emir Kusturica opened up my eyes for the situation for Roma people on the Balkans. I saw it many times and I still recon it as one of the best films that I ever seen.

But it was not until 2002 that I started to take a active part in the work for the inclusion of Roma people. A article by the Romanian sociologist and Roma rights activist Nicolae Gheorghe opened my eyes for the tough situation for Roma people in Romania. He had been working for Roma people since the mid 70s together with his fellow Roma activist Professor Vasile Burtea.

Last year I met Professor Vasile Burtea for an interview and he spoke with great honour about his good friend Nicolae Gheorghe who passed away in 2013. Nicolae was a one of the most carismatic Roma leaders in Europe and his work has been very important for Roma rights in Europe.

In 1993 Nicolae and Vasile founded the first Roma NGO - Romani Criss (the Centre for Social Intervention and Studies) with the intention to provide Roma people with education and work in the formal economy. 

Nicolae who spent almost 35 years working for Roma issues in various roles had a wider dream for the Roma people. His dream was that Roma people should be included in the nations were they live and also represent a wider society that is freer and more boundless than the national state.

Text and photo: Mikael Good

What would you do if your neighbours couldn't pay for their expenses?

Would you just ignore them and pretend as if they were not there? Or would you give them enough help to keep their nose above the water? Latvia is one of Sweden's neighbouring countries and even if they are a member of EU is the situation for many poor Latvians very tough. Yet few Swedes seems to know and care for the tough living conditions for their Latvian neighbours.

In recent years Latvia has emerged as a good example of how a European country can reverse the economic crisis and get back on the feets again. Although Latvia's economy is rising again, many poor families and pensioners find it difficult to pay for their expenses and they have to struggle to survive.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The Face of a True Hero

This girl that I met in october 2013 in Latvia is a true hero. She decided to put her shyness aside and tell a story of poverty that most Latvians wasn't aware of. A month after my visit she decided to participate in a TV-program about how it is to grow up in a poor family. The TV-program that was shown on the National Television created a national debate about the situation for poor families in Latvia. Maany Latvians wanted to help and support the family after they had been aware of their tough situation. It's still not easy for poor families in Latvia but thanks to this heroic girl it's more common that Latvians give support to their neighbours in need than before the program.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The International Romani Day

On April 8th, Romas from 40 countries celebrated their national day in memory of the first Roma Congress that was held in London on April 8th 1971. The Romani flag ((O styago le romengo) was introduced at the congress. The blue field in the flag symbolizes the sky, the green field ground and the red wheel symbolizes progress. The Roma national anthem Djelem, Djelem (I traveled, I traveled) was also introduced during the Roma Congress.



In 2000, proclaimed the International Romani Union (IRU) Romani Stan as Roma's own country without imposing any requirements on a territory. That the IRU choosed not to make demands on any territory is not surprising because one can say that the whole world is Roma's home country.

Much of the Roma culture, customs and their way of life have been shattered by discrimination, persecution and extermination throughout history. Up to 1 million Roma and Sinti might have been murdered by the nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War, nobody knows the exact number because the nazis didn't keep record of how many Romas that they killed. 

 

The persecution of Romani people should have ended in Europe when the evil nazi empire was finally defeated in May 1945. But instead Romas in Eastern Europe ended up behind the communist Iron Curtain and was deprived the few structures that had survived the nazi attempt to exterminate both the Romas and their culture. 

The discrimination in western Europe continued after the war and it was not until the late 1970s that Roma rights began to be discussed seriously. It took until 1982 before the West German government recognized that the Romani people beside the Jewish people were subjected for the Holocaust.

 

Romani people in Eastern Europe had hopes that they would get better life after the end of communism in 1989/1990. The hope was never fulfilled and instead the discrimination and persecution increased in many countries. Mainly because they were blamed for many of the bad things that the communist dictatorships had caused. There were even outright pogroms in some countries in Eastern Europe, houses were burned down and Romani men and even women were severely beaten and some were even killed because of their ethnicity.

Romani People are still treated as second-class citizens and are discriminated and persecuted in many countries where they have lived for nearly 1,000 years because of their ethnicity. There's a long way to go before the Romani People have been truly included into the European Community where they belong.

 

Romani people are happy people as you can see in the pictures. Despite all the difficulties they have been through they are always close to a good laugh. Joy and music welds them together and it has become a way for them to escape from all the hatred and oppression that they are often subjected to from the majority population. It's more than time that we put the history behind us and include the Romas in our society. It's also important to break down barriers between people and combat all the prejudices and stereotypes that hinder us from getting to know each other. 

Roma is Romani for human and regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religious belief we are all Roma. Jesus is love and he steps right over all the things that we humans like to sort into right and wrong and goes straight into our hearts and loves us just as the Romas (humans) that we are. Opre Roma!

 

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Dog Eat Dog

Small dogs in the size of an cat that can fit into a purse and are more like a accessory than a dog are called City Cats in Finland! I met the fighting City Cats in the Swedish town Jönköping a couple of years ago when I covered a neo nazi demonstration.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

A Latvian mother and her son

I have been on many assignments to Latvia and have learned to know the country and it's people quite well. I met this mother, her son and their dog in their little house on the Latvian countryside.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The fantastic view from Riga Hilton

This is the magnificent view from the window of the room that i rented in a hostel that I called Riga Hilton. The building was anything but a Hilton hotel since it was a old worn out Soviet style hostel. I lived there a couple of times while on assignment in Latvia. The picture was used by a Swedish magazine to illustrate the economic crisis in Latvia in 2009.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good