Imagine that education is your only way out of a life of poverty, deprivation and crime, but you can’t get to school because it’s too far to walk, your parent’s can’t afford the bus fare and the government can not pay either. This summer, 5 Dundee University students from the DARE society travelled to Bulgaria to volunteer at a summer camp for impoverished Roma gypsy children who face exactly this situation. At the summer camp, the Dundee students saw first hand the plight of the Roma people in Bulgaria. Although Bulgaria has been a member of the EU since 2007, many children are still suffering as a result of deep-running prejudices against the Roma people. The appalling conditions of Bulgaria’s institutions, where even mildly disabled children are imprisoned, have been well publicised by the BBC documentary “Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children.” The prejudices the Roma minorities face are less well documented. Compared with other Bulgarian children, many more of them live below the poverty line, are not fully immunized, and the under-5 mortality rates of Roma children are twice the national average.
The summer camp the students volunteered at is run by The Lora Foundation, who seek “to better the life of the destitute children of Bulgaria”. The Lora Foundation was created in tribute to the adoptive daughter of a South African couple, who found her close to death one of Bulgaria’s institutions. Lora is now a happy and healthy teenager who has thrived under their love and care. The Lora Foundation aims to train staff and improve facilities in institutions, supply food and clothing, and help address some of the children’s emotional needs. One of the ways they do this is by running an annual summer camp. The children who attend the summer camp are Roma from a slum outside a town in the South Eastern part of Bulgaria. Terrible living conditions, poor sanitation and violence all weigh heavily in the children’s lives. Many of the children are orphans or their parents are in prison. The annual summer camp provides something for the children to look forward to when life is difficult. It also allows the children to witness moral and caring adult behaviour, and to relax away from the hardship that shapes their daily lives.
Now back in the UK, the students are hoping to continue to support The Lora Foundation, specifically by raising funds to support the transportation of the children to and from school. Three quarters of school drop-outs in Bulgaria are Roma children and education is essential if the children are to have any hope of overcoming the prejudices their people face when trying to find employment and better living conditions. The students are also hoping to support other charities working in Bulgaria, and to continue to raise awareness of the suffering still occurring in many of Bulgaria’s institutions. Look out on campus for events happening throughout the year.
By Anna Maxwell
