After the Roma children of Fushe Kruja overcame the Hepatitis A infection in the end of January 2014, they were able to attend the school again. Still many Rom children did not attend the public school regularly during the last weeks. This has acquired because of a misunderstanding between the parents of the Roma children and the teachers. In order to solve this issue, ADRA Albania has organised a meeting with the Roma parents and the teachers of the public school on February 2014.
In this meeting, we had the participation of eight Roma women. In the beginning the Roma women were very shy because of their low self-esteem and they are not used to share and protect their own point of view in public. Yet before the meeting ADRA staff was talking to the women and ADRA team explained to them the importance of being present at the meeting and to clarify the problems with the staff of the public school.
The Roma women had the feeling that their children are treated in a different way by the teachers of the public school then the Albanian children. Also they shared with the staff that there were some problems with the transportation of the children from the Roma community to the public school.
ADRA staff were presented during the whole meeting and act as a facilitator between the Roma parents and the teachers of the public school.
During the discussion the deputy director of the public school took Fatime, a Roma children who is attending the public school, in front of the class and compliment her for attending the school. She said:“ Even if Fatime is living in poverty, she is attending the regularly the school.“ Her mother who was present at the meeting was very proud of her daughter.
In the end, most of the Roma women attending this meeting considered this kind of activities very important as they understood that it was not the faulted of the teachers that their children do not learn in school but it was their fault as they neglect them in daily life.
