Steffen Seibert's Travel Diary: On the road in Kosovo with UNICEF - Day 2
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 – Mitrovica We are in Mitrovica today, in the north of Kosovo, where the river Ibar divides the settlements of the Albanian population from those of the Serbian population. And always in the middle of the turmoil and on the outskirts of the city, in a camp supported by UNICEF and other international organizations, live the Roma people. Here, they live in a former army barracks, where today 350 people are accommodated in a cramped space. They all have lost their homes in the war or during outbreaks of subsequent violence. The camp, called Osterode (also the name of a city in Germany) for no particular reason, was supposed to be only a temporary shelter for the Roma, as they set out on the path to a new life. First, they were living in refugee camps, which were located next to a heavy lead-polluted wasteland near the mines of Mitrovica. Many of the Roma children here suffer from alarmingly high lead levels in their blood, causing harm to bones, nerves and the brain. The Camp Osterode has been built mainly to give these children a chance to grow up in half-decent conditions and to guarantee a satisfactory level of medical care. It is my very first encounter with the Roma, I have to admit. And the impressions are so contradictory, too: Families washing their carpets outside the barracks, women in colourful dresses, surrounded by lots of children. But also happiness everywhere – we do not feel any antipathy or rejection, not even a natural distance. Some talk to us in German, but more about that a bit later. Most families seem to have five or six children. The marriage age is around 15 and it's then when the girls also start having children. A strange thought, when I think about my own daughter who is 15 as well. Here I would have to start looking for a husband for her... Some families let us enter their apartments, if you can call a one-room shack for a family with children an apartment, that is. What we see, however, is very clean and orderly. A typical household seems to have a carpet, a bed, wall carpets from Mecca right next to images of Jesus, then also a TV set and family portraits. In one room, that of a woman with six of her own children and four others from her extended family around her, there is an unpleasant smell and flies crawl over a sleeping baby.
UNICEF works on eduction here as a major priority. Education traditionally is not a major priority for Roma parents though, UNICEF experts explain. Practically, that means that a lot of Roma children in the past did not go to school at all or only to primary school. Many never attended secondary school. In this regard, a lot has changed already. The children here go to pre-school where they prepare for school by learning skills their parents might lack. The number of Roma children in schools is rising, however, all this is only valid for grades 1 to 8. Hardly any Roma teenagers stay in school afterwards, which is especially true for the girls. The female teacher and the UNICEF staff members tell us that it is extremely difficult and most of the time even impossible to challenge the Roma traditions. That means: Early marriage and many children. There is only one case here where a Roma boy wants to get a higher education and his parents support him morally and UNICEF does so with the necessary books. For the UNICEF staff here, that is already a success story. We also talk to the medical staff working in Camp Osterode. The children affected by the high concentration of lead get medication and, until recently when the money ran out, even special food. A lot of work also had to be done to explain to the children and their parents what negative effects the dumped lead can have. Many of the Roma families here get their only income from melting scrap metal and car batteries at home and selling the resulting products. Their ignorance has put their own children in grave danger. The medical therapy seems to have helped many people here, but it will come to a close at end of October. The doctors tell us that they have been laid off. How things will develop and who will care for the sick children is not known at this point. In the afternoon, a big show is put up for us and everybody has prepared for it for weeks, it seems. Albanian folklore dances in what looks like Turkish dresses, Serbian lullabies, break-dance performances, you name it, they do it. When the 14-year old girls dance for us, we clap our hands along with everybody else, but a strange feeling remains when you know that they are just about to get married according to Roma traditions. The most touching meeting of the day is that with the Jahirovic family. They used to live in Germany, in Emsdetten near Münster, for 16 years. Their seven children were either born there or never knew anything else other than Germany. Most of them have gone through the German school system. A year and a half ago, the Federal Republic of Germany all of a sudden 'repatriated' the Jahovic family more or less over night. Now they are trapped in Camp Osterode in Mitrovica. The children miss Germany, their friends, their schools, their whole lives. Here they can barely keep afloat as garbage collectors or candy sellers. A frightening story that we just heard, together with the plea for help, for some help, any help, to link them up with anybody who could take up their case. We promise to think about it, but we feel helpless. I am angry. Complete and utter nonsense to cut these children off from the only life they knew. I have no clue how this can help Germany. Before it gets dark, we watch a football match at the local gym – first the boys, then the girls. UNICEF rents the gym once a week so the Roma children do not feel completely trapped in their camp. Here, they can forget for a while the harsh living conditions they have to endure.
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