Socio-cultural background of the Romani communities in Romania

Romania have the higher number of Roma people from Europe. In 1998 in Romania there was 1, 5 millions of Roma peoples, meaning 6,7% from Romania population. Roma people are everywhere in Romania: cities, urban areas, suburbs, countryside and mountains.

There are almost 40 groups in accordance with families connection, professes, dialects, way of sedentary life or nomad. A few examples: ursarii (peoples who are making shows with bears), caldararii (they are redressing copper pots), fierarii (blacksmith), crastarii (persosn who sell the horses), spoitorii (vopsesc vase de bucatarie), rudarii (work with wood), boldenii (selling flowers), argintarii (made jewels), zlatarii (extracting gold from rivers) etc. Also, a very important thing is difference of languages.

Traditional, Roma people had lived isolate, being characterized by a poorness emphasized. For example, Roma from Deva are living in places where was before stables for pigs and in Bacau they get a place for living called "public houses" old garages nearest a hole for garbage.

The situation is exacerbation because of isolation geographic of Roma communities on the outskirts/suburbs. They cover the poor sides of the cities/quarters. Sometimes they do not have access to the basic utilities such as running water, sewerage, heating, electricity and phone.

In the Eighties, there has been a strange migration: some of the Roma people migrated to villages, while others migrated to town, where they find marginal and miserable opportunities.
This process of Roma migration will have like consequence enlarging of ghettoes populated with violent, poor and delinquent Roma peoples.

Roma families are big, with more than 4 children.
They are living more persons in one room, are cases with 10-15 persons; usually, they live with other relatives (grandparents, uncles). The consequences of these situations are extreme serious: lack of personal hygiene and of house, lack of restless, risk as regards healthy, impossibility to offer intimacy young couples and difficulties for the socialization and the education of children and teenagers. For children who live in these conditions preparing of homework's become a problem, so that many families have stopped to send children to school after 1989.

The relationships between male and female usually present the characteristic of the archaic families: the man is the head of the family and the woman takes care of the children.

The infancy mortality in Romania is the highest in Europe and the Rome infancy mortality is 4 times bigger then the average.

The rate of abandonment is more high in comparison with the rest of population, as a consequence of the miserable conditions they live.

Romani people are discriminated by public institutions, private institutions and educational services.
Roma peoples have difficulties to obtain official documents for their land and property. Before 1990, the most part of Roma families was forced by Ceausescu regime to become sedentary; many were draw together for working in state farms/ranches. When these farms were closed after 1991 these Roma peoples have lost them jobs.

Some important statistics:
- 36% from Roma houses are a separate kitchen, comparing with 90%national average;
- 20% from them houses have a modern bathroom, comparing with 47% national average;
- 20% from them houses have a modern toilet, comparing with 47% national average;
- 86% from them houses have electricity, comparing with 96% national average;
- 2/3 from them houses are warm with coals and firewood;
- 1/4 from Roma peoples have declared that the land where the house is built is not their property.

Income sources for Roma peoples are: social benefits (63, 15), salaries and occasional activities. The 70% from Roma population are poor.

In 1998, only the 69, 9% of the children with age between 7-10 years were going to school. The 17, 3% of the children with age between 7-16 years was never to school. Only 5% from Roma people have high school or faculty.

Before 1990 Romani language, history and Roma culture were not learning in Romanian schools and it was forbidden for Roma people to manifest their cultural identity.

When Roma people was finally recognized as a national minority, there was a fast increase of cultural activities. Anyways, access to culture is limited for many Roma peoples because of isolation, poorness and lack of information.

Roma people are recognized by type of clothes, especially girls and women. They have a costume who have a skirt (Rohta), apron (katrint), head kerchief (diklo), chemise (gad), underskirt (podea), a bigger kerchief on the back (diklo baro) and a bagful (tisî).The colors of clothes show us state of spirit of Roma women's. Interlacing of hair is another traditional element. A few peoples know that number of tails confide social state of Roma women's. The virgin girls have three tails and the married women's only two tails. From this costume can not miss the jewels. This costume is identical with a tribe from north India, Punjab region.