What is it like to be young and Roma? How do young Roma experience their live and what do they do to shape their own future? During the Second European Summit on Roma, ERGO presented the Black & White Book, which  presents stories of successful and failed Roma integration.

Roma youngsters from five European countries, both members and non-member states of the European Union, joined forces under the banner of ‘Typically Roma’ to challenge stereotypes of Roma in their own towns and cities. They also took a critical look at their own environment to present this collection of stories - good and bad - about their situation, about policies and project that target them and about the attitudes and approaches of local authorities.

Young Roma from Hincesti succeeded to open the Sunday school for the Roma children

This is the story of my community. It`s a positive story, demonstrating that changes are possible.

Llakatund is a village, close to the Albanian city of Vlora. Seventy Roma families live here. The economic situation of the people living here deteriorated with the decline of the communist regime. After that, the Roma faced a challenging reality. Although Roma families were entitled to land plots as provided by law, only a few of them managed to generate economic profit. Attempts to integrate into social life like other people seemed impossible for the Roma.  

Asija and Bektas Ashemdovi have been married for almost 22 years. They have three daughters and seven sons, which means that they are a family of twelve persons. The Ashemdovi family is a classical example of a social vulnerable family, one of the many you can find in the Roma communities in Macedonia. The only support this family gets is their social welfare, which is around 60 Euro (3.800 denars) per month. This is not enough to cover the basic needs of the family, not to talk about their children´s needs.