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| Similar looking kids. Dark hair bleached by the sun, cocoa skin, and light eyes. (I looked for the photog info on this pic and, unfortunately, couldn't find it.) |
We had spent the morning having breakfast along the Bosphorus with our friends Adrien and Barbora and some of their extended family visiting from their hometown in Washington State. Afterward, we all took the long, pretty stroll together near the water's edge back to where we parked. (I should mention that parking is as crazy as the driving here!)
I'd never personally had an experience with Roma. But on this particular day, as we were getting into our Land Cruiser, the most adorable children asking for money mobbed us. They were insistent that we please give them just one Turkish lira. They actually climbed all over the vehicle—clinging like so many insects and still begging—as we were pulling out into the street. They were the cutest kids on the planet; I wanted to throw them all in the car and take them home with us. Where, undoubtedly, they would've tied us up and robbed the house blind!
They were feral, intriguing, and gorgeous. I've never been witness to anything quite so charming and heartbreaking. We didn't give them anything, but they stole my heart. They were like wild kittens; I wanted to scoop them up and love them.
Since then, Mike has seen the same pack begging on the highway far from our first encounter. And we've been told stories about folks giving them money only to watch them run off to a secluded spot where adults sit collecting their booty. Such a crazy way to grow up.
I've done a little research regarding the ~500k to 2.5M Roma population in Turkey. I learned that the 30s saw a huge arrival from Bulgaria here—and that many are sadly still living in 1930s conditions. They are marginalized, the victims of discrimination, and often keep their distance from government involvement which means healthcare and education are lacking.
The poverty of Roma children, like other poor children, is probably compounded by large family size, and they're usually expected to work—often on the street, like we saw—in order to earn income for their families.
From a UNICEF site:
A child’s early years are crucial in terms of physical and psychosocial development. Everything comes together in this short space of time–emotions are shaped, an understanding of the world is formed, the foundations of language are laid, and the most significant proportion of brain development takes place. Young children develop to the best of their potential when they have strong, caring relationships with adults right from the start and when they grow up in conditions that are safe, healthy, and offer them rich opportunities to learn. Sadly, too many Roma children miss out on such opportunities, and this puts them at a disadvantage from the beginning.
I told you they were little heartbreakers. xx
This should put in perspective what we in the USA consider our own poor, lost through the cracks citizens. Noone should have to live this way but it's always been part of every culture, just some more so than others. But this is no excuse not to do our best to help.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant article, and the plight of the Roma is sad, truly nomadic peoples are vanishing as the world shrinks around us. That being said, the negative gypsy connotation is one I know from growing up in England where there were "true Roma", "European gypsy", "Irish gypsy/tinkers", and "New Age Travelers" (frequently shortened to "travelers". Unfortunately the later groups all gave the first a bad name, with theft, criminal damage, littering, trespass, and squatting all becoming serious issues as the different groups evolved. Look at news in the UK relating to Dale Farm as an example of recent problems. It is interesting to see your US take, as there are few similar peoples left in the US.
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