This blog is written by Marcela Adamova, a Roma woman working in healthcare in Slovakia. Previously, she worked for the NHS and for Oxfam in the UK. She was a founder member of the first Roma NGO based in Glasgow, Romano Lav. Together with young Roma people, she organised the first public procession and the flashmob celebrating the Roma Nation day in Scotland.

‘Today, the 8th April, is international Roma Day, an opportunity for people around the world to celebrate the diversity of the Roma culture, Roma language and the shared history of the Roma people. Despite making up Europe’s largest minority group, the Roma population remains the most deprived ethnic group in Europe. Their most basic rights are still being violated on a regular basis. Frequent reports are made of racially motivated acts of violence and hate crime against Roma people. The Roma population is also subject to discrimination when accessing employment, education, health care and housing.

This is why today my dearest wish is for all Roma people all around the world to be able to live in countries where their human and citizen rights are respected and safeguarded. My wish is for all Roma people to be given equal opportunities when accessing employment, education, healthcare and housing. My wish is for more public and political talks to take place around the coexistence and celebration of different cultures and nations and for there to be less talk about the “Roma problem” or about ‘unadaptable people’. We should learn from history that such hate rhetoric should not be tolerated. Last but not least, I wish for more love and compassion in the world because without this humanity cannot survive.’
 
Marcela Adamova.

April 2019.

Photos by Ando Glaso in Govanhill Park, Glasgow.