Focus ROMI.HR
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Classmates writing in the same notebook. Source: pressfoto via Freepik In the late 1950s, Italy started developing an educational project for Roma pupils, in which teachers would give lectures on some core subjects, such as Italian language, History, Geography, Maths and Science, while also introducing children to Italian culture. The overarching scope was that of helping and boosting the integration process between the Roma and non-Roma communities by organizing special classes only for Roma children, and later merging them into one class together with non-Roma pupils.
Notwithstanding some obvious differences among normal classes and Lacio Drom classes, teachers and students engaged in an activity that is actually quite common across schools all over the world: school journals. For this purpose, teachers would offer pupils the possibility to write small texts and notes on specific topics, like Carnival, or on events that may happen on a daily basis, such as playing, going to school, interacting with others.
This is the second of a series of articles providing translations of texts from these school journals, dividing them according to the topic they deal with. All the texts and notes are taken from two journals, one written in 1971 and the other in 1984, from two classes attended by both Roma and non-Roma children. The idea behind these translations is to offer a perspective on the process of integration in schools through the voices and words of children, while also discovering some parts of the daily lives of Roma children and their families in that specific moment in time.
This article will be all about short insights from Roma children’s daily lives with their parents, siblings, and relatives and neighbors. Enjoy the reading!
Untitled
Today, my dad is selling his horse to a man who’s going to bring it to a butcher, and the butcher will kill the horse and make some good meat out of it. Yet, today that man said that he no longer wants our horse because he already got one, and because of the horse we could not go to the seaside with the rest of the caravan. The End.
My dream job
My dream job is to become a carny, because I am already used to it and if anybody takes me away from carousels I feel bad, because I am deeply nostalgic. When I'm an adult, I will buy bumper cars and just like that, I will get rich, and I will get married, and I will live happily with my mom and my wife. But you never know what future may bring to you: maybe when I am an adult I will die, and I won’t be happy with anybody, I won’t buy anything. I hope I won’t die, because I don’t want to displease my mom, my dad, and my siblings.
Turin, May 21, 1971
For a long time, the nuns organized catechism classes for me, R. and P., and finally yesterday we received Confirmation. We arrived at the church in the bishop’s car, and we received the Holy Spirit. When we came back to our seats we were chatting and laughing, and the bishop came next to us and
looked at us with an angry face. We received the sacramental host, and when the Mass ended, we left. On the ride back home, the nuns gave us a little packet with a rosary and some chocolate. At home, after greeting my family, I opened my little packet and we ate all together.
Tuesday, May 25, 1971
Our teacher believed that we were in Liguria (NdT: a small, coastal region in Northern Italy), but instead we were in P., sometimes in B., and in S. A., and then we came back to Turin to finish our classes at school. I have told my teacher that my little sister S. broke her arm twice, and that I went to visit the teacher’s sister S., and I asked her for her phone number, but then I lost it. Thanks to this class journal, I want to send my wishes to S., to my dearest M., and to Father B.
Best wishes to all my friends, and big kisses!
Text 1 (February 23, 1984).
My cousin went to give birth in Chivasso, because in Turin she was unlucky in the past. She has had a baby called G. C. When I went to the hospital in Chivasso to visit my little sister R. who caught the flu, I also met the baby who has a lot of black hair.
Text 2 - Prunin (February 3, 1984).
I have a little rabbit called Prunin, and because of him every morning I am always late to catch the school bus to go to school. Prunin hides my dad’s shoes, shirts, and trousers, and every morning before leaving for school I have to find them, and that’s why I am late, and the lady who accompanies us gets mad.
Text 3 - The motorcycle (January 23, 1984)
I have been riding motocross since I was five years old, and now I am almost 11. When I race, I go to “La Loggia”, and there are around 22 of us who own the motorcycle. I’ve won the cup twice. My motorcycle is a Cimati. The next race will be next Sunday. Once, during a race, a kid fell and he broke both his legs.
Text 7 - Untitled (February 28, 1984)
We have three caravans, two big ones and a smaller one. My brothers D. and G. live in the small one, whereas my other brother R. lives in one of the two bigger caravans. Me, my sister T., my little brother D., and my parents, we all live in the other big caravan. The caravan where I live is the tidiest one, because T. always keeps it clean, while my brothers’ ones are not as immaculate because T. sometimes doesn’t feel like working.
Text 11 - Untitled (February 3, 1984)
S. and I were playing football, but a German shepherd came and tried to burst our ball. We grabbed the ball and ran away, but the dog followed us and scratched me on the bottom, and S. on the arm.
The owner of the dog, who is some kind of a piridé, just stared instead of calling it back. S. and I, we often steal parts of piridé’s cars, because we don’t like them.
Winter (January 20, 1984)
B.: Winter is wonderful because there’s snow.
B.: To us, winter is awful, the weather is cold, you can’t wash your clothes, we all have to live together in the caravan.
F.: Winter is awful, you cannot ride your motorbike, it’s cold.
Q.: I like winter because it's Christmas.
R.: I don’t like winter, there is nothing you can do in that season.
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