World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 39)

Theo Roma:t A Pe Ple A PA r The number of Roma is growing in Slovakia, where tackling poverty means overcoming centuries of ethnic discrimination. rahnov, Slovakia—A train rumbles past, carrying coal to a nearby power plant. Forty yards away, on a parallel track, another train speeds by in the other direction. Between the two tracks sits a house slowly giving way to the constant rattling and trembling of the trains. The concrete front stoop is caved in, and chunks of plaster litter the ground. The roof is pocked by missing tiles. Tatters of lace are all that fend off the cold that pushes through the empty transom above the front door and whistles through gaps in windowsills. This is the new home of Bartholomej Bodor, his wife, Beata, and their six children, ranging in age from 3 to 17. Each morning, the family all wakes up in the same room, except for the oldest daughter who has her own sleeping space—a small bed at the far end of the small kitchen. The sky-blue walls of the bedroom bear the scars and scratches of previous tenants and years of neglect before the Bodors. Three thin pieces of fabric pinned to the wall pass as decorations. A small stove struggles to warm the whole house. There is no running water here, so each day they must carry buckets from a relative’s house. It is immeasurably better than their last house. The Bodors’ new place clings to the edge of Drahnov, Slovakia, a village of about 1,250 on the Uh River, less than 30 miles north of the Hungarian border and only 10 miles from the Ukrainian border. Like many rural Slovakian villages, Drahnov has few jobs. Most villagers, including Bodor, were guaranteed paid work under the communist government, but after the revolution of 1989, the factories and collective farms shut down. In 2001, only 156 working-age Drahnovians were employed, while exactly twice that number, 312, were unemployed. But as the number of jobs has plummeted, the number of residents has climbed, due primarily to the rise in the birthrate. In 2006, births in the town outnumbered deaths 31 to 9. The blame for this increase in births—viewed as a burden in this struggling region—is laid at the feet of a single group: the Roma. D S T O RY BY JA M A N M AT T H E W S P H O T O G R A P H Y BY DAv E A N D E RS O N www.heifer.org November/December 2008 | WORLD ARK 39 http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Finding Peace in Africa Sierra Leone on the Mend The Roma: A People Apart Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

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