Roma News and Views: 'Over to our correspondent in Lugoj!'
by Romano Lav
Photos of Romano Lav youth team by Toni Bruce (taken pre-COVID for a project by Cherryman media)
At the end of last year, Romano Lav premiered the first episode of a new pilot project, Roma News and Views on YouTube. Roma News and Views was developed during lockdown and is a creative response by Govanhill’s Roma youth to the constraints imposed by the pandemic. It is transnational: enabling young people who fled from the pandemic back to Romania to continue working with their peers who remain in Govanhill.
It is also multilingual, with coverage switching between Romanian, Czech, and English, and subtitles in all three language throughout. Ultimately, the idea is to combine coverage of local news with international stories; from happenings on the ground in Govanhill to the transnational struggle for Roma rights across Europe and beyond. The first episode features coverage of:
A special feature on the European Roma Rights Centre’s Roma Rights in the Time of Covid [CJ1] report which examines the impact of COVID-19 on Roma communities across Europe (including cases of rights violations and police brutality in Romania, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, and Bulgaria).
A landmark anti-discrimination court case that Roma women have won against a hospital in Hungary.
The launch of ‘The People’s Pantry’ — a new, community food shop in Govanhill that allows members to shop for £15.00’s worth of goods for £2.50 per week.
Each episode is developed, designed, and produced by a talented team of Roma youth.
Ashli Mullen, Creative Director of Romano Lav, says: “The increasing sense of isolation that we all experience as a result of the pandemic makes the world feel smaller and, at times, like it is closing in. We want our young people and their communities to be opened up to the world, whilst creating greater consciousness of the human rights issues that Roma communities are experiencing across Europe, and to foster stronger transnational solidarities along the way”.
Rahela Cirpaci, Project Coordinator and news anchor, added: 'Believe in yourself and you can achieve your goals. Stay Roma, mara phral hai mara pheia’ (my brothers and sisters).
You can watch the first episode via Romano Lav’s YouTube channel and subscribe to see the next one as soon as it is released. In the meantime, as one of Romano Lav’s young news anchors put it: “Stay strong; stay safe; stay home; stay Roma”!
