Romany Children Enlighten London

A group of 7 to 14 year old Romany children have taken to the streets of Newham in London to give out free copies of the Romany kid’s picture book. ‘Romano Bumburumbum’ is illustrated with pinhole photography created by the kids themselves, in order to break down the prejudices they face.

Working with The Children’s Society and arts group, Akademia Pstryk, this group of talented young people have used pinhole photography to produce the picture book. 1,500 copies of the book will be given away at public events during Gypsy, Roma and Traveller month in June, and it will also be available to download online. The kids have taken to the streets of Newham, Stratford and East Ham – all of which have large and growing Romany communities from Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

As well as giving away copies of their books to parents and children, the young people are teaching members of the public how to do pinhole photography themselves.

A caravan decorated by the young people has been taken to each event as a symbol of the young people’s pride in their rich history.

The Children’s Society has worked with Roma children for over 13 years, as they are one of the most disadvantaged groups of children in Britain. The charity’s own research with Roma, Gypsy and Traveller children found that 86% had experienced racial abuse, and the average school leaving age among the group of over 200 children was 11½ years old. According to Department for Children School and Families research, only 7% of children classed as “Gypsy/Romany” achieved 5 or more A* to C grades including English and Mathematics in 2007, compared to 45.4% of students overall.

Jacob Garber, from The Children’s Society, who has coordinated the project, comments “We hope this project will both build the confidence of the Roma children involved, and help to educate the general public about who the Roma people really are. Roma culture is incredibly rich with stories and songs that have been passed down for generations. Roma people have traditionally kept their stories hidden from the rest of society, but now this group is ready to open up and engage with everybody.”

With the help of Akademia Pstryk photographer Marta Kotlarska, the group have illustrated their story using pinhole photographs. This little-known technique is not only a cheaper alternative to digital photography; it is also very environmentally friendly. Using cardboard boxes, paper and chemicals no longer needed by professional labs, the young people made their own cameras and developed their own photos.

For more information

www.childrenssociety.org.uk/roma-awareness-raising

www.clickacademy.co.uk

http://bumburumbum.blogspot.com