What is life like for the half a million Roma living in Greece?
What are their dreams? How do they feel about school – do they embrace it, do they belong, or are they pushed aside? Do they want to marry as teenagers and become parents before adulthood? Are they destined to count their day’s wages in the fields and at village fairs, or to search for scrap metal to survive?
Take Giorgos Nikolaou, a young Greek Roma who this summer earned his Nursing degree from the University of West Attica, often studying by the light of his mobile phone when the electricity was cut. Now he is setting his sights on a Master’s degree.
Or Vassilis Pantzos, who for the past nine years has been president of the Panhellenic Confederation of Greek Roma Ellan Passe, meaning “let’s go together.”
Can these men and their communities challenge traditions so deeply rooted that they stand against laws, rules, and common sense?
This episode of “Human Landscapes” with Victoria Kavouriari visits Roma settlements in Greece: places of absence demanding recognition, of struggle and resilience, of disappointment and retreat, yet also of persistence – and enduring hope.
Produced and presented by Victoria Kavouriari