Roma Community Projects
Having little access to healthcare, education or employment, Bulgaria’s Roma gypsy people are trapped in a cycle of poverty. Infant mortality is high, family planning is often too expensive and abandonment is common. Unemployment stands at 80-85% and less than 1% of Roma children complete a secondary education.
- Roma living conditions are third world
- More than four out of 10 have no access to running water
- Roma conditions rank alongside sub-Saharan Africa on the Human Development Index
- With no free healthcare, many pregnant Roma women never see a doctor
Community projects
We are working with our Bulgarian Roma partners World Without Borders to provide Roma communities with essential healthcare, family planning and sex education. This helps prevent future abandonment and the institutionalisation of children as well as improving the lives of many Roma women. Prostitution levels in Roma communities are high and many women develop STI’s that are not checked or treated. Free health check-ups help to prevent and cure the spread of these diseases.
We also run practical projects in partnership with small communities, helping them to improve their living conditions.
World Without Borders
World Without Borders is a Roma NGO based in Bulgaria’s largest Roma Community, Stara Zagora. We work directly with them to deliver projects in Stara Zagora. WWB was founded by Roma people who grew up in Stara Zagora and broke the mould by going to university. Instead of pursuing well-paid careers, its founders decided to return to their roots and help others to break out of poverty. The enthusiastic staff team continues to live in Stara Zagora Roma Community alongside those that they help.