Residents of the Roma neighborhood in Gracanica are facing harsh living conditions, while the right to education for their children has become a daily challenge.

The KosovaPress team visited the neighborhood and asked several residents about their living conditions. They preferred to remain anonymous and declined to comment publicly for KosovaPress.

Off-camera, a woman, mother of four children, described the dramatic situation her family is in, saying that she is unable to send her children to school due to the severe conditions.
Another resident of the neighborhood said that the poor infrastructure is making it difficult for children to walk through the streets to reach their school.
Another resident, commenting on the lack of institutional response, stated that in this neighborhood, more than 50 households need help to send their children to school.

Meanwhile, another woman raised an even more fundamental problem — the lack of food. Speaking off-camera, she said that due to hunger, they are eating nettles, and that sending her children to school is simply out of the question for her family.

In this harsh reality, the residents of the Roma neighborhood in Gracanica are urgently calling on institutions to improve living conditions and ensure that children’s fundamental right to education is upheld.

(This product was created in collaboration between CFID and KosovaPress. within the framework of the project: “Countering negative stereotypes about Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities through media initiative” , which is funded by UNMIK.)