Robi Bogataj, 44 years old, Roma, Novo mesto, Slovenia
Robi Bogataj, his entire life has lived in the biggest Roma settlement Brezje near Novo mesto, which also faces the greatest problems. His parents also live there, as his four brothers. “Parents did not have any influence on us. We went to school if we wanted to, if we bothered. If they asked us to attend class, we might even have tried doing it.” He attended elementary school until the 6th grade only and he still regrets this. “At that time, prejudices and poverty were terrible. You had to go to school, even though there was no social aid. There was no link between school attendance and social assistance. There were no Roma coordinators.” At 14 years, he began to work “private”, casual work that he could do to help parents and brothers. He took every job.
His wife is also from the settlement. They have lived together since he turned 18. “We did not get married and had a baby at 12, 13 years, like they do now. Children do not finish school and parents are the guilty ones. This is not a Roma tradition. This is fault of parents. This happens to the civilians as well, but not to so many qoats as the Roma people. ”
His wife worked as a cleaner. They have a son and a daughter. Both spouses have an incomplete elementary school, but they work hard. They were both included in public works for several years, as much as was allowed by the rules. His wife has accumulated 12 years of service. He worked for 4 years through public works in the Miran Jarc Library in Novo mesto, in a library bus in the settlement Brezje. He assisted the librarian in communication with Roma visitors and independently performed simple administrative work. He also advised on the purchase of materials, which Roma need most to better integrate into the environment and improve school performance. He did the job seriously and enthusiastically. With the money of one of the earliest wages, he bought his daughter a doll on batteries, but it did not work at home. He returned to the shop, where the sales person insisted that he broke it himself because he could not handle it properly. When his colleague from the library went to the shop, this time the sales person behaved less rudely, but still did not want to replace the product. He attributes this to being Roma. He also experienced a mistake in the bank, when his salary was not on his account. Bank employees said that there is no money. Bank staff did not want to check for what actually happened. Only by the mediation of his employer and the proof that the transfer was made was an error revealed. But no one granted him an apology. He was very friendly with all his co-workers. When the driver of the travelling library bus died, one of his colleagues informed him personally, but it was too late to go to the funeral. “I was affected that they did not inform me on time because I would go to the funeral. He was my associate. “
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