Unlike most children of her age in Belgrade, Milica goes to a school, which is three kilometres from her current home. Sometimes the regular minibus doesn’t pick her up and then she walks to the nearest public bus stop, one kilometre away. Milica lives in a mobile settlement in Resnik, with her three siblings and parents.
“I cannot wait to move to our new flat. The lives of my brother and sisters will change dramatically. They won’t have to carry their heavy schoolbags up the hill. I will share a room with my brother and we won’t have to fight what programme we shall watch on television with the rest of the family”, says Danijel, Milica’s eldest, 19-year old brother.
Before moving to Resnik, Danijel and Milica’s family lived under the Gazela Bridge and in the unhygienic settlement Belvil.
“Imagine getting up in the morning and instead of water, you find ice”, Danijel remembers. When it rained, the makeshift roof would leak and the water would flood the floors, the family recalls. It was so cold that sometimes all six had to sleep in the same bed, in order to warm up.
The lack of adequate housing solutions is only one of the problems that Roma in Serbia face. Extreme poverty and exclusion from the life others take for granted – going to school, medical check-ups, seeking for employment, and the discrimination – make Roma one of the most deprived communities. Although the legislation is in place, so far there wasn’t big change in their daily lives.
Through “Let’s Build a Home Together” project, the Government of Serbia, with the financial support from the European Union, is providing adequate housing solutions for up to 170 Roma families who previously lived in unhygienic settlements. The Roma men, women and children can choose whether they wish to live in multi-family blocks, village houses or to reconstruct own property.
All housing solutions are developed with active participation of the affected Roma families, thus guaranteeing the full respect of their human rights. Additional focus is put on protecting women’s equal entitlements to adequate housing in order to avoid that concepts such as the “head of household” are used to deprive women of equal ownership and security of tenure.
Mirsada Redžepović and her husband Kadri Ahmeti, are the first beneficiaries who purchased a house with the support of the project, and now jointly own a property in Bačko Petrovo Selo. Their first home was made of cardboard and planks, while they currently inhabit the Jabučki Rit mobile settlement. “All I ever wanted is my own home, my freedom”, Mirsada says longingly.
“When I was pregnant with my youngest son, Kadri was helping me with bathing our two children in the community bathroom. One day, he ran back into our container, carrying our child, with blood streaming down her face. We called for the ambulance immediately, but they didn’t want to come. It was only when we intervened with the City Secretariat for Social Welfare that they showed up”, Mirsada recalls.
“And then, we went to the hospital, and they decided to keep Mirsada and our daughter overnight and told me to go home. Where can I go in the middle of the night? How? There is no bus to the settlement. They felt sorry for me and told me I could sleep in the corridor if I wanted”, Kadri says.
In order to achieve the full success, finding adequate housing solutions for the Roma men, women and children, through the project, is not an isolated action and it is complemented with an approach to grant the beneficiaries access to citizenships services: health, education, social protection and employment as well as equal access to justice and human rights protection.
“My father has the toughest life. He is the oldest in the family and yet he fights for all of us. He collects paper and I support him. My dream is however to get a good job. And to have a home”, Danijel says as he rides a bike into Belgrade dusk, to work with his father.
“… a home where all my family will be together, and where I won’t have to worry how we shall survive…” waves Danijel’s father to his family as he starts another night shift.
