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Micro-finance programme provides better lives for Roma families in northern Montenegro
By Dragana Djuric on 17 Jul 2007
Two Roma families in northern Montenegro have improved their families' living conditions through establishing small businesses via a micro-finance programme.
The two families from Nikšić, with seven and three children respectively, borrowed money via the World Vision AgroInvest programme.
Sead had been unemployed for several years, since private foreign capital came into the small Montenegrin town. His son, Isad, was born prematurely and has only 20% vision. He will need surgery and specialised help.
"Each time he stands up, he falls. He doesn't see well and his ankles are swollen all the time," said Isad's mother, Mirsada. "He is 11, the eldest of three. Isad attends second grade of a school for children with special needs in Podgorica. He comes home once every two weeks and he is very good student."
Isad's mother is one of dozens of thousands internally displaced Roma from Kosovo in 1999, with no ID papers. Sead works from five to eleven every morning in public utilities. In the afternoon, together with his wife, he collects recyclable materials such as bottles and cardboard, providing additional income.
The World Vision Nikšić Area Development Programme gave US$750 so that Isad could travel to Novi Sad, Serbia, for a doctor's examination.
Fatir, aged 45, has seven children, aged from eight months to 20 years, and one grandchild. He has also been unemployed for several years and has a child with vision problems. He purchased a circular saw and offers his sawing service to the citizens of Nikšić.
"The season, which lasts up to four months, can be very fruitful. I have even employed one man that I felt pity for. He helps me out.
"I can afford decent meals and some clothes now for my children. It was much harder seven months ago, when we were without any income. Many children go and beg. My children don't do that. I want them to have an honorable life and have some school. Two of my seven kids attend school."
World Vision Serbia-Montenegro staff praised the families for never being late and always repaying their instalments in advance.
Almost four million Roma, the biggest concentration in the world, are in the Balkans. In Montenegro, the Roma population is not as large as in Serbia but they certainly represent one of the most vulnerable and excluded groups in the society.
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