Life Force Magazine

Roma the world over are united by a life of poverty and discrimination. They have protected themselves over the centuries by retreating into tight-knit tribal groups, psychlogically detached from the modern world. Roma traditions and lifestyle are still shielded by a code of secrecy which has created communities with a real sense of identity. Sarulesti village lies 50km south east of Bucharest, Romania. Of Romania's estimated 1m to 5m Roma, 90% live in varying degrees of poverty. This fiercely independent community are Kaldarasi (nomadic gypsies) they are poor and eke out a meagre living but are content. Strong family ties go some way to compensate for the grinding poverty of day to day life. A mixture of brick and wood buildings house this community, tents pitched behind their homes are used to cook in. Some of the children attend school close by, but it's a village that functions to its own rules. The men spend their days collecting scrap metal to be sold in the capital Bucharest, the women wear traditional brightly coloured full skirts and headscarves, their heavy gold 'dowries" are woven into their plaits. The community settle in the winter here, but spend their spring/summer out on the road travelling, as their ancestors would have done hundreds of years ago.

Lenuta, with her family's horse, their prized possession. It offers them the ability to collect scrap metal which they can sell for a decent price in Bucharest and to spend the summer months travelling.

Although most of the families in Sarulesti have concrete houses to live in, go to the back of most houses in the village and a canvas tent will be found in the garden. Still not completely comfortable under bricks and mortar, this tent is where the family will spend most of its time.

Borca Sorina prepares herself for the birth of her 3rd child, her waters have broken. "You cannot become Roma, you are born Roma."

A young girl looks after her sister.

Best friends and sisters. Roma families in Romania have on average five or six children, large families will ensure the survival of the Roma as a people.

In a Kaldaras community, such as Sarulesti, many of the women are married at 15 or 16 years old. They will then don a headscarf and weave their heavy gold-coin 'dowries' into their plaits.

Robert Mihai returns with his family after selling scrap metal. It is believed that only 5 out of 10,000 Roma have a higher education. Robert has no knowledge of the internet or computers, "I don't need a calculator, I can count my money in my head and that's all that matters."