audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - The Roma are the largest and most discriminated ethnic minority in Europe. Despite the efforts to expand and improve education for Roma children, as many as 50 percent of those in Europe fail to complete primary education. Their health is poorer, their unemployment rate is higher and their life expectancy is shorter than the rest of Europe. Though they are in Europe their living conditions are comparable to those in a third world country with extreme poverty and substandard housing. Their life expectancy is 13 years shorter than the average Romanian. The villages lack running water, and no indoor plumbing for kitchens and bathrooms. Many of the adults are illiterate but the children have some access to schooling from grades 1-4. Their food is substandard and many children suffer from malnutrition and health problems including complications from a poor diet. Many European citizens have negative views about this group that are often based on stereotypes and prejudice dating back several centuries. The history of Roma in Europe is dark and through the ages they have been subjected to racial hatred and outright extermination. The 'Strasbourg Declaration on Roma' resulted in a joint pledge by the Council of Europe to cooperate on Roma issues and to involve Roma communities in building a better future, including refraining from hate speech, abolishing school segregation, ending forced evictions, and protecting human rights.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A family rides their horse and cart through a river ford in their village. Pauleasca is the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - FELICIA RADU is 38 years. She has four children, 2, 4, 5 and 10 years old. Five year old ELIJAH is disabled after an untreated meningitis. FLORIN, who is 10 years old, looks like he is not more than seven.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Family members stand outside their simple house in their village. Pauleasca is the home of the Roma beggars in Europe. The villages lack running water, and no indoor plumbing for kitchens and bathrooms.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A wooden bridge walkway lies across a stream.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Children play in the muddy street in their village. Pauleasca region is the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A jacket hangs on the fence of a muddy yard in the village of Pauleasca, the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - FELICIA RADU is 38 years. She has four children, 2, 4, 5 and 10 years old. Five year old ELIJAH is disabled after an untreated meningitis. FLORIN, 10-year-old, looks like he is not more than seven. The family consists of Felicia, kids and Grandpa ANGEL. He is 65 years old and has an amputated leg.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - One of Felicia Radu's daughters sits inside the family home.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A child's dirty feet on wooden floorboards of a home. Children play in the muddy street in their village. Pauleasca region is the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Roma drive their horses and carts through a river ford in their village. Pauleasca region is the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Dirt and mud surround the houses in Pauleasca,
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Children play at the door of their house in Pauleasca region, the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Light filters through a hole in the roof of a home as a young boy plays in a n empty room. The village of Pauleasca is home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A roma mother wraps her baby in a dimly lit room in Pauleasca in Romania, the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A muddy stream runs through the home of the village.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Four young children play happily in the muddy street in their village.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Rubbish trash and mud litter the village of Pauleasca.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - Five year old ELIJAH is disabled after an untreated meningitis.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A horse stands alone in a homemade shack in a mud field in the village.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A man and woman with a horse and cart in their home village.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A view of the dirt street is seen through a broken window of a house in the village of Pauleasca, the home of the Roma beggars in Europe.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - A dog in the muddy street of Pauleasca,
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March 29, 2015 - Stockholm, Romania - These two teenage girls, BIANCA and CATALINA, live in a remote Roma village outside Bucharest, Romania. The village is extremely poor and many of the villagers travel to other countries to beg for money to survive.
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March 29, 2015 - Pauleasca, Romania - BEATRICE looks out the window of her house. In Pauleasca there are no drains or toilets. No one knows if the water is clean. The children often have diarrhea and many adults have breathing problems. Usually 6-10 people sleep together in the same room. The kids walk around barefoot among pigs, chickens and mud.
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