Make-shift shacks and sagging roofs line both sides of the street as we walk through these Roma villages. The villages are densely populated with children and young adults.
These impoverished slums are a common site in the eastern parts of Slovakia and bordering countries in Europe.
In the harsh winter's weeks, we visited a few Roma villages while navigating over bumpy muddy roads.
Most adults smoke cigarette after cigarette and children have no place but the streets to play. We often see villagers carrying buckets of water from a hand-pump station or small brook to their home for cooking, cleaning, hygiene, and laundry.
Roma are traditional nomadic people who arrived from India and immigrated to Europe hundreds of years ago.
Roma people experience segregation from other citizens of Slovakia. Their "settlements" are usually found outside the city limits and often at the end of the bus route off one lane roadways. More than 90% of Roma live below the national poverty line and unemployment is greater than 80%. They live in squalor and severe deprivation. They live off minimal government “social benefits” that barely provides food and provisions in sub-standard living conditions.
It is estimated the Roma are the fastest growing population in Slovakia. The average age in some Roma communities is nineteen years old. The majority of the residents are children under the age of sixteen.
Most Roma have several children, we met a woman with twelve children living in a two room shack.
In one village we visited, there were more than 3,000 Roma, densely living on the outskirts of town. They lack privacy, as families cram into one or two rooms. Many times living with extended family members. From the street, houses look normal, but take a look between the houses and see many make-shift shacks illegally pieced together with spare wood, scrap metal, cinder blocks, cardboard panels, and an occasional rug, and dirt floors.
Numbering near half a million, and making up for over 10% of Slovakia’s population, the Roma are discriminated against. They are labelled as slow-learners, unemployable, beggars, and pure lazy.
Although, many of these things may be true for most, there are some who strive for better housing, opportunities, and education. They need mentors and opportunities to improve. It is a small sliver of this population who improve their standard of living and move away for work.
LDS Charities is looking for ways to help the Roma. In one community we are submitting a water project, in another, a wood chip brick hydraulic press, and others garden projects. It is not helpful to just donate and give away items as these kinds of things prove futile and do not teach the principles of self-reliance. It is truly a challenge to develop plans to help the Roma help themselves.
We believe they are God’s children.
He would not want His children to live in such conditions. There are many social workers who wear themselves thin trying to resolve the issues the Roma are faced with. They work endless hours and strive to instill work ethics and educate the children, knowing the solutions are found in the rising generation.
We pray to find ways to help empower and increase self-reliance within the souls of the Roma, as this is a great concern for the people of Slovakia and us too. The Roma population is steadily growing while the Slovak population is slowly dwindling.
In the New Testament, Paul says "be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love brethren, be pitiful, and courteous" (1 Peter 3:8).
We were invited to a kindergarten school on the Ukraine border in a small farming community near the Ukraine border.
The principal was excited to meet with us having been made aware of LDS Charities and prepared a welcome party with all the parents of the children invited to school.
We were treated to singing and dancing by the young children and a hearty Slovak cabbage soup, stuffed cabbage rolls, and fresh bread. All made from the local residents and grown in their fields.
During our tour of the old schoolhouse, we were shown areas that black mold had caused problems along crevices in walls and ceilings. Replacing a few drafty windows resulted in construction that also needed to be painted. The local residents, most poor farmers did not have funds for paint and supplies to give
the interior a fresh coat of paint. We asked how the painting would be accomplished, and the village mayor stated the parents will help do the work. He added that he will be the first to volunteer and he would call upon the parents to help.
Our good mayor advised that he attended this school as a little boy and he has fond memories here.
The mayor advised there are no businesses in the small village and very few funds to keep the school going but it is the pride and joy of the community.
Once the project was approved LDS charities provided enough paint and supplies to paint the entire school interior. There were more than a dozen volunteers involved in the project including fathers, mothers, teachers, grandparents, and the mayor himself.
One grandmother has artistic talent and volunteered to paint colorful Disney characters on the walls. We were grateful to see so many parents willing to participate in service at the school.
Most Roma have several children, we met a woman with twelve children living in a two room shack.
Although, many of these things may be true for most, there are some who strive for better housing, opportunities, and education. They need mentors and opportunities to improve. It is a small sliver of this population who improve their standard of living and move away for work. 
