"Through the dream we shall go"

A strategy of innovation in promoting the citizenship of Roma people and communities

Abstract

This article is based on the practical and reflexive work developed within the framework of the EQUAL Project "P'lo Sonho é que Vamos". The main objectives of this project are to: test answers to the reconciliation of professional, personal and family life and the school life of Roma people; promote intercultural dialogue between gypsy and non-gypsy communities, in a citizenship perspective. It is part of a set of basic assumptions that stress, on the one hand, the need to take a plural view on Roma people and communities, with cultural patterns very marked by social gender roles; on the other hand, recognizing that Roma people and communities are still affected by serious problems of social, economic, cultural and political integration and by forms of extreme poverty, exclusion and discrimination. Some of the activities promoted by the "Through the dream we shall go" Project are discussed and analyzed here, with a logic of innovation in the social and empowering responses of Roma women.