Conversations with Amoun: Dom Life

Amoun Sleem, Founder and Director of the Domari Center in East Jerusalem

Hello!

Welcome to the last episode of the conversations with Amoun! I hope you have learned something new about the Dom people in each video as well as the Domari Society in Jerusalem.  In today’s video we discussed the life of the Dom as well as their experiences, especially that of Amoun and the Dom people in Jerusalem. I learned a lot from Amoun about the lives of the Dom people. As Amoun mentioned, the Dom people originated in India and can now be found all over the world with large concentration in the Middle East. Because of the fact that they find themselves mixed with other communities, they are influenced in areas like their languages and lifestyles. 

It was saddening to hear the struggles that the Dom children face just to have access to education. In Amoun’s book, she mentioned teachers who did not want her in their class after knowing she was from the Dom community. This kind of discrimination existed then and, unfortunately, it is still present now. The Dom people face discrimination in many areas, and this causes a lack of opportunities as well as a lack of access to resources. Amoun shared that despite the discrimination and exclusion that they face, the Dom people continue to be resilient and work towards a better future.

Thankfully, there are efforts to create safer spaces for the Dom people as well as to spread information to others so that the Dom people can be better understood. I hope this video series helped viewers in a way to better understand as well as inspired viewers to learn more.

Thanks for watching and look forward to more content in the future!

Jaya, DRC Summer Intern

Summer Intern Reflection #2

Hello!

Wow! I can’t believe how fast time flies! I have come to the end of my summer internship with the DRC, and it has definitely been a rewarding experience. From the beginning, I was honestly a little nervous as there were some tasks that I didn’t have much experience in. But over these two months I have learned so much and gained some new skills. I have also been able to learn more about the Dom people, and that has been the greatest blessing. I believe that knowing more about each other can help to foster environments of respect and better support for others. To be honest, before starting this internship, my knowledge of the Gypsy ethnic groups was extremely limited. While there is still so much for me to learn (which I will definitely continue to do even after the internship ends), I have come to have a better understanding, and I have been able to share this information with others and engage in conversations that share something new with others.

 During this time I have also had the opportunity to observe how the DRC functions and the way that the organization works to mobilize and support people who are already there in the communities that are supported, rather than just bringing in new people or controlling the situations. This has led me to think about how organizations and individuals can create spaces of support and development that can be long term as well as meeting the immediate need. We can see this reflected so strongly in current times of COVID-19 as so many need something in this moment, but we also have to look at the long term goal for sustainability. I am glad that I was able to engage in those conversations, and I hope to continue them with others so that we can do intentional community work and empower others. 

Overall, this was a rewarding experience, and I am so glad I was able to contribute to the work of the DRC in some way. I am grateful for the connection we were able to make through phones and the internet. Despite the miles between us all, we were able to work together, and I am so thankful for the support and guidance from Allen and Mary. I plan to continue to support as I can, and I am looking forward to where this experience leads me in life!

Jaya, DRC Summer Intern

Conversations with Amoun: The Domari Society

Hello!

Welcome to the second installment from my conversations with Amoun Sleem from the Domari Society in Jerusalem. In today’s topic, we will hear about the Domari Society: the beginning, the programs offered, as well as some of Amoun’s hopes for the center. As with before, these clips are compiled from two separate conversations I had with Amoun on different days.

The Dom people, more often than not, must be their own advocates. Support from outside the community is rather limited, and Amoun noticed this. In her book, A Gypsy Dreaming in Jerusalem, Amoun mentioned that when she was starting the center and sharing her vision, people didn’t even know that there were Dom Gypsies in Jerusalem. Through various connections and volunteers from different places, Amoun was able to begin helping the Dom community even before having established the society. As Amoun stated in the video, when the nonprofit was started in 1999, the main focus was women and children. We saw in the last video that to this day that is still the focus even through the COVID-19 response.

As shown from the pictures in the video, the work started just out of Amoun’s home. The programs continued for four years out of Amoun’s home along with support from the DRC to close in the veranda and create an office and classroom space. Eventually they were able to move onto a bigger location and then now to their current location that functions well with their needs.

In the book Amoun wrote, “…I wanted a place that would be surrounded by positive thoughts about Gypsy culture…”. I really do believe that Amoun has achieved that through the Domari Society. Thank you for joining us for this video, I hope you learned something new! See you for the next video!

Jaya, DRC Summer Intern

Conversations with Amoun: COVID-19 and the Dom People

Hello and welcome to the first of a series of interviews with Amoun Sleem, director of the Domari Society in Jerusalem.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to speak with Amoun and learn more about Domari life there in Jerusalem and the work of the Domari Society. Amoun is a dear friend of the Dom Research Center and  I hope this interview series helps you to learn more and inspire you as it did for me! The videos are compiled from two separate interviews that I did with Amoun.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to speak with Amoun and learn more about Domari life there in Jerusalem and the work of the Domari Society. Amoun is a dear friend of the Dom Research Center. I hope this interview series helps you to learn more and inspire you as it did for me!

We are starting off the series by discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the Dom people. For people all over the world, COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic wreaked havoc on our lives. People have lost jobs, educational opportunities, homes, and people dear to them. This has also been the case for the Dom people. Amoun shared with me that many of the Dom people work as day laborers and rely on that work as their source of income. Jobs that may have been abundant before the pandemic became scarce. Families around the world were struggling to pay bills, put food on the table and just make ends meet. In an effort to provide some relief from the dire circumstances. Amoun and the Domari Society worked tirelessly around the clock. She reached out to other organizations to provide aid such as food to families in need.

Children were also impacted due to school shifting from in the classroom to online. With less access to technological tools such as WIFI or a computer, as well as losing the interaction and assistance often found in the school setting, many students fell behind. Also, many women lost their sources of income during this time so Amoun shared more about this.

With the recent changes and countries starting to open back up, there has been a lot of joy among people, a sense of returning to “normal”. But, as Amoun shared, there is still a lot of nervousness regarding health and safety with the changes in different countries. The Domari Society serves as a safe haven for the people of the Dom community. The Domari Society did not close, rather shifted focus to providing humanitarian aid.

Amoun shared her hopes in the coming times for acquiring funding to have other options of programs for women. As we saw during this time, many businesses and establishments had to close their doors in an effort to take safe precautions. Events and some work could still take place on a smaller scale with less people. Because of this, Amoun hopes to equip women with skills that they can do one-on-one as a service. Some classes such as hairdressing, catering, sewing, etc.

Thank you for checking out this first part of the interview. Please share your thoughts! Hope you join us for the next post in the series!

Jaya, DRC Summer Intern

Summer Intern Reflection #1

Hello!

Welcome to my first post for the 2021 summer internship!

This summer, I am serving with the Dom Research Center (DRC) which works to further knowledge and support for the Dom people, a Gypsy ethnic group living primarily in the Middle East. I am serving in a capacity that supports these efforts through the online/social media presence of the organization. During my time so far I have done some website updates to get information on the website which will in turn provide more information on the programs of the DRC. This was a great opportunity for me to learn more as well. All of the programs seem really great, and it was especially important to me to see that a lot of the work is done through local people and people of the Dom community. When providing humanitarian aid, it is vital to the communities that you work with that you empower the people in the community and allow them to work together rather than coming as an outsider and just taking over. In a way, the DRC is a facilitating body to support the Dom people as they know what is best for themselves.

Another project that I have been working on is an interview series with Amoun Sleem,  the director of the Domari Society and a Dom woman herself. This has been a completely new experience for me as I have never interviewed someone in this way, and video editing is a new skill to me that I am getting to develop during this time. I am so thankful for the opportunity to speak with Amoun and learn about her experiences and the work she is doing with the Domari Society. It is especially interesting to note the work the Domari Society is doing to encourage women and give them skills to be able to support themselves as well as find work. The wider  community is not always welcoming to women working, and the options are limited. Domari often have limited educational opportunities. The Domari Society also helps women and children to gain employment skills which they can use, even if they could not complete formal schooling.

Amoun also shared that the impact of COVID-19 on the Dom community was devastating. Many  of the people usually work as day laborers and lost that option due to COVID-19. While the impact was terrible, Amoun and the Domari Society as well as others in the community worked hard to gather resources and disperse help to those in need. The Domari Society stayed open and worked even while most of the world had shut down. I am inspired by the work Amoun is doing, and I am looking forward to learning more during this summer.

I would like to learn more about the history of the Dom people and efforts made to preserve the Dom history, particularly since Amoun mentioned that to avoid discrimination, some of the younger generation will hide their identity. I think this is so unfortunate because each of us come from backgrounds that are fascinating, and we all intertwine in a way. People shouldn’t be shamed for their identity or their background, their history, where they come from, how they look, or anything of that nature.

So far, this has been a wonderful experience and I am looking forward to what is in store for the rest of the summer!

Until next time,

Jaya, DRC Summer Intern

The Dom of Gaza

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  Dom children of Gaza

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The conflict and violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians are in the headlines again. While I am concerned about the full scope of this conflict, my thoughts and prayers immediately go out to the masses of innocent victims, but especially to the Dom people, both in Gaza and in Jerusalem. The community in Gaza is doubly impacted by the bombings and by the shortages of food and medicine.

In the past month the DRC has responded to some critical medical needs in Gaza such as purchasing medicines and paying for medical procedures for an infant in danger of losing her sight due to a treatable skin condition. Shortages of medicines, as well as difficulties accessing medical facilities becomes even more critical when bombs are raining down.

I don’t pretend to have all of the answers to the political questions of the region, but exchanging death-dealing rockets doesn’t seem to be the best approach. So, here’s the type of question the DRC will try to answer in the Dom communities:

• Will there be anything to eat today?
• Can I get medicine for my children?
• What can I do to support my family going forward?

If you are interested in the answers to these questions, I invite you to give to the DRC Relief fund, as well as the Development fund. Right now the people need relief assistance as they deal with the immediate needs of the day, but in the near future they will be charting a path forward for the development of self-sustaining work.

The DRC has friends in these communities who see the needs first hand and feel the desperation of the people. They also know the skills and resources of the community and will be able to provide insightful counsel. The DRC’s part will be to compassionately invest in their lives and their future.

Allen

The DRC

While many Dom people believe that “to be born a Gypsy is to be born under a curse,” members of the DRC believe in the intrinsic value of each person–including each and every Dom individual.

So, when the DRC began we wanted to learn about and share information about this rather unheard of group of people in the Middle East and North Africa. While we have learned a lot about them and their culture, what we prize is the relationships that we have made and the opportunities to hear their stories and anticipate with them a future that goes beyond some sense of “living under a curse.”

On this website and in our blogs you will have an opportunity to hear some of those stories and also to hear about some of their dreams. We will present opportunities for you to give to support programs and projects that Dom leaders have described to us. I’ll share more about our approach to programs and projects in an upcoming blog, but for now, know this; during 2021 we are going to make a difference in the lives of several Dom communities, groups, and individuals, and no doubt, this engagement will enrich our lives as well.

I invite you to dialogue with me as I blog, as well as offer your comments on articles and posts. We don’t have it all figured out when it comes to sharing in the lives of marginalized people. Your experiences may teach us all some valuable lessons.

I’ve said, “I” and “we” a lot in this blog, so I should let you know who I and we are. That’s my next blog…

Allen