In the series “Successful Stories from Roma Medical-Social Mediators,” there’s a new narrative from Olena Rovzha. Professionally, she’s a nurse, and this greatly aids her in her work. Overall, Olena has been working with the Roma community since 1978. One can only imagine how many people she has helped during this time! But doing good is not a profession; it’s more of a calling. Therefore, Olena continues this challenging yet incredibly necessary activity. Currently, she works as a nurse in the pediatric department of a regional hospital in Uzhhorod.
As Olena tells, for six years now, there has been a Roma clinic near the local camp. The Roma community specifically invited her to work here. For the last three years, Olena has also been serving as a mediator. Her work has two main directions. First and foremost, she assists Roma in obtaining documents such as passports and birth certificates. The second direction is medical. Olena Rovzha explains:
“I assist doctors in calling Roma women to gynecologists, and men and women to general practitioners and pulmonologists. If there are serious illnesses, I refer them to Uzhhorod or Mukachevo and accompany them. In short, I assist Roma in everything.”
When asked which type of stories dominate her work as a mediator, Olena answers without hesitation:
“There are definitely more positive stories. For example, a recent case. An eight-year-old girl had certain heart problems. She needed surgery. Local facilities don’t perform such surgeries, so she had to go to Kyiv. I called the capital, arranged everything with the doctor, and told the mother how to proceed. The girl underwent surgery successfully. A year has passed since then. The girl feels well. I’m very glad that I could help her.”
Olena Rovzha shared another story related to obtaining passports:
“Here’s a story from this month: a woman born in 1979 had a Russian passport but wanted to get a Ukrainian one. We went to the passport office. An employee there told us that the woman had to cross the border to have the stamp in her passport. But she didn’t have the money for this trip. So I called Zemfira Anatoliivna Kondur, the vice-president of the ‘Chirikli’ Foundation, and she sent money for the woman’s travel expenses. I bought tickets for her, and she successfully made the trip and returned. In a few days, she’ll get her Ukrainian passport.”
To conclude our conversation, Olena Rovzha extends traditional wishes to her fellow mediators and to all Roma who read this publication. She answers succinctly and businesslike, as befits a person engaged in important work:
“The most important wish is good health, happiness, and success in their work!”
We can only join in these wishes.
P.S. The project “Expanding Opportunities for Roma Medical-Social Mediators in Ukraine” is implemented with the support of the “Roma Health” program of the ICF and the “Roma Program Initiative” of the International Renaissance Foundation. To learn more about the activities of Roma mediators, visit the website http://www.chirikli.com.ua/index.php/ua/biblioteka/item/43-romski-medychni-poserednyky-v-ukraini-dosiahnennia-vyklyky-mozhlyvosti and also on the Legal Space website http://legalspace.org/index.php/ua/romski-poseredniki-u-sferi-okhoroni-zdorov-ya.
