The driving concept behind BIZOAGOR was to put something back into the Rroma community. Apart from documenting the marriage of Marc�s composing skills, Gjunlers writing and Parne Gadjes flair for getting it right, the whole idea of the project was to raise money for the Rroma schools in the enclave of Sjutka, Gjunlers birthplace, a satellite tin-shack city on the outskirts of the Macedonian capital.
The proceeds of BIZOAGOR have led to the publishing of the first ever school book in the Rroma language, and the book itself has now gone into its 2nd pressing with interest not only from the schools of Sjutka but also from the Macedonian education department.
We are proud of our involvement in this and overjoyed to see the influence of the Bizoagor project spreading like this. Part of the problem in the beginning was finding a suitable target for the funds and having on the ground know-how in Sjutka ready and able to make it work. Parne Gadje�s Marc Constandse made several trips to Sjutka with Gjunler to organize this. In the process he appeared on Rroma radio and on international Rroma television where he had the honor of being asked to perform the Rroma anthem Djelem Djelem live to air by community leaders.
5,000 copies of the book are now in circulation, not only in the schools of Sjutka, but in Rroma settlements all around Macdonia. The Macedonian authorities have also accepted the book as part of the education curriculum and Rroma kids are now learning at school in there mother tongue for the first time ever. We hope it keeps growing. The book was written and published by Rroma writers and educators living in Sjutka.
