The road of migration
For centuries, the Roma lived a nomadic life. Setting out, most probably, from South Asia, they travelled as far as Europe and the Americas, carried by the hope of a better life. That journey is part of who they are.
Ongoing project
Baro Drom – the great road
We work so that young Roma today can have a better future than the one their parents were given, and for a society in which no one is judged by their ethnicity.
About the project
What is Baro Drom?
Baro Drom is a project of the Phoenix Renaștem Vise Association, dedicated to educating the young generation of Roma, to supporting genuine inclusion strategies and to reducing racism.
In the Romani language, baro drom means “the great road”. It is the long road the Roma have travelled over the centuries, and also the road that lies ahead: towards education, towards inclusion and towards a healthy relationship between the majority and the Roma minority.
The project grew out of a conviction that the future of Romania’s Roma must not be left to chance. Too many well-written strategies have made no difference to people’s lives, and too many talented children have left school before finding out what they could have become.
Our association provides the framework through which the project carries out its activities. Baro Drom and the association are represented by Laurențiu Tudorache, attorney-at-law.
The project also has its own website, with pages on Roma history, crafts and music: barodrom.ro (opens an external website)
What the name means
One name, three roads
For us, “the great road” has three meanings, and each of them describes part of what we do.
The road of education
Today the Roma have another long road ahead of them: the highway of education. Through school they can make the most of their potential and their talents, and children can grow up free to choose who they want to become.
The road against racism
A road that has to be started from both ends: the majority should become more tolerant and support inclusion through deeds, not just documents, while the Roma community should make a real effort towards education and integration.
The project’s mission
What we work for
Three directions that support one another. Without education there is no inclusion, and without mutual respect no programme bears fruit.
Educating the young generation of Roma
We believe that educating today’s children and young people changes the future of the generations to come. We bring them closer to school, to university and to people who can be role models for them. We show them that they have every right to make big plans.
Strategies for genuine inclusion
Inclusion cannot be done from behind a desk. We support solutions worked out together with communities, tailored to each place, with concrete steps and visible results – not promises repeated from one strategy to the next.
Reducing racism
Racism feeds on ignorance and prejudice. Through dialogue, through bringing people together and by showing the value of Roma culture, we work for a society in which the person matters, not the label.
In the field
Alongside children and young people
Through legal education, pupils from the commune of Cernica come to the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest. There they learn that the law concerns them directly and that the university is open to them.
Cernica, Ilfov
Legal education, outside the classroom
A group of pupils from the commune of Cernica walked through the doors of the Faculty of Law. Accompanied by their teachers, the pupils were welcomed by professors from the faculty, who explained, in terms they could relate to, what law is, how the justice system works and which careers open up to those who study it.
- The council room, where they listened to one of the faculty’s professors.
- The courtroom, where they saw how justice works. For a few minutes, some of them tried out the seats in the room.
- The great hall and the lecture theatres, where future lawyers are trained.
What stays with them: the knowledge that the law protects them too, the courage to ask questions and the idea that university is not off limits to them.
Event · 2 April 2026
Criminal law explained to pupils
On 2 April 2026, the faculty opened its doors once again. This time it welcomed eighth-grade pupils from Cernica and Tânganu, accompanied by their teachers. For almost two hours, they talked openly about:
- the offences most often committed by minors;
- what happens to a minor who breaks the law, and what the educational measures are;
- how to avoid becoming victims themselves.
The meeting took place at the initiative of our representative, Laurențiu Tudorache, attorney-at-law. Their hosts at the Faculty of Law turned a seemingly complicated subject into a conversation everyone could follow.
Gallery · Faculty of Law
Photos: Baro Drom. The children’s faces have been irreversibly blurred.
Our thanks go to the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest, to the professors who welcomed the pupils, to the teachers who accompanied them and to the parents.
From the archive
Roma craftsmen at Balkanik Festival
Through Baro Drom, two years running, in 2016 and 2017, we brought Roma craftsmen to Balkanik Festival in Bucharest, where they demonstrated live the trades handed down from father to son.
Balkanik Festival 2016 (opens an external website)
Our first time at the festival: jewellers, coppersmiths and other craftsmen worked as visitors looked on. Silver, copper and fire did the talking.
Balkanik Festival 2017 (opens an external website)
The “Atelier cu meșteri destoinici” tent – a workshop of skilled craftsmen – brought together coppersmiths, spoon carvers and paintings inspired by Roma life, under the motto “talent, passion and lots of hard work”.
The road against racism is travelled from both ends: each of us takes a step, until we meet in the middle.
Project contact
Want to join us on the road?
Schools, town halls, organisations, volunteers or people who simply believe in education: write to us and together we will find a way.
Messages sent to the project’s address go straight to the Baro Drom team.
For any other question about the association, you can find us on our contact page.