It has been ten years since I graduated Roma Access Program (currently known as Roma Graduate Preparation Program). It is such an important part of my career, which not only shaped my academic ambitions, but also gave greater meaning to my Romani identity.
Before hearing about the program I was working as a trainer and volunteer promoter at UN Volunteers in Albania where I developed an interest in training and teaching. I knew I had to get back to studies, possibly in an English speaking university, if one day I wanted to see myself teaching at University. It was a hard decision to make at that time as I had to leave my job and make important family arrangements, but when I heard about the Central European University that was a temptation. The instructors and people working at the program were very supportive and created an enabling environment which was highly appreciated by all students. At RAP, for the first time, I could access scholarly writings from prestigious databases, which helped me develop academic and critical thinking skills and, eventually, make my transition from wanting an academic career into planning to get it. Besides academic skills, while at RAP, I also strengthened my understanding of Romani identity adding to it a sense of pride and communal responsibility.
Unlike today, ten years ago it was not common in my country, Albania, to hear of Roma students attending universities. Moreover, the few of us who managed to complete university and find a job, could not give a real meaning to our Romani belongingness. At that time, we felt small and unprepared for fighting against the prevailing stereotypes and distortion of Romani identity. This perspective has changed with many more students graduating RAP, every year. Being among the first Albanian students in RAP, I feel privileged to have had the opportunity for studying at a prestigious institution such as the Central European University, along with other Roma fellows who today work in leading positions in various sectors in Europe. It feels also great when our alumni community is growing with highly qualified Roma graduates from all over Europe and beyond.
As Nelson Mandela put it: "it always seems impossible, until it is done". And it is true that success often takes time, commitment and hard work, but as another proverb says – "if they did it, we can do it too" - and why not even better. Ever since I graduated RAP these words have been a motivation for me and I hope would also motivate new comers in the RAP alumni community.
Bujar Taho is a law graduate from Albania and a 2005 RAP alumnus who has just commenced his doctoral studies in comparative constitutional law at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Upon completion of Roma Access Program, Bujar got selected as a Fulbright scholar and obtained his Master of Laws degree in International and Comparative Law at the University of Pittsburg in the United States. From late 2007, Bujar started to work as legal counselor and University lecturer and soon after gradually built a career as project manager of several UNDP interventions on social inclusion of Roma in his home country, Albania. As he says, RAP experience proved itself worthy of leading him to a successful career path and making his way to doctoral studies.
Roma Access Program is in its tenth year of implementation and counts more than 200 graduates, most of whom are actively engaged in various sectors of public life and viewed as role models among their peers.