00:01Marian Vaduva is an IT specialist who develops software
00:05that is used in trains, airports and factories.
00:09Very few people know he's a Romani man.
00:20The majority of Roman people
00:23walk and sing in different formats.
00:29They are occupying the flowering,
00:33such as technology.
00:36I think I'm a species
00:43that has been passionate about this.
00:47The passion for technology
00:50and for exact science.
00:55Going to university and working as a software engineer
00:58wasn't an obvious career path.
01:01About 20% of Roma face discrimination at school.
01:05Marian was one of them.
01:09It was a bit nasty,
01:12because they took me from the show.
01:15I feel like I'm a bit more creative,
01:20more different.
01:22My kids said
01:25tig****, chocolate cake,
01:27n****, chocolate.
01:31And that's what I was doing at the moment.
01:35Especially the part of tig****.
01:38That hurt the most,
01:39because it targeted his Romani identity.
01:41His mother taught him and his sister
01:44to turn the taunts into motivation,
01:46which pushed him to study even harder.
01:49We all have had problems.
01:51But at the time,
01:53when the older children have been made,
01:55they have been.
01:57All the people around,
01:59who are farmers,
02:01who are farmers,
02:03who are farmers,
02:05and they have a bit of education,
02:06and they have respect.
02:08Right?
02:09That's right.
02:10That's right.
02:11That's right.
02:12That's right.
02:13That's right.
02:14That's right.
02:16That's right.
02:17That's right.
02:18That's right.
02:20Changing minds is not easy.
02:22According to FRA Europe,
02:24nearly 70% of Romanians
02:26are biased against Roma.
02:28But by high school,
02:30the bullying had stopped,
02:31and Marian had found a mentor.
02:33That's right.
02:34That's right.
02:35My teacher's music teacher
02:36has helped me a lot
02:38to discover music.
02:40She was like my second mother for me.
02:46She helped me a lot
02:48to go further
02:50with everything,
02:53with the university,
02:54with music,
02:56and she also made me connection
02:58with the people
02:59who I needed for the faculty.
03:03But his family,
03:04like many Romani families,
03:05faced serious economic challenges.
03:08In Romania,
03:0968% of Roma live in poverty,
03:11making access to education
03:13especially difficult.
03:14Scholarships
03:15are a massive help.
03:18We didn't have any chance
03:19without this bursa.
03:22It was like a lot of oxygen for us.
03:27Why?
03:28The scholarships
03:29didn't just cover tuition fees.
03:31They helped pay the bills, too,
03:32giving Marian the freedom
03:33to focus on learning.
03:34The scholarships didn't just cover tuition fees.
03:36They helped pay the bills, too,
03:37giving Marian the freedom
03:38to focus on learning.
03:39Some of Marian's colleagues are surprised to learn he's a Romani man.
04:06During his studies, Marian also volunteered,
04:16mentoring younger Romani students.
04:18That's how he met Georgiana Ionica,
04:21who was also granted a scholarship
04:23and now works at a non-governmental organization
04:25that supports young Roma.
04:26young Roma.
04:27What is the most important point about Roma?
04:28The most important point about Roma is when I say
04:29a student or a student or a student or a student or a student or a student or a student
04:33or a student or a student or a student or a student or a student or a student or a student.
04:34During his studies, Marian also volunteered,
04:35mentoring younger Romani students.
04:36That's how he met Georgiana Ionica,
04:37who was also granted a scholarship
04:38and now works at a non-governmental organization
04:39that supports young Roma.
04:40the most important point about Roma is when I say that a student or a student or a student
04:55is to get a condition,
04:57which is the limit of a student.
04:59The idea is that this is a limit
05:01which people see that they are in a student of Roma,
05:03because they do not have a 10-year class for a student of Roma.
05:08in roma marian not only challenged stereotypes he also inspired his younger sister to believe in
05:14herself she is starting college and like her brother wants to mentor the next generation
05:21these programs remain crucial
05:51especially since only 22 percent of young roma in romania finish high school scholarships
05:57mentorship and determination are the keys that open doors and give more romany students
06:04like marian a real chance to succeed
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