In October, Dr. Yelis Erolova presented the results of her research on separated Roma families within the project in three different scientific forums.
Between October 3 and 6, she participated in an international conference of the Gypsy Lore Society in São Paulo, Brazil with a paper entitled ‘The Impact of Migration on Quality of Life: the Case Study of Roma Families Left-behind in Northeastern Bulgaria’. She focused on the positive changes in the lifestyle of the left-behind separated Roma families in several settlements in Bulgaria due to the increased incomes of Roma emigrants.
Between 19 and 20 October Dr. Erolova attended a scientific conference scientific conference ‘East-West: Religions, Centres and Peripheries’, organized by the Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Center for Religious Studies at the Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’. In her presentation, entitled ‘Religion, Mutual Aid and Donations between Roma Emigrants Abroad and the Rest of Their Relatives’, she drew attention to remittances and donations of Roma emigrants in Bulgaria that led to overcoming the ‘peripherality’ and ‘marginality’ of Roma neighborhoods.
Dr. Erolova’s next participation was in the conference ‘Readings in Memory of Prof. DSc. Tsvetana Georgieva: History and Anthropology’, organized by ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ from 26 to 28 October in Sofia. In her paper, named ‘Roma emigrants through the eyes of their relatives left-behind in Bulgaria’, she discussed the adaptation experience of Roma emigrants, the improvement of their living standards and the increase of their civic self-esteem, as well as the different forms of their charity through the stories of their relatives left-behind in Bulgaria.
In July-August 2023, Magdalena Slavkova conducted fieldwork in the town of Dolni Chiflik, the village of Staro Oryahovo and the village of Trastikovo, Varna region. She did in-depth interviews with three men and five women. Five of the interviewees are from the group of Romanian-speaking Rudari (Kopanari), one man is from the Romani group of Burgudzhii, and two of the interviews were conducted with Bulgarian women. Most interlocutors, who are Orthodox Christians and evangelical Methodist Christians, live in Bulgaria, three of them are returned migrants, and one woman lives with her family in Romania. During the interviews, questions were asked about the way of life of the “left-behind” in Bulgaria, their social and economic situation, how they perceive emigrants, what is their opinion about life abroad and how they communicate with their relatives abroad.
In July 2023, Plamena Stoyanova , PhD conducted a field study in the city of Ruse, focusing on families with multiple emigrants. The study was specifically centered around interviews with grown-up children and emigrated parents. During the interviews, it was noted that those who had not emigrated were firm in their decision to stay in the country, while the emigrated individuals had made a final decision not to return.
In late June 2023, Plamena Stoyanova, PhD conducted a field study in Yambol. The study focused on interviews with immigrant families who returned to Bulgaria while another family member emigrated. These interviews helped trace the dynamics of changing roles between those who returned and those who stayed. The study highlights an essential aspect of the research as many families in Bulgaria have multiple family members who emigrated, and not all of them leave for good. To get a more accurate picture of these relationships, interviews were conducted with multiple family members.
Magdalena Slavkova, a member of the project team, took part in the 16th Congress of SIEF (International Society for Ethnology and Folklore), which was held in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, from June 7 to 10, 2023 under subtitle “Living Uncertainty” (program is available at: 
Assist. Prof. Magdalena Slavkova, PhD, presented her topic ‘Paternal migration and the Gypsy/Roma children in school age’. The paper focused on the impact of parents’ migration on the school experiences of Gypsy/Roma children in Bulgaria and their well-being. For many kids whose father and mother are working in European countries such as Spain, Greece, Germany, or the UK, “home” meant the absence of parents and missing supervision relationships between parents and children. These kids usually stayed behind in the care of close relatives: grandparents or older siblings. This paper was based on ethnographic field research among different Gypsy families. Particularly, the text presented the specific case of Romanian-speaking Rudari, whose model of migration had differed, more or less from that of the other Gypsy groups and that of the Bulgarian population.
