By Alexandra Banu, Alexandru Boicu, Alexandru Marian Stancu, Alina Bușă, Andreea Vidroi, Bianca Fieraru, Bogdan Petre, Denis Aptiș, Denis Boicu, Ionuț Dedu, Leila Aptiș, Mario Oncescu, Melisa Nicolae, Mihaela Chiscov, Nicoleta Mitran, Rebeca Tudorache, Selgean Aptiș, Ștefan Mutcu, Tudania Aptiș

In March and April 2016, for four weeks, several students in the elementary school number 136 from Ferentari district in Bucharest participated in a workshop held by members of the G.A.P team, where we have all shared our wishes, aspirations and ideas about the future of dwelling.

The children are members in the Alternative Education Club, founded in 2010 by Policy Center for Roma and Minorities association. We are grateful to Rodica Păun, Maria Militaru, Elena Feraru and George Goliță from the Alternative Education Club, and to Laura Verde, the school principal, for their help and assistance.

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The workshop took place in the classroom where most of the children learn. We played games, we drew, and we talked without anyone trying to teach something in particular to the others, and with the purpose to collectively explore the meanings and possibilities of ”inhabiting”. We rearranged the furniture, we sat on the floor, we hopped around, and we were noisy, trying to change the setting and functionalities of the classroom. Otherwise, these would have imposed a kind of discipline, authority and hierarchy dynamics that would have probably suggested to the children to guess what the adults were expecting from them, and possibly conform.

But even though we have claimed this space, we still haven’t managed to completely forget that we were at school. It was getting warmer outside, in the courtyard surrounded by high fences the trees were in bloom and the grass was springing.

We held the workshops on Fridays, after school, and after a whole week full of homework and responsibilities. At times we were all interested in the topics, but there were moments when it was clear that the children would have preferred to go outside and play (and so we did, all of us). There were times when the contributions were spontaneous and authentic, and others when the will to meet the expectations of the adults or the fear to fail, won.

The starting point was the idea that ”inhabiting” is not a concept exclusively related to private property, but is well connected to the spaces where we spend a significant amount of time together with others, spaces that should be equally provided for everyone. ”Home” is not just the room, the apartment, the house or the courtyard where we live together with our family, but also the school – where many children spend up to seven hours a day – and the playground they dream about when made to remain inside.

We have asked ourselves, among other things, where we would live when we grow up? What is a home and what is it good for? If it is ok for some people not to have a home? With whom would we like to live, besides our family? What is our dream playground like?

Below, some answers in words, drawings and collages.

(Laura Sandu and Mihail Dumitriu)

What is a home?

Laura: Let’s imagine I were an alien. I know nothing of this world, so I would like you to tell me, ladies and gentlemen, what exactly is a home? Can anyone tell me?

Toți: Me, me, me!

Rebeca: Everyone should live in a home.

Andreea: Everyone should have a house and live in it.

Laura: Live in it? What does it mean?

Andreea: Well, it means to have a place to stay when it snows, when it rains… A house has a roof, a bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom…

Laura: So a home provides shelter. But couldn’t we find shelter under a tree?

(laughter)

(a discussion between the children:)

• Of course we could…

• No, we couldn’t because when it rains, the leaves become all wet and rain pours on your head.

• But isn’t the house made of trees?

• Of wood you mean.

• It is the same!

• So, houses are made out of wood…

• A house can be made out of bricks, too!

• And of pigs. The kind that rain.

• No, that is impossible.

Do all people have a home?

Laura: Hey, can you tell me, do all people have a home?

Half of the group: Yeeees!

The other half: Noooo!

Ionuț: Not all people have a home!

Laura: But how is that possible, if you need it for shelter in bad weather?

Ștefan: Some people live on the streets.

Laura: So where do they get shelter? Where do they eat, where do they sleep?

Rebeca: They ask for money and with it, they buy bread.

Laura: Do you think it is right for some people not to have a home?

Half of the group: Yeeees!

The other half: Noooo!

Laura: Mișa, what do you think?

Mișa: If it is right? I think it is not right at all, everyone should have a roof over their heads. I am with this half of the group, that said nooooo.

Voices from the other side: I said no, too! I said no, too!

Laura: But why isn’t it right?

Alex: Because it is sad not to have a home! It is sad to not have a shelter when it rains, and no place to cook your food…

What we would like to have in our home?

Mișa: Today we are going to draw our dream home with everything we would like to have in it. The sheet of paper is the room.

Laura: What would you like to have in your home?

Ionuț: A fishtank with a fish, a bed, a carpet… a lot of stuff.

Laura: But if you think really, really hard, what would you most wish for in your home?

Ștefan: Aaa…a shaorma?

Laura: This is a huge bed, for five persons!

Alexandra: It is for the whole family.

Laura: And what do you most wish for in your room?

Alexandra: I mostly wish for a cat, but I don’t know if I can draw it.

Ionuț: This looks more like a dog. A catdog. Transformer.

Laura: Here is a supportive optimist!

Ionuț: My teacher said that if your writing goes up, you are also an optimist. And if it goes down, you are a pessimist.

Laura: What have you drawn? Ah, a bed and a TV set. What else would you like to have in your home?

Andreea: A table… a closet… for clothes… an armchair (but I don’t really know how to draw it) and…

Laura: So you have a rabbit in your room…

Alinuța: A fridge… a rabbit… windows…

Laura: What is in the fridge?

Alinuța: Mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes is my favorite dish. Should I draw the sun behind the windows?

Laura: Did you finish your drawing?

Ștefan: No, I need a ruler. What are you drawing there, Ionuț?

Ionuț: A carpet.

Ștefan: I am drawing a play station set.

Ionuț: Do you even know what that is?

Ștefan: I sure do.

Ionuț: Play station is the same as X-box.

Tudania: I would like a bunny. But I don’t know how to draw it.

What would our dream house look like and with whom we would like to live in it?

Ștefan: I wish for a big villa, with 20 kitchens! I would live in it with my friends, Oncescu and Alex. And we would have a biiiig swimming pool.

Ionuț: I would like a house with just two rooms and a kitchen and a bathroom, and with a big courtyard outside, and with chickens and stuff…

(”Goodness!” someone says. They all laugh.)

… and with dogs. Actually one dog… and a swimming pool.

Bianca: I would like a small house, not a villa. A small house. With two rooms. And I would love to have two pigs, one sheep and some chickens. And a garden…

Alex: I would love to have a villa and live there with my family and my friend, Oncescu.

Laura: Is there anyone else who would like to share a home with their friends?

All: Yes, meeeee!

Bianca: Yes, when I grow up, in the future (this is the right word, isn’t it?), I would like to live with my friend, Cristina, you don’t know her, and with Rebeca and with Andreea.

Andreea: I would like to have a house with two rooms, two kitchens, one toilet (they all laugh, including Andreea) and a flower garden.

Laura: Is there anyone who wishes to live in a flat, in a blockhouse when they grow up?

(confusion)

• I live in an apartment, on the second floor.

• I have never lived in an apartment!

Rebeca: I would like to live in a five bedroom villa, with a kitchen, a bathroom and very big garden with a lot of flowers.

Mișa: … together with your friends… (everyone laughs and several voices finish the sentence: ”Andreea and Bianca”.)

Marian: I would like a two room apartment. In a block of flats. Nothing more.

Mișa: Now let’s draw!

• Oh, no, I can’t draw…

• Great, I am an expert at drawing!