In Romania, for example, a lack of accountability means that it is sometimes hard to tell how well some projects work. During our visit to the country, we found that despite many schemes mounted by local and international NGOs, and millions of euros' worth of aid to the government from the EU, very little seems to have trickled down to poor Roma communities themselves. But in richer countries like Hungary and Poland such schemes have been so successful that a 'Roma renaissance' is in full swing, spilling into mainstream culture thanks to 'gypsy' musicians who play to packed houses in most of Europe's capitals. Of course not all Roma traditions are understood by outsiders. Begging, for instance, as was explained to us, is seen by Roma as simply another way of making a living and obeying the iron rule that everyone must work to help feed the family.
Some traditional communities expect their women to stand when serving their husbands.
A new generation of Roma children have to decide how much of their heritage to bring into the 21st century. At the heart of this renaissance is the notion of memory - what to preserve and what to forget. Fifty years after the murder of gypsies at Auschwitz, the Roma are coming to terms with the Holocaust and what it means to them. Many Roma cannot read or write and so many were killed that oral accounts of what happened are rare. Now, in a lonely corner of Birkenau, at the spot where Roma prisoners were kept, a small memorial has been built.