in Romania whether you believe in magic or not witchcraft is getting its very first [Music] school led by a woman who claims to be Europe's most powerful witch thousands could follow in her footsteps sparking hope for some from others but this so-called witch thinks her school will be a Lifeline for Romania's most impoverished and vulnerable women I want to find out if she's [Music] right I've come to mosay a town on the outskirts of Romania's Capital Bucharest to meet Maha a self-proclaimed witch who says she has been practicing magic for over 40 years hi hi
nice to meet you I was greeted by one of her daughters who introduced me to Maha hello hello how are you how good the woman considered to be Romania's most famous witch it's earned her a comfortable living but her wealth is the exception rather than the rule like most other so-called witches she's from the minority Roma Gypsy Community half of which live below the poverty line in Romania witchcraft is a device issue in 2011 witches protested when parliamentarians proposed to tax them but other politicians have tried to ban the practice of magic [Music] altogether like
many Roma women Maha faced obstacles acquiring a formal [Music] education it's an ambitious dream but it's not without its critics and the school isn't eligible for any government funding have you experienced any resistance from anyone since trying to open the school and if so who [Music] for [Music] Romania it's huge Maha says her plans for the school are to provide struggling Roma women who have few employment opportunities with refuge and training in witchcraft it's almost Majestic It's a grand you can imagine all the girls and the women that are sleeping here that are learning here
they have to look up physically and it just gives you a real sense of awe and power there's lots of light coming in to the school so this will be one of the classrooms through here Maha says she won't charge for this education and will fund the school via a museum on the ground floor she hopes it will attract International tourists buying traditional witchcraft paraphernalia she says the € 250,000 Euro construction cost has been funded by donations from the Roma diaspora and how many witches can this school accommodate this is just the bare bones of
the school it's just the plain structure but you can really see the intention and the ambition of this place [Music] later that evening Maha and her daughters invite me to a fire ritual which they perform once a week I can see down at the bottom we have materials ha what do these representa say she practices a Romanian version of an ancient form of Witchcraft that the Roma brought with them when they migrated from India to Europe over 1,000 years ago she claims to be a third generation witch thought to be one of thousands in the
country Maha says she has foreign clients traveling from as far a field as Tel Aviv in New York she can charge hundreds and even thousands of Euros for her rituals which she claims can solve people's problems in love life money and health [Music] in the UK it's estimated just 10% of people believe in witchcraft compared to around 50% in Romania but despite its strong following hair powerful institutions still oppose the practice I'm on my way to the city of constanza on the Black Sea where a local priest has an un usual method for calling out
what he sees as a disingenuous practice hello he used his local radio show to expose other self-proclaimed witches the church has traditionally condemned Witchcraft and its practice was banned during the Communist era in a country where around 85% of the population classify themselves as Orthodox Christians this is our church the words of Father aen tanasescu are influential to many so what does he make of M plans for witch [Music] School the owner says that the school will be a place of cultural heritage and tradition for Roma what are your thoughts on that this kind of
discourse uh it's Heritage it's culture it's about is not good because uh not tell me about True Value it's alterated value this is not value [Music] it's clear father tanasescu doesn't approve of Witchcraft but I want to know if a witch school could be beneficial to its students what kind of women will be attending back on Mahala Street I visit a local Roma woman who had a hard start to life Anna is a 27-year-old Mother with three children an abuse Survivor how you doing who also suffers from multiple sclerosis making it difficult for her to
work certain types of jobs she describes herself as a witch in training so tell me how did you hear about the school like 68% of Roma children in Romania Anna dropped out of school early poverty discrimination and as in Anna's case early marriage are said to be common causes she now works as a cleaner for a wealthy plastic surgeon what are some of the Practical benefits of being uh entrepreneurial self-employed witch as a mother of three for do you believe that you were born a witch whether witchcraft is real or not women like Hannah do
believe maha's school could have tangible benefits despite all the health conditions that Anna has it's clear that she's a really strong woman you can understand why a woman like her has been drawn to the witch school she doesn't have much of an education there wouldn't have been many opportunities for her in a traditional employment setting so this school the witch school is really helping a specific type of woman and that's a woman who's really been left behind in this Society Anna's witchcraft training may be an unusual route to employment but her lack of Education points
to a broader problem that's affecting hundreds of thousands of Roma taking on that problem at the source is an organization called aromia how you doing good they're a Roma feminist NGO operating across the country to try and keep Roma girls in school I've come to meet them in Bucharest to find out why so many Roma women drop out we have in Romania a history of slavery 500 years so therefore we have a history of Oppression Roma girls are always the the the subject of mockery of humiliation of insults since you are a girl you are
told by your teacher that your purpose in life is to get married because all of your Rome are the same and this by default you know decreases your desire to go to school as there is not not an inclusive one then second as long as you come from a family with very poor housing condition and in general with a poor situation the harder it is for you to go to school I joined Carman on a 4-Hour Drive North of Bucharest to the dry Valley known in Romanian as Vala seela to meet one of the Roma
communities era maner is working with on educational programs and scholarships CH unlike the witch school carman's team is meeting local women to come up with projects that will keep the girls in traditional schools giving them a broader range of skills to thrive later for I met with Alisa and Elena two young Roma women who received scholarships from the NGO to complete their high school education but even with that support their Journeys weren't [Music] [Music] easy for it's not been possible to verify the experiences of Alisa and Elena but various studies say that institutional discrimination can
hold back Roma students and need to high Dropout rates through the scholarship you've got access to education what can that education do for [Music] you talking to these young women it's understandable why and how many Roma are discouraged from continuing with school and why Maha believes her alternative education at the witch school is so important we asked the ministry for education for an interview to respond to the concerns about school dropout rates amongst Roma but they weren't available back in mosay trainy which Anna is already putting her skills to use her client Elina is curious
to know what her baby's future holds tarot readings like this can make her up to €50 a session but until she's graduated she can't pursue more profitable rituals so how long have you been seeing Anna [Music] for Anna's client seems relaxed about her reading treating it more like therapy than a ritual [Music] back at the witch school plans are coming into place maha's husband manx is overseeing the construction and today Maha has decided to initiate the School's First Student in a ceremony claiming to formally Bond Anna to the powers ofa's family [Music] [Music] amen Maha
claims this ritual will bring Anna one step closer to coming a fully fledged [Music] witch congratulations Anna how are you feeling do you feel any different [Music] whether you believe in magic or not a school for witches could give Roma women like Anna and much needed Lifeline using aspects of Roma identity to empower young women is a novel approach but it remains to be seen whether the school can overcome the naysayers who think witchcraft is an Abomination that is giving women false hope at the very least the school highlights a dire need to break the
cycle of discrimination inequality and missed opportunities which has Afflicted Roma women for Generations [Music] [Music] Je that
