I’ve been related with Roma people since college. My boyfriend is a Romani guy! I remember my parents told me “we know you have contact with Roma people. But we don't want you to date one.” It was very funny when they found out.

Amaro Records started three years ago. The Masaryk University College of Social Studies in Brno did a research about Romani, as a socially excluded group. They concluded that Roma people had a lot of free time, and they needed to find activities that better fit their lifestyle in order to become more involved with the Czech community.

I studied in Masaryk, where you have to do social work. I’m a singer and musician, so I did mine voluntarily teaching music to Romani children. And it was like... seriously? How is it that these kids sing like this? It was a treasure to find them. Roma people have a big and incredible potential, but Czech society couldn't see that!

I really loved discovering them; they’re all passion, emotion and smiles (so am I). I think that’s why the music is the strongest part of their culture. It’s the essence of the Roma identity. I kept working with them after finishing college and, under the aegis of NGO IQ Roma Servis and Masaryk University College, we started to develop a community of Romani youngsters. People who wanted to work, who wanted to do something important with their music.

In IQ Roma Servis there was this colleague, a professional Romani musician. He worked with young people. He was very ambitious, so he constantly insisted that we had to build a recording studio. We always said no because of the money, because of time, because it wasn’t our area of ​​work. Because of whatever. But then Masaryk University published the study, so we decided to manage with some budget. IQ Roma Servis wanted to work with social business, social enterprise in addition to social work, to help people and also allow them to get work experience.

We started our research. We found this social recording studio in Barcelona that works with rap music, and we saw a chance. So we were like, "ok, this is possible! Let’s start a recording studio!." And so, Amaro Records was born. A music cafe and recording studio.

Since then, I manage the place. I come from a family full of musicians, that’s why I was the first person to put the musicians together. I made jamming sessions in Masaryk University, shows all over the city, took part in cultural festivals in Brno. We got Czech radio support. And the volunteers started to come. We started to built the place. They got free hours for recording or jamming in return.

The Romani go through difficult situations: drugs, money, aggression, poverty, unemployment. They’re open people, but it's a closed community. So we aim to help them get involved with something they can enjoy, like music, not only inside, but also outside of their community. It’ll let them grow and make a life change.

The studio works as a network of cultural exchange. It connects the Roma community with other Czech people, and others in general. They started opening up to other influences. At the same time, the music cafe provides job training positions. There’re baristas, cooks, waiters, which allow the Roma employees to gain work experience. They have basic education, they barely made highschool, so I like to see how they have evolved, the professionals they have become. I enjoy the world seeing how good they are, because they really have made something. The dream came true. It's just the beginning, but it’s amazing!

We found the way to connect people through music and to encourage development. And I love it!