Mishto avilyan!

Welcome to Romano Kopachi, the Romani Tree

My name is Ronald Lee. I am a Canadian-born Romani author, journalist, lecturer and folk musician.

The purpose of this site is not only to present my books, articles and CD, but also to promote the works of other Romani writers and scholars who are writing about Romani culture, identity and politics.

Roma have been defined by outsiders for too long. It is time for us to define ourselves!

"Ame le Rroma, sam ekh baro kopáchi kai si lês but kriyênzhi. Swáko kriyánga si ekh nátsiya thai swáko nátsiya si la but vítsi."

"We the Roma are a huge tree that has many branches. Each branch is a nation and each nation has many clans."

Romani refugee claimant while waiting for his hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Toronto, 2002.

This site does not represent an organization and is not a news site. The Roma Community Centre in Toronto serves refugee, immigrant, native-born and long-established Roma in the Toronto area. Their site contains resources for Roma in Canada. For news about Roma civil rights issues around the world, see RADOC's News and Resources page and the Roma Virtual Network (RVN).

Romano Kopachi receives no funding from any source. It is my own professional website.