Jarovnice, Slovakia ? Martin Kaleja-Januv is 18, but he still returns to primary school several times a week to paint, an escape from joblessness and hopelessness in Slovakia’s largest Gypsy settlement.

Vividly colored artworks by Kaleja-Januv and other local Gypsies – filled with the magic and hardship of being a Gypsy, or Roma, in a sometimes-hostile country – have been shown around the world and have won competitions and have been used as illustrations.

A collection of Gypsy paintings, including some from Jarovnice, is on display through December in the President’s Gallery of the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

“I’m at home and have nothing else to do,” Kaleja-Januv said. “So I’d rather come here to paint.”

Paintings and mosaics made from eggshells – a throwback to times where there was no money to buy paints – give spark and a dash of color to Jarovnice’s grim-looking primary school. Displays showcase medals the children have won for their artworks, and dot-covered maps pinpoint where their works have been shown – faraway places most will never have the luxury of visiting.

Unlike other schools, where parents financially support their kids, donors provide money for Jarovnice’s paints, paper, pencils and notebooks. The school has no Web access, so art teachers like Jan Sajko visit Internet cafes to see where students’ works are popping up outside Slovakia.

“We teach and encourage them to learn … that it will pay off in the future,” said Sajko, who is not a Gypsy.

The settlement in eastern Slovakia became sadly known four years ago when the usually sleepy Svinka stream violently flooded, killing 50 Gypsies.

While others in this country of 5.4 million eagerly await membership in NATO and the European Union, which they expect will boost living standards, Kaleja-Januv doesn’t share their hope. Neither does his works, which “most of all express suffering.”

As a Gypsy, he doesn’t have to go far for that kind of inspiration.

A patron views a sculpture at a museum in the village of Cunovo in the outskirts of Bratislava, Slovakia. The display at the museum involves the works of renowned Macedonian artist Kiro Urdin as well as the works of plastic arts of Slovak artists.

The settlement’s 3,050 inhabitants live in brick houses or in huts pasted together from wood and mud, spare sheets of iron and other junk. Most aimlessly wander the muddy streets. Nearly all are unemployed and live on government handouts. Alcoholism and other troubles are widespread.

Gypsies make up eight to 10 percent of Slovakia’s population, forming one of the largest Roma populations in Europe. Many Slovaks take a dim view of Gypsies, contending they are responsible for their own problems.

Unlike those in other countries, many live in segregated settlements on the outskirts of villages and towns. Their exclusion from mainstream society hampers their access to jobs, education and public services, contributing to deep pockets of poverty in the midst of a relatively well-off country, the World Bank said in a recent report.

Enter art, which has provided a creative outlet for the 713 children in Jarovnice’s first primary school.

“It’s extremely important to have an opportunity to organize a gallery exhibition of the children’s own artwork … it has a great deal of influence on development of their feelings of self-confidence, self-worth,” said Sajko, who for the past 16 years has reintroduced them to old Roma traditions, folklore and history.

But Sajko and the school’s director, Jozef Bugna, are discouraged at the bleak future facing most of their young charges, most of whom will not pursue a higher education – let alone secure a career in art or other professions.

“When I see a kid who has won prizes, and then I see him drunk, it’s very sad,” Sajko said. “There are many talented families, but it often ends as it does.”