Little David Won’t Go to the Orphanage
Ioan Nistor talks slowly about his problems. His face is sunk and he looks worried. Ioan has three little children: six-month-old Claudia, three-year-old David, and four-year-old Maria. David has asthma and the doctor recommended a dry living place for him.
But the family home is far from being a dry, safe place for a healthy child, and certainly not for a three-year old, asthmatic one. The family lives in Gherla’s poorest neighbourhood, in one room made of clay, covered with cardboard and rusty tin. When it rains, the roof leaks and water infiltrates the walls. This summer, the exterior walls rotted due to the heavy rains and need to be rebuilt or protected somehow from falling apart.
David has asthma and the doctor recommended a dry living place for him.
But the family home is far from being a dry, safe place for a healthy child, and certainly not for a three-year old, asthmatic one The Nistor home is furnished with two beds and a stove. Some colourful balloons and a plush puppy are the only signs of children’s presence.
David’s baby sister Claudia is ill. Sweat covers her little face and last night she had fever. The mother, Katalin Teglasi (34), is worried about that. Katalin’s disposition changes when she receives World Vision’s diapers and powder milk for her baby. Even though she is still breastfeeding Claudia, her milk is not sufficient because she is not well nourished.
The family receives around US$30 a month help from the state, plus the children’s allowance which is US$7 per child, per month.
Apart from that, Ioan earns some money from gathering and selling wasted iron or working as a daily worker in constructions or in the fields – if he’s fortunate. His only chance to get hired in a factory is if someone who can guarantee his steadiness recommends him. Ioan hopes to get hired in the local chemical factory.
Katalin and Ioan are religious people and say they have put their trust in God. Although it seems that no one can fall lower than they already have, Katalin still has hope. She sees God’s hand in everything good that happens to her family.
Ioan received timber to fix the wall and tarred cardboard for the roof. He hopes to create a safer place for his children. Winters are harsh, with temperatures falling beneath zero degrees Celsius and having a proper shelter is vital for their survival. Ioan and Katalin are not married. They would have liked to become legally married but they don’t have the money for the official papers and medical tests. But their biggest dream is to escape their neighbourhood. They might have a chance to receive a small piece of land from the mayor’s office and build a small house if they get legally married.
But until their dream comes true they first have to deal with their present shelter. They have asked for help to buy construction materials and restore the most damaged wall of their home. World Vision offered them support.
Ioan received timber to fix the wall and tarred cardboard for the roof. He hopes to create a safer place for his children. Winters are harsh, with temperatures falling beneath zero degrees Celsius and having a proper shelter is vital for their survival.
* * *
No one should live in such poverty and misery as people do in the margin of Gherla. This is a small, provincial town in the north-west of Romania and one of its outskirts was invaded soon after 1990 by slanting cardboard and clay-made shackles, sheltering people without shelter.
The majority of them are gypsies or Roma people.
During the communist era, most of them used to live in flats, rented from the state. Due to the economic transition and changes, many local factories closed their gates and threw people on to the street.
For most of these people losing their jobs meant the beginning of desperation and poverty. So they started to sell their belongings and provisions in order to survive.
“I had to sell the apartment. We had to eat something,” is the dry explanation of a thin, shabbily dressed man in his 40’s.
Some people gave up their right of living in an apartment in exchange for a sum of money. Either way the result was the same: they ended up on the street, seeking shelter anyway from graveyards to empty buildings.
The Children of Romania project work to improve the lives of such poor communities, particularly in Area Development Programs (ADPs) in Cluj, Vilcea and Bucharest. Families receive diapers, food and clothes. Mothers are particularly grateful of the World Vision assistance because it benefits their children who remain healthy and are less at risk of suffering from illnesses.
This fall, Gift Catalogue funds enabled the project team to supplement their intervention in maternities, pediatric hospitals, poor rural areas and urban neighbourhoods. World Vision was able to offer an important support, consisting of diapers for mothers with little babies. Diapers were very much needed in those areas where access to water is still a problem. In some areas, people have to carry it for 500-metre distances.
The work that the Children of Romania team do means that in the long run, they are helping to prevent child abandonment, as the Nistor family can testify.
But the family home is far from being a dry, safe place for a healthy child, and certainly not for a three-year old, asthmatic one. The family lives in Gherla’s poorest neighbourhood, in one room made of clay, covered with cardboard and rusty tin. When it rains, the roof leaks and water infiltrates the walls. This summer, the exterior walls rotted due to the heavy rains and need to be rebuilt or protected somehow from falling apart.
David has asthma and the doctor recommended a dry living place for him.
But the family home is far from being a dry, safe place for a healthy child, and certainly not for a three-year old, asthmatic one The Nistor home is furnished with two beds and a stove. Some colourful balloons and a plush puppy are the only signs of children’s presence.
David’s baby sister Claudia is ill. Sweat covers her little face and last night she had fever. The mother, Katalin Teglasi (34), is worried about that. Katalin’s disposition changes when she receives World Vision’s diapers and powder milk for her baby. Even though she is still breastfeeding Claudia, her milk is not sufficient because she is not well nourished.
The family receives around US$30 a month help from the state, plus the children’s allowance which is US$7 per child, per month.
Apart from that, Ioan earns some money from gathering and selling wasted iron or working as a daily worker in constructions or in the fields – if he’s fortunate. His only chance to get hired in a factory is if someone who can guarantee his steadiness recommends him. Ioan hopes to get hired in the local chemical factory.
Katalin and Ioan are religious people and say they have put their trust in God. Although it seems that no one can fall lower than they already have, Katalin still has hope. She sees God’s hand in everything good that happens to her family.
Ioan received timber to fix the wall and tarred cardboard for the roof. He hopes to create a safer place for his children. Winters are harsh, with temperatures falling beneath zero degrees Celsius and having a proper shelter is vital for their survival. Ioan and Katalin are not married. They would have liked to become legally married but they don’t have the money for the official papers and medical tests. But their biggest dream is to escape their neighbourhood. They might have a chance to receive a small piece of land from the mayor’s office and build a small house if they get legally married.
But until their dream comes true they first have to deal with their present shelter. They have asked for help to buy construction materials and restore the most damaged wall of their home. World Vision offered them support.
Ioan received timber to fix the wall and tarred cardboard for the roof. He hopes to create a safer place for his children. Winters are harsh, with temperatures falling beneath zero degrees Celsius and having a proper shelter is vital for their survival.
* * *
No one should live in such poverty and misery as people do in the margin of Gherla. This is a small, provincial town in the north-west of Romania and one of its outskirts was invaded soon after 1990 by slanting cardboard and clay-made shackles, sheltering people without shelter.
The majority of them are gypsies or Roma people.
During the communist era, most of them used to live in flats, rented from the state. Due to the economic transition and changes, many local factories closed their gates and threw people on to the street.
For most of these people losing their jobs meant the beginning of desperation and poverty. So they started to sell their belongings and provisions in order to survive.
“I had to sell the apartment. We had to eat something,” is the dry explanation of a thin, shabbily dressed man in his 40’s.
Some people gave up their right of living in an apartment in exchange for a sum of money. Either way the result was the same: they ended up on the street, seeking shelter anyway from graveyards to empty buildings.
The Children of Romania project work to improve the lives of such poor communities, particularly in Area Development Programs (ADPs) in Cluj, Vilcea and Bucharest. Families receive diapers, food and clothes. Mothers are particularly grateful of the World Vision assistance because it benefits their children who remain healthy and are less at risk of suffering from illnesses.
This fall, Gift Catalogue funds enabled the project team to supplement their intervention in maternities, pediatric hospitals, poor rural areas and urban neighbourhoods. World Vision was able to offer an important support, consisting of diapers for mothers with little babies. Diapers were very much needed in those areas where access to water is still a problem. In some areas, people have to carry it for 500-metre distances.
The work that the Children of Romania team do means that in the long run, they are helping to prevent child abandonment, as the Nistor family can testify.
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