Dream of high school education becomes reality for Ana Maria
Every child lives with the hope of having a happy life but the path isn’t always smooth. Ana Maria is a model for many youngsters – a girl who had to grow up before her time and shoulder a heavy burden.
Ana Maria, who is 16 and in the 11th grade is a teenager who has felt the love of her family but has also experienced moments of deep unhappiness.
Ana’s family lives in a small rural commune in southern Romania, 260km from the Romanian capital Bucharest, near the district of Valcea.
She lives in a basic three-roomed house with her father, sister and younger brother. Two of the rooms are very poorly furnished with two beds and a stove and the other is the kitchen. “We don’t have water at home- we go every day into the village to get supplies of water for drinking and washing”, she explains. The family’s assets consist of the small home, vegetable garden and chickens and geese.
”My mother died when I was 13 years old. I was only a child and I suffered a lot. But I realised that I have to be strong for my father and my brothers", says Ana. Ana has assumed the role of mother in the family, especially for her brother who was very young when their mother died.
”My mother died when I was 13 years old. I was only a child and I suffered a lot. But I realised that I have to be strong for my father and my brothers" Ana travels by bus to school into town every day with her sister. She wakes up every morning at 5:30am, prepares breakfast for her family and gets her little brother ready for school. She returns back home around 3pm and helps her father with the housework. Because of his illness, her father needs all the help he can get to keep the home running.
And running the home on just US$250 per month – the sum of her father’s pension, is no mean feat. In Romania the average monthly income is US$300.
Ana’s father relies heavily on her and is outspoken of his pride in all she does. “If it hadn’t been for Ana I wouldn’t have the strength to go on with my life since my wife passed away. When we are ill she looks after us, when we are hungry she feeds us and when we feel alone she comfort us. This family is her world”, says her father.
But education is also very important to Ana. When Ana graduated the 8th grade with high marks and a keen attitude to learn, she was awarded a World Vision Romania scholarship grant in May 2007. A Romanian sponsor provides US$36 per month in order to cover boarding school expenses. Ana prefers to remain at home to care for her family, so the sponsorship covers her commute to and from school.
”I used this money [scholarship] many times to pay my bus fare to school, to buy books or goods for my family” Without World Vision’s scholarship, Ana wouldn’t be able to attend high school. She would remain at home to take care of her family because her father doesn’t have enough money to send all three children to school in town.
Ana would be among the 3 out of 4 children in rural areas that don’t attend high school.
”I used this money [scholarship] many times to pay my bus fare to school, to buy books or goods for my family”, says Ana, who is among 76 children in Valcea that received World Vision scholarships to attend high school.
The ‘I want to be in the 9th grade’ scholarship project aims to support children in rural areas to continue their high school education and attend vocational schools in urban areas. The project also promotes the role of education to children and their parents.
World Vision also provides material support to scholarship students. “I received clothing, school supplies and Christmas gifts. The moral support was very important for me and it came when I most needed it. This support came from the project coordinator – Irina Dumitrescu”.
”From the moment I met Ana I felt that she needed help and encouragement. I spent a lot of time with her, discussing about her family, the aspirations and dreams of an adolescent who had to grow up too early. She is ambitious, she learns very well and she understood the importance of education”, says Irina Dumitrescu – scholarship project coordinator from the World Vision Romania board Valcea.
Romania is ranked third place in Europe for its school drop out rate according to a recently published European report, with poverty cited as the main cause of school abandonment. Annually 2.5% of rural students give up on school because of a lack of money or because they need to help their parents in the household.
Now Ana is determined to look ahead – hoping to enter university and have a good career.
“My dream is to become a student at the Police Academy to support my family in the future. If I succeed my mother will be proud of me and smile in the sky”, says Ana.
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Ana Maria, who is 16 and in the 11th grade is a teenager who has felt the love of her family but has also experienced moments of deep unhappiness.
Ana’s family lives in a small rural commune in southern Romania, 260km from the Romanian capital Bucharest, near the district of Valcea.
She lives in a basic three-roomed house with her father, sister and younger brother. Two of the rooms are very poorly furnished with two beds and a stove and the other is the kitchen. “We don’t have water at home- we go every day into the village to get supplies of water for drinking and washing”, she explains. The family’s assets consist of the small home, vegetable garden and chickens and geese.
”My mother died when I was 13 years old. I was only a child and I suffered a lot. But I realised that I have to be strong for my father and my brothers", says Ana. Ana has assumed the role of mother in the family, especially for her brother who was very young when their mother died.
”My mother died when I was 13 years old. I was only a child and I suffered a lot. But I realised that I have to be strong for my father and my brothers" Ana travels by bus to school into town every day with her sister. She wakes up every morning at 5:30am, prepares breakfast for her family and gets her little brother ready for school. She returns back home around 3pm and helps her father with the housework. Because of his illness, her father needs all the help he can get to keep the home running.
And running the home on just US$250 per month – the sum of her father’s pension, is no mean feat. In Romania the average monthly income is US$300.
Ana’s father relies heavily on her and is outspoken of his pride in all she does. “If it hadn’t been for Ana I wouldn’t have the strength to go on with my life since my wife passed away. When we are ill she looks after us, when we are hungry she feeds us and when we feel alone she comfort us. This family is her world”, says her father.
But education is also very important to Ana. When Ana graduated the 8th grade with high marks and a keen attitude to learn, she was awarded a World Vision Romania scholarship grant in May 2007. A Romanian sponsor provides US$36 per month in order to cover boarding school expenses. Ana prefers to remain at home to care for her family, so the sponsorship covers her commute to and from school.
”I used this money [scholarship] many times to pay my bus fare to school, to buy books or goods for my family” Without World Vision’s scholarship, Ana wouldn’t be able to attend high school. She would remain at home to take care of her family because her father doesn’t have enough money to send all three children to school in town.
Ana would be among the 3 out of 4 children in rural areas that don’t attend high school.
”I used this money [scholarship] many times to pay my bus fare to school, to buy books or goods for my family”, says Ana, who is among 76 children in Valcea that received World Vision scholarships to attend high school.
The ‘I want to be in the 9th grade’ scholarship project aims to support children in rural areas to continue their high school education and attend vocational schools in urban areas. The project also promotes the role of education to children and their parents.
World Vision also provides material support to scholarship students. “I received clothing, school supplies and Christmas gifts. The moral support was very important for me and it came when I most needed it. This support came from the project coordinator – Irina Dumitrescu”.
”From the moment I met Ana I felt that she needed help and encouragement. I spent a lot of time with her, discussing about her family, the aspirations and dreams of an adolescent who had to grow up too early. She is ambitious, she learns very well and she understood the importance of education”, says Irina Dumitrescu – scholarship project coordinator from the World Vision Romania board Valcea.
Romania is ranked third place in Europe for its school drop out rate according to a recently published European report, with poverty cited as the main cause of school abandonment. Annually 2.5% of rural students give up on school because of a lack of money or because they need to help their parents in the household.
Now Ana is determined to look ahead – hoping to enter university and have a good career.
“My dream is to become a student at the Police Academy to support my family in the future. If I succeed my mother will be proud of me and smile in the sky”, says Ana.
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