A Roma family’s struggle to stay together
“I was tempted to abandon Andrei in the hospital because of conditions we have at home”, says Sonia.
"I was thinking day and night about what is the best thing to do for him. I thought that at the orphanage he would have enough to eat, where to sleep, other conditions. But my husband didn’t agree to abandon him. He said that it is important for our family to raise our children together”, she shares.
The Floarei family lives forty kilometres from Ramnicu Valcea town in Romanian’s Valcea County, in a very remote village at the edge of a forest. For Sonia and her 35-year-old husband Mircea, who are both from the Roma minority group, their three children are their only joy.
I was tempted to abandon Andrei in the hospital because of conditions we have at homeTheir clay shack has a dirt floor, one bedroom and no electricity. All five family members share the two beds that occupy the sparsely furnished room. A stove, table and an old armchair are the extent of their furniture. The poverty and misery in the clay shacks here are evident at every turn.
“Our financial situation is desperate. None of us is employed. We live in a ruined house that we’ve paid in time, working in the field. All five of us live in one room; there we sleep and eat, as well. Now, because it is winter time, it is harder and harder day by day”, laments Sonia who has just US$55 a month in children’s allowances and social welfare to feed and clothe her family.
Family plays an important role in the day-to-day lives of Romanians. Children are considered important in a marriage and most families have one or two children. But young men and women from Roma families tend to marry earlier and have more children. Records from the hospital in Valcea show that every month more than half of all women who give birth are young Roma women under the age of 18.
Mircea, who works occasionally in the village says, “I come from a large Roma family, with 12 children. Our parents could not afford to support us at school, therefore now I cannot write or read. But I would like to see my children going to school, hopefully they will have a better future”.
A lack of money for clothing and books keeps up to 70% of Roma children out of school in Romania. An estimated 63% of Roma live below subsistence levels, and their life expectancy is up to 10 years below average. The Roma people have always been outsiders in Romania, but after the demise of the communist regime—which offered them some protection—they have become further marginalised.
This has both caused and is exacerbated by higher than average levels of poverty and unemployment, poor levels of education, and overcrowded living conditions.
One way in which the needs of Roma people have been neglected is in healthcare policy and research. Data on the health of the Roma people are scarce and fragmented.
Poor living conditions—including overcrowding and inadequate sanitation make Roma communities more susceptible to communicable diseases. Roma women marry at a younger age and have higher birth rates resulting in larger families compared with other ethnic groups. This, along with inadequate access to health care, unhealthy lifestyle, and a higher abortion rate, affects the reproductive health of Roma women and the health of children, who have high prenatal and infant mortality rates–up to four times higher than the rest of the Romanian population. Research on the prevalence of congenital disorders is limited, but estimates show that rates may be higher among Roma because of relative isolation and increased intermarriage.
Furthermore, a large number of Roma children are not registered at birth because of lack of awareness on the importance of registration or lack of funds. Children without birth certificates cannot access hospitals and medical dispensaries, cannot go to school and cannot receive a child allowance.
Ionut and Catalin, who were both born at home, were not registered at birth because Sonia and Mircea were not officially married at the time and they didn’t have the money to register their children. Andrei, who was born in the hospital after Sonia and Mircea were married, was registered at birth.
Even though all three children are now registered, Sonia and Mircea do not have the money to buy the nutritious food, vitamins and medicines that would prevent their children from contracting frequent colds and would also comfort them when they do get sick.
Catalin suffers from rickets; a softening of the bones, as a result of serious calcium deficiency, as well as iron. Both Catalin and Ionut also suffer from nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting).
“Our children catch a cold very often but I rarely take them to the family doctor. The Medical Center is far from home and even if I get a script, there is no money to buy the medicines. Neither I nor my husband know how to read or write and are afraid to give pills to our children I treat them with a cup of tea or hot milk (if we have it)”, says Mircea.
Lack of funds and lack of awareness also meant that Sonia went through her pregnancy with Andrei without a single visit to the doctor for blood tests or ultrasounds. She also didn’t take any extra vitamins or the additional folic acid necessary for healthy fetal growth and development.
A regular meal for the Floarei family consists of rice soup, onions and potatoes and very rarely meat. In many cases, the family goes hungry for days at a time. The youngest member is the ‘lucky’ one - at least he is still breastfed and receives some nutrients from his mother’s milk.
“I have been poor most of my life but I can never remember not having bread to eat”, says Mircea.
Sadly, this diet is all too common among Roma families in Romania. “Price rises are affecting Romanian communities and are limiting nutritional options and undermining coping mechanisms”, says Constantin Ionascu, Coordinator for the Civil Society Sector with World Vision Romania.
Despite the many obstacles, Sonia and Mircea’s firstborn child, Ionut, 8, is thriving in the first grade and although he studies by candlelight, Ionut is the best student in his class.
Dark-haired, with sparkling brown eyes and an intelligent look, Ionut’s quick, wonderful smile takes up his entire face. He loves to read and every morning he wakes up at 5 a.m. because he doesn’t have an alarm clock and he doesn’t want to be late for school.
Sometimes I feel ashamed because I have nothing to eat...“I enjoy school very much. There is nothing for me to play with at home. The other children from school laugh at me because I do not have a school bag or my shoes are torn. Sometimes I feel ashamed because I have nothing to eat and I keep to myself in a corner of our classroom”, he says.
“My mother cannot afford to feed me at school every day. Although the other kids tease me and call me ‘Roma’, I still go to school because I wish to learn and succeed in life and never have to work hard in the field as my father does”, adds Ionut.
“In our community there are many Roma children. Only a few of them attend school because of poverty. Despite the difficulties they face Ionut is a special child. He loves school and he\'s learning well", says Ionut\'s teacher.
World Vision staff learnt of the family’s struggles and also their desire to see their children educated. In order to help Ionut continue to go to school, World Vision helped Sonia and Mircea to cover their electricity costs, provided Ionut with clothes, school supplies, food and a clock to wake him up in the morning.
"Now I have, as other children, clothing and school supplies. I tasted chocolate for the first time and it was very delicious”, Ionut shares happily.
“If people from World Vision hadn’t helped us with clothes and shoes I couldn’t have sent my children to school. Now Catalin (3) can attend kindergarten. He is very happy and he learns a lot of poems and songs at the kindergarten”, says his mother Sonia.
World Vision staff have been working closely with the Floarei family, especially in the area of health, and are working with them on the process of registration so that the family can receive social assistance and medical help for the children.
Sadly, their situation is all too common in rural areas across Romania. As a result of low financing and social difficulties, many children and pregnant woman do not receive adequate medical services.
High rates of unemployment, alcoholism, malnutrition, and tuberculosis are found across Romania, but the situation is more severe among the Roma. Some Roma customs mean that they accept some aspects of health and social care, and they reject others. The prevalence of drug misuse among Roma is thought to be higher, and they are less likely to seek help for testing and counselling. The social situation of the Roma people is a stark reminder of the difficulties a minority population faces when they are discriminated against and stigmatised.
"I was thinking day and night about what is the best thing to do for him. I thought that at the orphanage he would have enough to eat, where to sleep, other conditions. But my husband didn’t agree to abandon him. He said that it is important for our family to raise our children together”, she shares.
The Floarei family lives forty kilometres from Ramnicu Valcea town in Romanian’s Valcea County, in a very remote village at the edge of a forest. For Sonia and her 35-year-old husband Mircea, who are both from the Roma minority group, their three children are their only joy.
I was tempted to abandon Andrei in the hospital because of conditions we have at homeTheir clay shack has a dirt floor, one bedroom and no electricity. All five family members share the two beds that occupy the sparsely furnished room. A stove, table and an old armchair are the extent of their furniture. The poverty and misery in the clay shacks here are evident at every turn.
“Our financial situation is desperate. None of us is employed. We live in a ruined house that we’ve paid in time, working in the field. All five of us live in one room; there we sleep and eat, as well. Now, because it is winter time, it is harder and harder day by day”, laments Sonia who has just US$55 a month in children’s allowances and social welfare to feed and clothe her family.
Family plays an important role in the day-to-day lives of Romanians. Children are considered important in a marriage and most families have one or two children. But young men and women from Roma families tend to marry earlier and have more children. Records from the hospital in Valcea show that every month more than half of all women who give birth are young Roma women under the age of 18.
Mircea, who works occasionally in the village says, “I come from a large Roma family, with 12 children. Our parents could not afford to support us at school, therefore now I cannot write or read. But I would like to see my children going to school, hopefully they will have a better future”.
A lack of money for clothing and books keeps up to 70% of Roma children out of school in Romania. An estimated 63% of Roma live below subsistence levels, and their life expectancy is up to 10 years below average. The Roma people have always been outsiders in Romania, but after the demise of the communist regime—which offered them some protection—they have become further marginalised.
This has both caused and is exacerbated by higher than average levels of poverty and unemployment, poor levels of education, and overcrowded living conditions.
One way in which the needs of Roma people have been neglected is in healthcare policy and research. Data on the health of the Roma people are scarce and fragmented.
Poor living conditions—including overcrowding and inadequate sanitation make Roma communities more susceptible to communicable diseases. Roma women marry at a younger age and have higher birth rates resulting in larger families compared with other ethnic groups. This, along with inadequate access to health care, unhealthy lifestyle, and a higher abortion rate, affects the reproductive health of Roma women and the health of children, who have high prenatal and infant mortality rates–up to four times higher than the rest of the Romanian population. Research on the prevalence of congenital disorders is limited, but estimates show that rates may be higher among Roma because of relative isolation and increased intermarriage.
Furthermore, a large number of Roma children are not registered at birth because of lack of awareness on the importance of registration or lack of funds. Children without birth certificates cannot access hospitals and medical dispensaries, cannot go to school and cannot receive a child allowance.
Ionut and Catalin, who were both born at home, were not registered at birth because Sonia and Mircea were not officially married at the time and they didn’t have the money to register their children. Andrei, who was born in the hospital after Sonia and Mircea were married, was registered at birth.
Even though all three children are now registered, Sonia and Mircea do not have the money to buy the nutritious food, vitamins and medicines that would prevent their children from contracting frequent colds and would also comfort them when they do get sick.
Catalin suffers from rickets; a softening of the bones, as a result of serious calcium deficiency, as well as iron. Both Catalin and Ionut also suffer from nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting).
“Our children catch a cold very often but I rarely take them to the family doctor. The Medical Center is far from home and even if I get a script, there is no money to buy the medicines. Neither I nor my husband know how to read or write and are afraid to give pills to our children I treat them with a cup of tea or hot milk (if we have it)”, says Mircea.
Lack of funds and lack of awareness also meant that Sonia went through her pregnancy with Andrei without a single visit to the doctor for blood tests or ultrasounds. She also didn’t take any extra vitamins or the additional folic acid necessary for healthy fetal growth and development.
A regular meal for the Floarei family consists of rice soup, onions and potatoes and very rarely meat. In many cases, the family goes hungry for days at a time. The youngest member is the ‘lucky’ one - at least he is still breastfed and receives some nutrients from his mother’s milk.
“I have been poor most of my life but I can never remember not having bread to eat”, says Mircea.
Sadly, this diet is all too common among Roma families in Romania. “Price rises are affecting Romanian communities and are limiting nutritional options and undermining coping mechanisms”, says Constantin Ionascu, Coordinator for the Civil Society Sector with World Vision Romania.
Despite the many obstacles, Sonia and Mircea’s firstborn child, Ionut, 8, is thriving in the first grade and although he studies by candlelight, Ionut is the best student in his class.
Dark-haired, with sparkling brown eyes and an intelligent look, Ionut’s quick, wonderful smile takes up his entire face. He loves to read and every morning he wakes up at 5 a.m. because he doesn’t have an alarm clock and he doesn’t want to be late for school.
Sometimes I feel ashamed because I have nothing to eat...“I enjoy school very much. There is nothing for me to play with at home. The other children from school laugh at me because I do not have a school bag or my shoes are torn. Sometimes I feel ashamed because I have nothing to eat and I keep to myself in a corner of our classroom”, he says.
“My mother cannot afford to feed me at school every day. Although the other kids tease me and call me ‘Roma’, I still go to school because I wish to learn and succeed in life and never have to work hard in the field as my father does”, adds Ionut.
“In our community there are many Roma children. Only a few of them attend school because of poverty. Despite the difficulties they face Ionut is a special child. He loves school and he\'s learning well", says Ionut\'s teacher.
World Vision staff learnt of the family’s struggles and also their desire to see their children educated. In order to help Ionut continue to go to school, World Vision helped Sonia and Mircea to cover their electricity costs, provided Ionut with clothes, school supplies, food and a clock to wake him up in the morning.
"Now I have, as other children, clothing and school supplies. I tasted chocolate for the first time and it was very delicious”, Ionut shares happily.
“If people from World Vision hadn’t helped us with clothes and shoes I couldn’t have sent my children to school. Now Catalin (3) can attend kindergarten. He is very happy and he learns a lot of poems and songs at the kindergarten”, says his mother Sonia.
World Vision staff have been working closely with the Floarei family, especially in the area of health, and are working with them on the process of registration so that the family can receive social assistance and medical help for the children.
Sadly, their situation is all too common in rural areas across Romania. As a result of low financing and social difficulties, many children and pregnant woman do not receive adequate medical services.
High rates of unemployment, alcoholism, malnutrition, and tuberculosis are found across Romania, but the situation is more severe among the Roma. Some Roma customs mean that they accept some aspects of health and social care, and they reject others. The prevalence of drug misuse among Roma is thought to be higher, and they are less likely to seek help for testing and counselling. The social situation of the Roma people is a stark reminder of the difficulties a minority population faces when they are discriminated against and stigmatised.
Share