Struggling families move into new homes ahead of Romania’s winter
Each house has three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a 500 square metre yard. In every room there is a glazed-stove, every child has his or her own bed and the kitchens are complete with electrical equipment to warm the water.
Dry, warm and clean homes will help the children to live healthier and happier lives and will also offer conditions much more conducive to learning.
“Winter was the worst time. Inside the house it was so cold as my hands were freezing and I couldn’t write anymore. Now it is warm and good”, said Roxana, 8.
Winter was the worst time. Inside the house it was so cold as my hands were freezing and I couldn’t write anymore. Now it is warm and good Lacramioara and her brother lived in a house affected by floods, with damp and musty-smelling walls. “Because of the dampness, Lacramioara became sick with bronco pneumonia. Now, the children have good living conditions and new opportunities. They can even go to high school”, said Elena, mother of two. Their old house was located in Conacu, a small isolated village without a primary or high school. In Cobadin, where their new house is situated, there is a modern school and a good high school.
“In the old house, there was no electricity. After sunset, my sister and I were forced to do our homework by candle light. It was hard, but it’s over,” said Georgiana, 12. She and her sister lived in an abandoned apartment, without running water and electricity. The family used to gather sticks from the nearest forest to burn for warmth – with little success.
“Last winter, it was cold all the time inside the house. We were dressed with sweaters as we had been outside. Now, I stay dressed only in a jersey because we have a steam-generating station that functions with wood and we have insulated glass windows”, Georgiana added.
“What I like most is to take a shower bath with hot water, whenever I want. Before, my mother washed us in the trough, once in a week…And I like that there is no need to carry pails of water every day from our neighbour as we did in the past. We did not even have a tap in the old house”, said Madalina, 11. She remembers like in a bad dream, that sometimes on frosty days, the water would freeze inside the pail.
All the children love their houses. Some of them still find it hard to believe that they can call them ‘home’.
“I really expected to see an empty house, just with the whitewashed walls and no furniture. When I saw the wardrobes, beds, writing tables, I was so happy. Everything is new and beautiful”, said Ionut, 12. The bunk beds were a novelty for Ionut and his seven sisters and brothers. They ‘fight’ each other to win the beds on top so that they get the chance to climb the ladder.
Many people have given me a hand in my life, but nobody helped me like World Vision. Thank you! “My heart is full of joy when my children come home with their classmates to do their homework together. This was impossible to do when we lived six or seven people in a small room. After we moved in, all the children from our village came to see the house and climbed onto the bunk beds. The children are proud of their new house and relaxed”, said Mirela, mother of eight.
Emotional, she added: “This house is something wonderful, something I couldn’t do for my children in a life time, even working until an old age. Many people have given me a hand in my life, but nobody helped me like World Vision. Thank you”.
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Dry, warm and clean homes will help the children to live healthier and happier lives and will also offer conditions much more conducive to learning.
“Winter was the worst time. Inside the house it was so cold as my hands were freezing and I couldn’t write anymore. Now it is warm and good”, said Roxana, 8.
Winter was the worst time. Inside the house it was so cold as my hands were freezing and I couldn’t write anymore. Now it is warm and good Lacramioara and her brother lived in a house affected by floods, with damp and musty-smelling walls. “Because of the dampness, Lacramioara became sick with bronco pneumonia. Now, the children have good living conditions and new opportunities. They can even go to high school”, said Elena, mother of two. Their old house was located in Conacu, a small isolated village without a primary or high school. In Cobadin, where their new house is situated, there is a modern school and a good high school.
“In the old house, there was no electricity. After sunset, my sister and I were forced to do our homework by candle light. It was hard, but it’s over,” said Georgiana, 12. She and her sister lived in an abandoned apartment, without running water and electricity. The family used to gather sticks from the nearest forest to burn for warmth – with little success.
“Last winter, it was cold all the time inside the house. We were dressed with sweaters as we had been outside. Now, I stay dressed only in a jersey because we have a steam-generating station that functions with wood and we have insulated glass windows”, Georgiana added.
“What I like most is to take a shower bath with hot water, whenever I want. Before, my mother washed us in the trough, once in a week…And I like that there is no need to carry pails of water every day from our neighbour as we did in the past. We did not even have a tap in the old house”, said Madalina, 11. She remembers like in a bad dream, that sometimes on frosty days, the water would freeze inside the pail.
All the children love their houses. Some of them still find it hard to believe that they can call them ‘home’.
“I really expected to see an empty house, just with the whitewashed walls and no furniture. When I saw the wardrobes, beds, writing tables, I was so happy. Everything is new and beautiful”, said Ionut, 12. The bunk beds were a novelty for Ionut and his seven sisters and brothers. They ‘fight’ each other to win the beds on top so that they get the chance to climb the ladder.
Many people have given me a hand in my life, but nobody helped me like World Vision. Thank you! “My heart is full of joy when my children come home with their classmates to do their homework together. This was impossible to do when we lived six or seven people in a small room. After we moved in, all the children from our village came to see the house and climbed onto the bunk beds. The children are proud of their new house and relaxed”, said Mirela, mother of eight.
Emotional, she added: “This house is something wonderful, something I couldn’t do for my children in a life time, even working until an old age. Many people have given me a hand in my life, but nobody helped me like World Vision. Thank you”.
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