New shoes for school for Roma boy

Četvrtak, Juni 15, 2006
“I had to sell the apartment. We had to eat something” says a thin, poorly dressed man in his 40’s.

With nowhere else to go, the poorest of Gherla’s families moved near the local graveyard, where “temporary” shelters sprang up like mushrooms. Made of clay and scrap materials they offer little protection against the ravage of Romanian winter.

These people do not have running water, or any kind of sanitation. The misery inside their homes and outside the narrow streets is overwhelming.

It’s spring and the season is rainy. Mud covers everything. Dirty poodles fill in the unpaved streets. The air smells of fermented mud and no one seems to care about the unhealthy environment. Some of the children are walking barefoot even if the earth is still cold from the prolonged winter. One little boy wears one shoe of one kind on one foot and a shoe of another kind in the other.

“I don’t like this place. This is a waste land” says 14 years-old Alexandru in a serious voice.
“I wish that I could live somewhere else; in a cottage, in the countryside maybe, or in Cluj, in a block of flats”.

Alexandru draws a house and some flowers on a paper. His sun is childishly composed: eyes, nose and a mouth. The mouth is a stern curve, showing a sad sun, not a happy one, like the ones usually drawn by children.

Alexandru can hardly be referred to as a child anymore. He is 14 but he is rather small for his age. Malnourishment takes its toll among these children.

Alexandru can hardly be referred to as a child anymore. He is 14 but he is rather small for his age. Malnourishment takes its toll among these children “I wish to become a teacher” announces Alexandru after a short time of thinking. He knows very well the steps to be taken in order to fulfill this dream: “You have to go to high school and then to the University in order to become a teacher”.

Everybody in the area knows that going to school is vital. This is the only way to obtain a qualification and find a job. Even so, they cannot fight the situation and surpass the consequences of their extreme poverty.

Only 9 children out of 30 of age are actually frequenting school in the area.

“Poor children don’t have things they need to go to school, ” says Alexandru’s mother, Domnita, trying to explain the phenomenon. “They don’t have shoes and clothes. They are ashamed to walk in broken shoes or wear rags. The other children would tell them ‘Go away, gypsy’!”

Even so, Domnita encourages her children to study. She regrets now that she did not send her older boys to school but she sustained 15 years-old Rozalia to finish 8 grades. Monica, 10, is a 3rd grade student, while Alexandru is a 5th grade one.

Alexandru likes Geography more than other classes because the teacher is young and knows how to interact with children: “She makes us laugh, she jokes with us. I like being there, in the class”.

The boy does not know the difference between a city and a country but he knows that the Earth is round…”The teacher asked me where China is and I didn’t know. But I knew how to draw the Earth. It’s shaped just like a ball” says the boy smiling thoughtfully.

Alexandru likes Math too because he feels confident about additions and subtractions. Plus that Math proves its utility in the real life: “I use Math when mom sends me to buy things from the grocery”. It’s good to know how to calculate!

Some of the children are walking barefoot even if the earth is still cold from the prolonged winter. One little boy wears one shoe of one kind on one foot and a shoe of another kind in the other “I hope that school will help Alexandru find a job when he grows up. He’s doing fine in school, he knows to write, read and make calculations” says Domnita, proud of her son.

World Vision’s Children of Romania project concentrates on preventing abandonment in maternity and pediatric hospitals from the small towns of Cluj County. The social worker goes to the new mother’s homes on a monthly basis and brings in food, clothes, even shoes. Alexandru is one of the children that receive constant support from World Vision.

Today he received a pair of shoes and school supplies.