WORKING IN THE SHANTY TOWNS

Iasi, NE Romania

Conditions are very bad and most houses do not have running water – it must be fetched from a well in the street. No electricity – candles are used which are particularly dangerous. No heating -, wood has to be gathered before a house can be made warm. Children are being born and growing up in these towns and know no other life.

Link Romania’s team reach out a helping hand to the poor and in particular shanty town residents such as those that live in ‘Dallas’ on the outskirts of Iasi. Although we can question some of the decisions that residents of the shanty town make unless we have suffered as they have or experienced their extreme poverty then it difficult to understand.

A Families problems – November 07

A family that we have close ties to live in Dallas Shanty town. The 2 parents and the 9 children, have gone through difficult circumstances lately and because of the fathers health and their extreme poverty, the parents felt they had no choice but to try to get some work abroad.

The 9 children were left in the care of a neighbour. During the period, the FLRM social workers visited the children on several occasions. They noticed the negative impact of the parents’ departure. The neighbour that is supposed to take care of the children has alcohol issues and the social workers found her drunk, while the children were hungry and dirty. The neighbour wasn’t cooking for them, the children had to try to cook on their own. This is how a 5 year old ended up trying to hold a knife and peel the few potatoes they had. The one who was affected the most by the departure of the parents was the eldest daughter (12). She tries to take care of all her siblings, including the youngest daughter (2).

Our social workers urgently got in touch with the parents and informed them about the very serious situation of their children. Appalled at what they learned, the mother come back home immediately. She stated that she would never leave her children again and she would not leave them in the care of strangers.

Poverty drives us to extreme measures sometimes. Over 12,000 children in the Iasi area are without one of their parents, 6,000 children have no parents at home at all and are looked after by siblings and grandparents.

Link Romania need you to help fund these projects. If you are able please either donate on-line for a one off payment or set up a standing order for £20 a month to support a family in the Shanty Towns.

We would also value your prayer for this project.