ROMANIA ORPHAN LINKS:
BACKGROUNDROMANIA ORPHAN PICTURES 1
ROMANIA ORPHAN PICTURES 2
ROMANIA ORPHAN PICTURES 3
ROMANIA ORPHAN PICTURES 4
HAND MADE BRACELETS BY ROMANIA ORPHANS FOR SALE
CLAUDIA'S STORY: AN ORPHAN GIRL
CONTACT FOR ORPHANS IN ROMANIA
Added 1/14/06
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Romanian Orphans / Street Kids
is devoted to the orphans of
Iasi, Romania
OK, it is time to add to this site. The pictures and stories are REAL (but several years old). When you add the time I have spent there together, it amounts to nearly 4 years over the past 10 years. Things have changed CONSIDERABLY in Romania over the past 2-3 years. For the majority of the people there I believe it has been for the worse. Romania (or its government) was desperate to enter the European Union. This transition has been completed. Now there are a handful of Romanians who have become VERY rich. This is a combination of a transition from a communist country to a free economy and entrance into the EU. There is now a small millionare class of people, a very small middle class, and a LARGER class of poor. So where are the orphans and street kids? One of the major conditions for entrance into the EU was for Romania to "clean up" its orphan problem. They have in many ways swept this "under the rug". They have put many orphans into foster homes. Ha, ha. Many of the families that accept these children do it for the money Romania pays them to do this. The children are simply a source of income. They are not loved, not part of a real family, simply $$$$$ in the eyes of those who take them (of course there are exceptions). Why? why when so many ask me how they can adopt a Romanian child, a family that would LOVE them, has Romania closed the door to foreign adoptions????? Are the children in the many orphanages going to "better places? Two major orphanges where I worked in the past have shut down. Good? Many of these orphans are just being transfered to apartment complexes where they live in smaller groups, but still recieve little more help than in the past. O, Romania says they are helping these kids by saying they will be better prepared for life after they finish school by having a more homelike living condition. Romania has simply closed the doors on these major orphanages and hidden the children in another location..............ALL FOR THE EU!!!! Hundreds, yes hundreds of babies are still being abandoned at hospitals after a mother gives birth because the mother can not afford to support a child (or another child). Hundreds of fathers leave Romania for work in other European countries only to abandon their families. Many more Romanian girls become slaves to the prostition trade. Prices in Romania have risen by 5-6-7-8-9 times what they were only 3-4 years ago. This was a condition to enter the EU. Prices had to be comparable to those in Europe. But salaries have not done the same. The new breed of capitalists in Romania fill their pockets at the expense of employees who must work 7 days a week and sometimes 10-12 hours per day. Shame on Romania and THE EU. Yes, I know there are exceptions, areas where things are better, BUT........... Those I speak with in Romania and Romanians who are here at the university where I teach say things are not better. If you disagree, then give me your email on my guestbook. Just be sure you are not one of those that have profited from the change. Those who suffer more now do not have access to computers or the internet. Their voice is not heard. To those who have a REAL heart and are doing remarcabil things with those nobody wants, then, I PRAISE you. I just see and hear from too many who are suffering much more than in the past.
From my guestbook..........
First Name : andreea Country : Romania Comment (4 lines max) Use my email for more space : All those orphans are not European Romanians. They are Gypsies. Gypsies are from Punjab, Romanians are European.
What??????????? Gypsy children are not children created by God?? Unbelievable!!!! I held one morning a gypsy/Romanian mixed child that I had found frozen to death. Was she nothing more than an animal?????
Hundreds of orphans are turned loose from the orphanages in Romania each year creating a community of street kids from these former orphans. The streets, parks, etc. of Romania are the roaming ground for many of these former orphans. The orphans in Romania have suffered tremendously living in institutions that do very little to prepare them for life after the orphanage. Many orphans once released have nowhere to go, no one to help them, and few prospects for employment in Romania. It is especially hard for the orphan girls in Romania, who comprise the greater portion of street kids. Many orphan girls are forced into accepting positions as "dancers" by men from foreign countries who come to Romania to exploit their condition. They become victims like thousands of girls who are sold into the sex trade industry See:100,000's Of East European Women Sold For Sex. Many other orphans are abused physically and sexually (see Claudia's story) creating even more problems as some become pregnant. The result is either ABORTION or putting yet another orphan child into the orphanage system. The above orphans could easily end up on the street as these street kids shown to the right. In fact one of the orphan girls above has been forced to the street, has become a prostitute, and has had two children both of which she has abandoned.
These orphans and street kids are precious, created by God, and deserve to be treated as human beings. They desire love and attention just as we do. Their suffering can be tempered with our help and love. Long term solutions and care are needed because what they have been through has lasted years. The salvation of these orphans in Romania will take time, prayer, and dedication by many who have hearts that will reach out. Romania is not the only place where the orphans suffer. There are many places around this world where orphans and street kids are treated worse than animals. They have done nothing wrong, are guilty of nothing. When will the world open its' eyes to the cries of the innocent?????????????
This site results from the time I have spent in Romania over the past 10 years working with orphans and street kids. It is not one of the many 10-12 year old Romania sites one finds on the internet. And it is not the result of spending only 2 weeks in Romania. Nothing against many who have gone to Romania to minister for a short period. But one only really sees and understands with extended time. The contents here result from long term time spent in Romania and countless hours spent on the streets.
"There are close to 10,000 children abandoned at hospitals each year in Romania, according to a new study by Unicef, and up to 50,000 children in care of the state." (Elisabeth Rosenthal International Herald Tribune, TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005)
Links to websites with news showing that things still need much improvement.
ORPHAN NEWS 1
ORPHAN NEWS 2
Forgotten children in Romania, Sept, 2006 video
Babies for sale, Sept, 2006 video
O, think twice, it's just another day for YOU and ME in paradise
Kids at the Bucham Orphanage
Street Kids
