Meeting Four Families

Today, Taylor, 2 Peter, Annie (the interim director at Point of Hope), and myself visited with four families who have children attending our school.  The purpose of the visits was to videotape an interview with the mom’s about their daily activities, and how Point of Hope has impacted their children.

The first family we visited was the Vrabie’s.  There are 10 children, ranging in age from 1-14 – 6 boys and 4 girls.  This is a very loving family who have no income now.  The father was working at a factory for 6 months and was never paid for his work.  He quit there and went to work for a larger company, but was “fired” after 4 months, again with no payment for any of his efforts.  He was “fired” because the company couldn’t pay him.  On March 13^th, he found another job.  But before he could begin, he had a stroke on the 14^th that left him partially paralyzed.  Along with the stroke, he had some other medical issues that put him in the hospital for many days.  After a few weeks, he was released to recuperate at home.  He continues his physical therapy and is progressing, but he’ll never be able to work again.  This put a tremendous financial strain on the family.  The mother shared with us that there are many days when there is no bread for them to eat.  She looks forward to school starting because at least some of her children will get food to eat.

Michael, Adelina and Alex

Seven of the children

The 2nd oldest daughter with the youngest

Annie (interim director) standing in one room

One of 3 sofas for sleeping, plus a crib

Pantry area (most of the things on the shelf are empty)

Kitchen

I was amazed at the strength of this woman as she sat next to her husband.  She talked with great pride of him, and her love beamed through her smile.  Several times her hand would pat his leg and caress his hair, showing him how important he was to her.  But as she shared with us, her strength grows dim on many days.  The youngest child (1 ½ yrs old) is very much a daddy’s boy, but doesn’t understand why daddy can’t hold him or play with him.  Tears welled in her eyes as she shared this with us.   But despite all the problems that they are facing, she is positive in her attitude and knows that God will take care of them.

So what has Point of Hope meant to her and her children?  Four of her children who are in the public school, placed in the top 3 of their classes (grade) last year!!!  I’m not talking about in the gypsy school, but in the Romanian school.  She is VERY proud of their education and sees hope for their future!

After saying our goodbyes, we walked across the street to another apartment building to visit our next 2 families.  This building is where most of the children who attend Point of Hope live.  There is no running water in the building – a pump is located just outside, where the children will gather water in buckets to take inside for cooking.  I have seen many children and adults bathing outside at the water pump.  Inside, the concrete blocks and brick are crumbling; the steps are treacherous.  The railing on the stairwell would definitely not pass safety standards in the US.  The hallways are very dark and narrow (about 4’).  Most apartments have their doors open for air flow; a few just have sheets hanging for doors.  Children were running everywhere.  One mom was sitting in her doorway peeling potatoes.  You could feel the heat from a stove burning.  Outside, a young boy was using a pick ax to chop pieces of lumber he’s found.  As we prepared to enter the 1^st home, many of the neighbors came out to see who we were and why we were there.

steps in the apartment building

this boy was using a pick ax to cut up wood

The 2^nd family we visited had 7 children – 2 who are married, one who is autistic, 2 in school, 2 in preschool and 1 at home (home – a 8’x12’ room with one window, padded front door, 2 sofas, a very small table, one wardrobe and a small heating element). The father is working out of town and comes home for a couple of days each month.  The greatest difficulty for this mom is being alone – she misses her husband tremendously, but at least he’s working.  It is also difficult because of her autistic son – he must have constant supervision, which means mom.  I asked if she had any help so that she could leave for a while, and she said that her 18 yr old daughter would come stay with him.

this is their heating element and cook stove

What does Point of Hope mean to her?  Her children are learning – able to recite poems, count, share, and demonstrate manners.  It is also a place where she, and the other women, can go for special activities just for them.  She was excited about the week with the mission team, and is looking forward to the next gathering.

The 3^rd family was just across the hallway.  The home was exactly the same size and shape, although this home had more furnishings.  The father doesn’t work, and the mother will sometimes go to the factor looking for metal.  There are 2 children, both who attend Point of Hope.  When asked what the most difficult aspect of their living conditions, it was the lack of bani (money).  She, too, expressed the need for working factories so that the people could have jobs.

This mom was very proud of what her children have learned at PoH – numbers, colors, writing, manners, poems, etc.  Her greatest pride is that they both say prayers before they eat and at bedtime!

 Our 4^th family lived in another apartment building down the street from the school.  It, too, is a dilapidated building – the hallways are dark, and the smell of raw sewage was everywhere.  This family lives in a 2 room apartment.  The furnishings are minimal, but the house is “clean”.  There are 4 children in this family – 1 in school, 2 in preschool and a 2 yr old.  The father is working out of town, but money is little.  They’ve had their electricity turned off because they couldn’t pay the bill.  This makes it difficult to feed the children since their only source of cooking is a 2 burner hot plate – there is no heating element.  Another difficulty that this mom has is the bathroom wall (this was the 1^st apartment with a bathroom).  The wall has a gaping hole in the bottom (which mom covered with some plastic to keep the little one from crawling through), and has separated from the ceiling.  You can actually push the concrete wall in and out.  She is afraid that the wall will fall on one of the children.  The apartment owners will not fix it, and the city doesn’t have money to move them.

the large grey pipe along the wall is for sewage

this is their living room/kitchen

this is the bathroom wall that has separated at the ceiling

where the mom has covered the hole in the bottom of the bathroom wall

I noticed that the front door held several craft projects that the children have done during Vacation Bible School with the mission teams.  Mom is proud of what her children have learned, and thankful that Point of Hope provides lunches.  She hopes that her children will continue to be successful in school and will have the opportunity for good jobs.

These are the factories that the people go into looking for metal to sell.  The people have been looting what they can find since the fall of communism and the collapse of their economy.  There's not much left of either the buildings or metal.  The integritry of the building is so that walls are starting to fall, and that puts all the people inside at risk of death.