A Walk Through the Village

Today we walked through the village behind the Point of Hope.  Taylor, 2 Peter (so named because there is a 1 Peter who is on the Board of Directors for Buckner Romania), and myself went out into the village where the children who attend PoH live.  Taylor was on assignment to do a video of the community and the people, so that foreigners can see the conditions that the Roma (gypsy) people live in.  Not that we as a foundation are trying to exploit the people, but to make others aware of the importance in educating these children.  If there is to be a break in the cycle of poverty, it must begin with the youngest generation now.

So what did we see?  To put it into one word – slums.  Many of the “houses” were nothing more than shanties.  There were a couple of nice looking houses, but most were barely hanging together.  Roofs sagged, had holes in them, and many were open at the eaves.

As we walked down the first street, there was an older man walking behind us talking.  Since Taylor and I aren’t fluent in Romanian, we had no idea what he was saying.  He passed as we stopped to look around the village.  Peter told us then that the man was complaining about the Americans coming over and taking their money.  Little did he know that we are trying to raise money for the school, so that he and his community may one day benefit from the children’s education (and the American money).  Oh well, disgruntled neighbor….move on down the road.  A few houses down, we met a couple sitting inside their fence.  As we said hello to them, they struck up a conversation.  They were very interested in why we were taking pictures.  When 2 Peter told them what we were doing, they were very excited and invited us into their home.  Wow!  Wasn’t expecting that.  We excepted their invitation and they were most gracious.  Their home was a small 2 room house with no kitchen or bathroom.  The front room was used mainly as a living area, but was also a bedroom at night.  The second room was a bedroom.  Their “kitchen” area was a small pass-thru between the two rooms.  There was a 2 burner hot plate and a couple of pots.  The bathroom was an outhouse across the road.  Water was brought in for cooking.  The inside was filled with pictures of their children and grandchildren, along with artificial flowers and lots of knick-knacks (probably all the valuables they owned).  The woman told us that her husband had worked in the factory for 25 years, but he was too young to get retirement.  As we talked, their grandson came into the house.  We was a very nice young man who will be in the 7^th grade, and is a mentor student of Peter’s.

couple who invited us into their home

Taylor (l) and Peter (r)

     

     

Met a few of their neighbors, who like the man walking behind us, didn’t want us in their area.  They didn’t have any children who attended our school, therefore, we had no business filming them.  Ok, so we left.  From there, we went behind the houses and up a hill to get a full view of the village.  I felt much like a mountain goat, as we headed up the steep hill and made our own trail.  I reached one point where climbing wasn’t going to happen, so I told the guys that I would wait for them there.  I sat down on the hillside and took in the view.  How sad that people are living like this, yet no one tries to get out of the situation.  Why?  Are they content to live in poverty, do they not want to live better, or have they just given up hope of any life other than the one they’re living?  I think most of them would like to work, however, there are no factories left to employ them.  If any of them do work, it’s usually at the abandoned factories – stripping the metal from the walls and floors to sell.  After filming the village from above, we walked across the creek to the other side of the village.  Again, we were met with disgruntled looks from many, but met an older lady walking with her infant granddaughter in her arms.  She, too, asked about the cameras, and Peter told her about our project.  She said she was a Christian and had remembered me at the gypsy church last summer.  We visited for quite a while with her as children began to “drop” by.  Our course they were very interested in having their picture taken, so I obliged.  This brought several parents out, wanting to know why we were taking pictures of the kids.  The woman explained to them that we were working with the school, and that seemed to ease their mind.   

As we returned to the Point of Hope, we met with some of the people sitting outside the fence.  One man told us of working all day in the factory and only got 20 lei for his efforts.  He also shared with us that the week before, a wall had fallen on one man and killed him – he had 4 children he was trying to support.  One young man showed us his shoes, which had the toes out, and was wanting new ones from the school.  We told him that new shoes should be arriving in October.  This young man was quite intrigued with Taylor’s toe shoes, even wanting to trade with him.  As we laughed together, more young men joined in our “conversation”.  It became apparent to the people that we were friends, and are very concerned about their situation.  Hopefully, we made a contact that will increase our ability to “go out among the people”.

     

This even took place on Tuesday, September 4

Gypsy village in Tarnaveni