Vasilica, 8, has a mental disability, and her family struggles just to survive during the cold winter months. World Vision is coming alongside this family with warm clothing and special assistance for the young girl.

November 2009

By Isabela Stefan, World Vision Romania

Children in rural Romania are eager learners. But when they don’t have warm clothing and footwear to protect them against frigid winter temperatures, some are left at high risk of abandoning school — like Vasilica, 8.

Vasilica shares a tiny house at the top of a hill with her brothers and parents. Inside, there isn’t much to boast about except the love that holds this family together.

“In September, Vasilica didn’t have clothes or footwear for school,” says her mother, Maricica. “We didn’t have money to buy them. Also, the daily transportation between school and home costs…more money than what we have to pay for food and other necessities.”

Harsh winters and livelihood woes

Vasilica’s father, Dumitru, hasn’t been able to work over the past two years because of repeated health problems. Complications following a hernia operation in 2008 kept him in the hospital for an unexpected period of time.

“Without a constant source of income, our family survived just with the children’s monthly government allocation [of about U.S. $35],” Dumitru explains. “In September, I succeeded to find a job, but the first salary came at the end of October, after school had already begun.”

Rural children in Romania from struggling families are much more likely to drop out of school than their urban counterparts. Compounding the problem is the reality that youth in rural areas often must walk long distances to reach their schools — trudging through snow or bracing against bitterly cold winds during Romania’s harsh winters.

“I never bought warm clothes for Vasilica and leather boots because we don’t have enough money to dress all three children with the same quality products,” Maricica explains. “So I usually buy what is cheaper.”

A helping hand

World Vision is coming alongside this family by providing Vasilica with warm clothing so that she can return to school. Partnerships with generous corporations, who donate products like shoes, pants, shirts, scarves, hats, and other warm clothing, enable our staff members to provide children in need with protection from the elements in the world’s coldest climates.

Vasilica, who faces mental development challenges, was also enrolled in a World Vision project for disabled children in 2006. There, she learned social skills, letters, numbers, and colors, and she experienced her very first outing.

“In 2007, when we took Vasilica to a summer camp organized for children with disabilities, she came with a plastic bag holding a pair of socks, stockings, a blouse and a thin skirt…all for a seven-day camp,” says Gabriela Carp, World Vision’s project coordinator in Cernavoda, Romania.

“Shocked, I dressed Vasilica from head to foot, with all the clothes that I would dress my children in,” says Gabriela. “She put them on and admired herself in the mirror. She was so proud and happy with her new clothes.”

Need remains great

More than 58,000 children with disabilities are registered with World Vision in Romania — nearly 13,000 of them with mental disabilities. While the school enrollment process for children with disabilities is increasing, the Romanian education system still faces challenges. Last year, in Romania’s Constanta County, where Vasilica lives, some 1,057 children with special needs were enrolled in school.

Inside Vasilica’s house, a pair of boots recently given to her by a neighbor sits in the corner — not far from the boots and sports shoes provided by World Vision, which she has recently outgrown.

“If Vasilica were to go to school tomorrow, I would dress her in her red training suit and a thin waterproof jacket,” says Maricica.

In this Eastern European country, with its bone-chilling winters, hundreds of other rural students face the same challenges as Vasilica. Proper apparel can help keep Romania’s classrooms full with children ready to learn — and use their educations to help break the cycle of poverty in this struggling part of the world.