SOS Children in Romania
SOS Children began its vital work in Romania following the fall of the Communist regime in 1990. Two SOS Children's Villages were built and the children were able to move into their new homes with their SOS families in 1993. SOS Children has continued to work in the country, supporting children, young people and families in three locations in the country.
You can help vulnerable children in Romania by sponsoring a child online with us:
What is life like in Romania?
Progress has been slow and punctuated by regression since the fall of Communism in 1990. Many do not see improvement at all. A burgeoning economy was hit hard by the 2009 crisis, and recovery has been gradual. Healthcare is underfunded and under-resourced and staff shortages are exacerbated by people seeking a better life abroad. Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS blights many children of the 1980s, when orphans were routinely injected with contaminated blood as a food substitute. Although 30 per cent of the population still lives under the nationally-established poverty line, this figure is beginning to improve. The poverty rate is higher in rural areas than in urban ones, and there are big regional differences.
Children are in need of protection
There are just under four million children under the age of 18 in Romania. According to the United Nations about 32,000 children under the age of 14 are involved in child labour. The children of Romania have been affected by the recent economic, social and political changes. As parents have struggled to find employment, there has been an increase in poverty. Children living in these families sometimes face precarious situations such as labour exploitation, violence, and domestic violence. Many are ultimately taken into care.
Our Work in Romania
SOS Children supports children, young people and their families in three locations in Romania by providing education, training, counselling, health care and community support. As prevention of abandonment and poverty is a high priority of SOS Children in Romania, family-strengthening programmes have been initiated at all three SOS Children's Village locations. The aim of these programmes is to enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow up within a caring family environment by supporting families and building their capacity to care for their children. Children whose parents cannot take care of them will find a loving home in one of the SOS families.
Bucharest
SOS Children's Bucharest community is near the city centre on the edge of Lake Floreasca. Many young children live here and an SOS Youth Home provides a residential setting in which older children are guided towards a prosperous and independent adult life. An SOS Nursery allows infants from the Village and the community to mix in a safe and loving setting, aiding community cohesion and ensuring a harmonious upbringing for orphans and other local children. We also run a mobile SOS Playbus which travels through Bucharest, stopping at various diverse locations around the city to encourage play and offer new experiences dance, theatre and crafts.
Cisnadie
Our Village in Cisnadie is near the city of Sibiu, about 300 km north-west of Bucharest, between the Transylvanian Alps and the Carpathians. Cisnadie has an SOS Youth Home where older children can acclimatise to adult life and take their first independent steps. An SOS Nursery supports families from the local community as well as children from the Village, encouraging the interaction and close contact which will aid social cohesion in later life, and helping parents who struggle to look after their children alone.
Our community outreach programme extends a helping hand to state schools and nurseries which struggle with resources from writing materials and food parcels. We believe a secure upbringing and a better education can help the children of Cisnadie overcome the hurdles of previous generations.
Hemeiusi
SOS Children recently took over a children’s village in Hemeiusi which was originally run by a Dutch charity. Our Hemeiusi Village is situated in Moldavia, one of Romania's poorest regions. The local nursery and schools are insufficient and in poor condition, and we work hard to give children what they need for a rich childhood and a successful adult life.
For more information about the work we do in Romania, see our page, Romanian Orphans.
Local Contact
SOS-Satele Copiilor Romania
National Coordination Office
Calea Floreasca
Nr 165, cod 014459
Sector 1, Bucuresti
Romania
Tel: +40/21/668 00 77, +40/21/668 00 90
Fax: +40/21/668 00 72
e-mail: sos@sos-satelecopiilor.ro
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