Romania: Support for Gypsy Children
Gypsy children in the village of Mera, Romania receive support from Dorcas in a new project, launched to fight the poor living-conditions and discrimination in which a large part of the minority in the country live.
The children, 6 - 12 years of age, receive support through assistance with doing their home-work, through lead activities with music, songs, story-telling, games-playing, hygiene lessons etc. Furthermore, the children receive one meal a day.
The families of these children are very poor and in many cases, both parents are illiterate. Gypsy families in the country are often very big and live in one room, have one or two beds for 6-10 people but do not have running water and proper hygienic conditions.
The project is implemented by Dorcas' local partner organization, Diakonia Foundation, that has been active in the village since 1997 and with whom Dorcas also supports 128 poor elderly monthly. Children from 20 families receive support in this new Dorcas project.
The project location is the village of Mera with 1450 inhabitants of which the percentage of Gypsy people is 30% and of which the school aged children form 50%.
The Gypsies, a minority, form 2,5% of the Romanian population of which - according to a 2001 Government Report - only 27% have steady jobs. The major problems the minority faces are poverty, social exclusion and discrimination.
What can you do?
- Pray: for the children and their families
- Donate: with you help, the fight against poverty can continue!
- Tell others: share with your friends and family about the project
- Stay up-to-date: visit http://www.dorcas.net/ for updates and more news
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