Final Post

Final Post

The last few days in Romania I was sick.  Unfortunately, I was unable to go to one of the children group homes.  Which was something I had been really looking forward too.  My friend was able to go so she told me about it.  She said that it was typical normal looking house.  She said there was about 5 children living there (Don’t remember exactly what she said).  The house was clean and well kept.  My friend was surprised that the children had their own room and toys.  She said one little girl took an interest in her.  The little girl made all of us hearts out of construction paper.  I saw pictures of the children after.  I really wish I could have been there.

On my last day there we went to a Roma camp called, Dallas.  It is a smaller camp that is located near Patarat.  We were unable to go to Patarat because it is not safe.  The man that we met at the Dallas camp was sort of leader of the Roma people.  His name was Burt.  His story really inspired me and it is what I will write about.  Burt came to Romania with his wife 15 years ago on a mission trip.  Him and his wife are from Holland.  While in Romania they worked closely with the Roma people.  After going home to Holland after a few weeks in Romania he realized something was different.  He said he kept having a feeling that he needed to go back to Romania.  For 2 months he did not say anything to anyone.  Than one day his wife came to him and said they needed to go back to Romania.  So they went back and haven’t left.  They began working with the organization ProRoma.  They are now accepted in the Roma community and do everything they can for the people.  Recently, they built a meeting house with two classrooms, a bathroom with showers and a meeting room.  The bathroom gives the children a chance to shower before going to class.  Burt said that he does everything he can for these people.  This may include being an advocate, speaker, construction worker, preacher and leader.

As we pulled up to the camp site I was able to capture a few pictures from sitting inside the cab.  You are not allowed to take pictures while there which is completely understandable.  Burt described it as your doing your laundry on your front lawn and people are taking pictures of you.  This is a persons home.  The best way for me to describe what I saw was it was kind of like the slums from the movie Slumdog Millionaire but it was more rural and not as bad.  The ground was really muddy and parts were covered in trash.  The air smelled of garbage and poop.  The homes looked like metal sheds.  There were lots of children running around and they were very excited to see us.  All of the people we passed said hello to us.  This was nice since we were outsiders.  We all tried to be respectful while visiting but the hardest part for me was seeing the children.  Some of the children were really dirty and had barely any clothes on.  We were unable to stay very long but we had a chance to play catch with this one boy.  We also met this really old lady that kept saying, “Please don’t forget to bury me.”  Burt said that this lady repeats it everyday because she thinks shes gonna die.  He said she was hit by horse buggy last year and is still kicking it.  He said nothing is going to kill her.  

This day had the most impact on me.  It was a short time but it was so inspiring.  Everything I saw was nothing I had ever seen before.  It is crazy to think about all that Burt and his wife have done.  It only takes one person to make a difference.  Hopefully as a group we will be able to raise money to build a new house at the Dallas camp.  I think back on my trip to Romania and it is so much to reflect on.  It went by so fast and it is hard to believe that it even happened.  I wanted my journal and final post to be more intuitive and thoughtful.  But every time I think back on Romania I think of all of it at once.  It seems to be very overwhelming.  I have learned and experienced more than I expected.  This was a trip I will never forget.  I cannot wait to go on another international volunteer trip.  I hope my next one will be more hands on though. 

Thank you to everyone that supported me through this trip.  I cannot express how much I appreciate all of the donations.

**UPDATE**

As I am finishing up, I want to let everyone know that I will be writing probably one or two more posts.  This summer has been very busy and I want to be able to really reflect on my trip.  I also want to write about my last day in Romania which had the most impact on me.  Will be posted soon!!

#13 World Vision

#13 World Vision

World Vision is an organization that is Cluj and internationally based.  One of their main programs is a scholarship program.  They try to get donations that go towards a child.  In Cluj they had a family sponsorship from when a U.S.family donated money to a family in Cluj.  World Visions intervention programs include: education, economic, society and health.  After the people we met spoke for a little bit we watched a movie about World Vision.  WV helps children and communities in poverty.  They try to make a self sustaining community.  For example, building and partnering with schools, churches and businesses.  There approach is based on what has worked in other countries.  They develop a plan that works for 4-5 years.  Children are involved in the planning process.  The specialists involved in this plan include: educators, economists, citizens, people living in the community.  A social worker is placed in each community.

After communism, the first WV was made to help children in orphanages.  In Cluj, they set up child care, foster care and shelters.  They were mainly focused on child protection till it was taken over by the state.  In 1991, children institutions ere locked down.  Two of them reached out for help.  WV went in to help.  The WV founder was a pastor that volunteered in many different countries.  He went to Korea during the war and met an orphan child.  After witnessing the horrible conditions the pastor was sent back to the U.S. but began donating money.  

The U.S. is the main support office for WV.  Politics is what determines which communities need help.  Marketing is a huge part of promoting WV.  The money they receive can go directly to a family or to the community.  For example, some children receive scholarships to go to school in Cluj.  

WV was a lot to learn about and some parts of it were kind of confusing.  They seem to have a lot going on in a lot of different places,  It was difficult to ask some specific questions because there was much information.  I liked hearing about the founder of WV and I told that there is a book written about him.  I also want to look up other projects WV has done in other countries.

#12 Christiana Association & Foundation of Elderly Care

#12 Christiana Association & Foundation of Elderly Care

Christiana was established in Cluj in 2007.  They have 7 programs based off of the different needs.  For example, education, child abandonment, prevention, youth center and 2nd Chance.  We met with the coordinator and director of programs.  I think he was a minister but I am not sure.  We also had a chance to meet with 4 students that attend their 2nd Chance program.  These students have repeated grades and cannot continue in the main stream schools.  They were 19 years old-8th grade, 17 years old-5th grade, 19 years old-7th grade and 28 years old-8th grade.  One of the students was a girl from Pata Rat the Roma village.  She is the kindergarten teacher there.  The social worker at Christiana goes out to schools to find students that are at risk of dropping out.  The SW also deals with issues in the schools, financial, illness and family problems. While chatting with the students they told us that they like sports, helping their family, doing farm work and chores.  These students have family support which is difficult to come by.  The director said their biggest challenge is motivating children.  What was nice about this place was that we felt at home.  For the first time the director and the students asked us questions back.  It was the first time people wanted to know more about us.

Foundation of Elderly Care is a day program for improving the lives of the elderly.    They have 156 registered people.  They offer activities such as: social/recreation, art/dance/theater, book club, aerobics and education classes.  When we walked in everyone was very excited to say hello to us.  They were playing card games, chess, checkers etc.  The elders serve as volunteers themselves.  The foundation receives money from a Switzerland Foundation and donations.  They also offer medical home care for those that have chronic health conditions.  During the meeting a man came in, he has been there the longest.  He spoke a lot about the center what they do.  It was kind of difficult to understand him.  Everyone seemed really happy there.  As for the social worker they do assessments, establish intervention plan, monitor cases, counseling and support.

#11 Veritas

#11 Veritas

“Veritas” means truth.  This organization is based in Sighisoara.  In 1989 after the fall of Communism 7 students came from the U.S. to volunteer at an orphanage.  They wanted a Romanian study abroad program.  So Dorothy and 8 students from Eastern Nazareth College began one.  Dorothy never left.  In 1995, they moved the program to Sighisoara.  Dorothy hoped to find local Christians who would work with students.  They needed to find need.  What they found was poor begging children, abandoned children and elderly in hospitals.  In 1998 they purchased the family center.  Veritas was officially founded in 2001.  Their mission statement is, “Seeks to effect positive change in the lives of the people of Sighisoara through service to the community and to the people in need.”  They currently have 4 accredited services: children, elderly, people with special needs, domestic violence and a variety of educational services.  They have whats called, “Kids Club” for 7-13 year olds as well as a prek and teen program.  In Romania there is now a new form of child abandonment.  This is when the parents leave the country for work and do not leave adequate care for their children.  For support for the parents they offer counseling, home visits, parenting classes and group meetings.  While on the tour we got to see their soup kitchen and their day care room.  Many of my fellow students want to do their extended weeks here but the problem is that it is far from Cluj.  This organization seemed to have a strong Christian faith influence.  

#10 Caritas & Autism Transylvania

#10 Caritas & Autism Transylvania

A Catholic organization that has five different departments: Anti-Drug, Social Education, Disaster Preparation, Counseling and Disabilities and Home Care for Elders.  While visiting they mostly spoke about the anti-drug program and social education .  They have activities, games, trips, art therapy, music, dance and sport.  Through this program they offer intervention in schools and a the church.  When asked what seems to be the popular drugs they said, angel dust and crystal meth.  However, one of there biggest problems is cigarettes.  The government does not support of enforce cigarette selling laws.  I noticed that where ever we went people smoked.  Anti-drug programs are very new in Romania.  Drug abuse is very new to Romania.  There is also a high rate of school drop-outs.  In there social education program they try to combat this.  They currently have 50 children/families involved.  There main focus being homework help and tutoring.  They also help families with food, clothes and school supplies.  This program is an after-school program as well as having activities that take place in the schools.  While there we met with two volunteers.  We were able to ask them questions and speak with them a bit.  They told us that marijuana is becoming an increasingly popular drug and that no one does cocaine because its too expensive.  They said that a lot of students drop out by 10th grade but as low as 5th grade.  One quote which was really funny by one of the volunteers is, “That is McDonalds for you.”  He was referring to dropping out of high school.  

Autism Transylvania is one of if not the only autism school in Romania (don’t remember).  They had just moved into this large modern beautiful building.  They have come a long way with no assistance from the government.  They receive their money mostly from a UK foundation.  Currently, they have 35 children 5-12 years old.  They offer counseling services to families and different types of therapy for the children. Autism in Romania is very new and not many people know much about it.  Autism is difficult to diagnose because a physician is not obliged to screen child for symptoms.  In schools, children with disabilities and without are clumped together.  AT is trying to work with schools the have separate classrooms.  Some of their students have aids in the schools with them.  This was one of my favorite places to visit.  It was really interesting to see how the school is set up.  I have never been to a school like that in the U.S. so I have nothing to compare it too.  But based on my observations AT seems to be top of line for autism education.  We were able to meet with the assistant director? and her son who has autism.  He was a very sweet and cute boy.  He told us about the rules for being in a library.  Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication and we were unable to attend their family day festival.  I wish I had been able to interact with the children more.

#9 Nursing Home

#9 Nursing Home

After the children shelter we went to a nursing home.  Prior to visiting the nursing home we were cautioned to watch our facial expressions and what we say.  Professor had mentioned this because the director of the nursing home knows that they are not what it’s like in the U.S.  He does not want us to compare them to what we know.  So I went into this visit expecting the worst.  It was nothing like I had expected.  The building was pretty large and it smelled like bleach.  The nurses were all dressed in white uniforms.  I had to go to the bathroom so I was escorted by one of the nurses.  Her name was Andrea and she was really nice.  We got to chat for a little while.  While walking through the halls I felt like I was in an old mental asylum.  The halls were long and had padded doors.  The building seemed to be old.  I was expecting horrible conditions and this is not what I found at all.  The only thing was that they were crowded.  There was about 5-8 elderly people per room.  They mentioned that there are not enough of these institutions for care.  

This nursing home is the only public facility in Cluj.  They serve anyone from different backgrounds, religion, culture and education.  They ask the patients to pay $200 a month but if they cannot afford it they let it slide.  All other facilities in Cluj are private.  Currently, there are 100 residents, 2 doctors, 1 social worker, a few nurses, 110 beds and 17 rooms.  There is a wait list with about 150-250 people on it.  They offer everything that the residents need.  Such as social, food, psychology, and medical needs.  The one thing that they cannot provide is, “No family love or intimacy.”  Many of the clients have no outside contact and 30 of them need permanent care.  Patients with severe psychosis are not accepted at the home. 

After speaking the nurse Andrea.  She seemed to love her job.  She has been there for over 8 years.  She said there are not many of us but they do what they can.  The director said, “we are a small army working for them.”  The feeling I got from the director is that he seemed sad, angry and frustrated that they do not receive the money or attention they need.  Everyone really seemed to truly care about the residents.  And it was definitely not as modern as the U.S. but the level of care seemed to be different.  I really got the feeling that these people enjoyed working there.  As I wrote before, I was not allowed to take pictures.  Outside I did take a picture with the nurse Andrea.  Finally, we had a tour of some of the rooms and were able to meet with some of the residents.  They did not speak any English and it was kind of sad to see so many of them.   

#7 Human Trafficking

#7 Human Trafficking

Today we went on our first day trip to Tourda.  This town was about 30 minutes outside of Cluj.  First we went to the Salt Mine.  This was really interesting because it used to be a working mine but now most of it was turned into a tourist attraction.  I really learned that I have a fear of heights.  After the mine we went to Centrul Ratiu Pentru Democratie.  While there we learned more specifically about human trafficking which is something I had an interest in.  We met with Sarah who is working there within the Peace Corp.  There human trafficking support program is called, Footsteps.  They currently have 8 victims involved in the program.  There focus is mainly on intervention not prevention.  This I noticed was common with what we learned at the conference.  That more social services need to work on prevention.  Within the program they provide education, medical, psychological and vocational activities.  The victims are Romanian and were taken to other countries being, “promised a better life.”  They told us that the main causes that lead to a person being trafficked is poverty, lack of education, confusion and being tricked.  The Ratiu center collaborates with police and prosecutors.  Currently roughly 1,048 people are being trafficked in Romania, 400 being minors.  As for consequences in Romania it is a 15 year felony.  Only 2-3 victims are taking their traffickers to court.  They said unfortunately it is rare to press charges against the traffickers.  This is because the victim may fall in love with trafficker, live in a still dangerous community or are ashamed.  One way the victims get free is they can buy their freedom otherwise it usually happens by raids, police, family report or hot lines.  

At the Ratiu center they are currently working on making a plan to build a shelter for the victims. They are partnering with Habitat for Humanity to provide a short term living situation.  The goal being to decrease risk of re-victimization.  As a whole they are refocusing on survivor assistance and advocacy.  Unfortunately, there is no international collaboration for human trafficking.

This was one of my favorite social service agencies that we visited.  I think part of it was because I wanted to know the truth about human trafficking in Romania.  For example, the media/movies make it appear different.  More specifically the movie, “Taken.”  A few people joked around with me before I left saying, “Be safe, don’t make me send Liam Neeson after you.”  I’d have to admit I was a little worried about standing out as a tourist in Romania.  I am sure there is a risk that tourists may get taken but from what we learned at Ratiu most women that are taken are poor and more specifically Roma.   

#8 Children Shelter

#8 Children Shelter

Today we went to a children shelter which housed children that were from the streets or in the process of being placed within the system.  The shelter could hold a max of 12-14 children there ages include 3-18 years old.  Some of these children have never attended school before so they try to add some education into their life there.  These children are helped to be enrolled in school and can only live there for a limited time.  Most of these children are eventually placed with extended family or in a group home.  The decision of whether a child is placed in the shelter is determined by the child protection agency.  Children are usually placed there because of delinquency, poverty, begging and starvation.  This is unlike the U.S. when most children are placed because of abuse.  The services they provide include care, housing, education, counseling and support towards independence.  As of now they have a total of 10 caregivers, 1 social worker and 3 educators.  

As for the atmosphere of the shelter it was very bright and cheery.  We were not allowed to take any pictures.  Unfortunately, we were only allowed to say hi to the children.  The house was not very big but it was clean.  There was a boys and girls room with about 5 beds in each.  The house was a lot nicer and more homey than I had expected.  I realized that I did not know much about the Romania child welfare system after Communism.  

#6 Social Work Conference

#6 Social Work Conference

While in Cluj we were able to attend, “Building Better Social Services By Working Together.”  The conference theme was: “Partnering for Development of Community Social Services.”  Emil Boc was there, he is the major of Cluj-Napoca.  During the conference we had head sets so it could be translated into english.  I think it was the first two speakers that lectured in english though.  It was kind of difficult to pay attention sometimes when the main voice is in a different language but than you are hearing english in your ear.  In the beginning they mentioned how people are falling through the cracks and systems need to communicate with each other.  This was one of their hopes for the conference is to bring people together.  **I did not write down who spoke about what so this will be more of an overview and key notes.**  One point that was actually brought up a lot through out my time in Romania was that there needs to be more of a focus on prevention.  That there also needs to be person-centered care.  This was interesting because I learned about this in the past year.  The idea is called, “people first” it means having the person come first not their disability.  At the beginning of the conference they spoke about the Roma people.  They showed pictures of the different Roma camps especially, “Pata Rat” meaning garbage dump.  The person that spoke about this mentioned that the city of Cluj is trying to find a solution to this area.  They suggest, renewable low maitanece housing, long term job opportunities, vocational training and community buildings.  An organization that was mentioned a lot through out the conference was the European Social Network.  They are non-profit and have 30 organization through out Europe.  They hold workshops, seminars and try to develop a link of policy making.  There focus is on developing community care and mental health.  Another topic that was mentioned during my trip was called, “Second Chance.”  This is for students who leave school before getting to high/secondary school.  This program has now been integrated into the public school system.  This reminded me of our GED programs.  One of the problems that is faced in second chance is that sometimes these students lack motivation which causes them to fail.  The solution they recommend is to improve motivation and have counseling which includes the family.  Overall, this conference was very informative.  There were a lot of important people there and we were lucky to be given the chance to attend the conference.

Two of my friends with their head sets on.

#5 Estuar

#5 Estuar

The first mental health agency that we went to was called, Estuar.  They were first established in 1993 in Bucharest then in Cluj in 1997.  Currently they have 70 clients and have 15 activities.  Estuar is a day program for clients who mostly have schizophrenia or depression.  Services are free and they include group activities, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric counseling, occupational therapy and vocational counseling.  Some of the group activities include: computer, literature, art, work, theater and sport.  There are a total of 9 specialists within the agency. One of the duties of the social worker there is to go into the field to find clients.  As in the U.S. there is a stigma against those with mental illness.  Two of the people we met from Estuar told us that they tried to overcome that with a project on mothers.  They gained a lot more clients and attention after this project was completed.  Estuar only receives a small amount of money from the local authorities.  The rest comes from European projects and donations.  Clients that attend Estuar are there on a volunteer basis and are referred from a commission that determines their eligibility.  This commission is similar to our SSI.  Estuar is the only foundation in Cluj for mental health services.  The local hospital does offer some services.  One important concept they discussed was the role of the family.  Often families are not very supportive.  This is one of their biggest challenges because the clients tend to relapse when they are living in the same environment.  Another point that stood out to me is that Romania they do not have group homes for those with mental health issues.  This was interesting to me because group homes are very popular in the U.S.  

As we were getting ready to leave we were able to meet some of the clients.  They did not know english but they were still excited to talk to us.  This one lady, I do not remember her name wanted to show me her art work.  At Estuar one of the activities is making art.  Once the art is made they showcase it around the building.  If you want you can donate money and choose a piece of work.  This woman showed me a few different paintings that she had done.  It was really nice to see how proud she was and that even though I could not speak the same language as her I was still able to communicate.  I ended up buying a jewelry box for one of my friends that was from Estuar.

#4 Lost in Translation

#4 Lost in Translation

So for the first week of being in Romania the Cluj Days were taking place.  Pretty much it is a festival that goes on for a week.  Today we went to the first day of it, of course it was raining a bit.  As a note it rains here a lot! It is kind of like Florida though because it’ll rain for like an hour than it’ll be sunny the next.  We all lost faith in the weatherman.  It does not work here in Romania.  I also packed for hot weather and its been in the low 60’s here.  So no shorts for me.  There is a main square in the city and there they had all the beer tents and the concert stage.  Through out some of the walking streets they had tables anything from clothes, jewelry and food.  This was the first time I was able to eat traditional Romanian food.  While in line we were trying to pronounce the name of the beer that is made in Cluj.  It is called, Ursus.  The guy in front of us thought it was funny that we were trying to pronounce it so he was helping us.  He also explained to us that the goulash we were ordering comes from Hungary originally but the Romanians took it on as their own and changed it up a bit.  I started noticing that even if you pronounced one syllabal wrong in Romanian people did not understand you.  I was having a lot of difficulty in speaking the language.  However, I did not have as much

trouble reading it because of the classes I took in Italian.  We also learned after a few times it happening to people that you need to always count your money.  A few of my friends received the wrong change back.  After lunch we shopped for a bit and then made our way to a different section which had tables filled with stuff that was made by the Roma people.  There were a lot of Roma people selling their stuff.  This section of the festival was pretty crowded and we kept getting bumped into.  This was the first time I really worried about being pick pocketed. The stuff they made was beautiful but it was difficult talking to some of the people because they knew no english.

That night we went to Club Midi.  The music was all house/electronic music so I felt right at home.  I really saw that music is universal.  I had a lot of fun and even tried Absinthe.  It burned and took your breath away.  Anyway the educational point from the club is that the bartender tried to scam me.  I gave him 10 lei for my beer that cost 5 lei.  I was waiting for change and he like waved me off.  I turned to my friends because I thought maybe I was wrong on the price.  I checked the menu and I was right I was supposed to get 5 lei back.  I told him then that I need my change.  First he told me that I only gave him 5 lei than he changed the story and said he gave me my change.  We were told not to play the foreigner card or argue with people here but this was ridiculous.  He spoke English fine and I was really polite but persistent about getting my change.  I guess he realized I wasn’t going away so he gave it to me. 

#3 Babes Bolyai University

#3 Babes Bolyai University

Today we went on a tour of Babes Bolyai University which is where we have been staying.  The campus is somewhat like Rutgers because it is all over the city.  They say the city is the campus.  One of the first language term definitions we learned is that “faculti” in Romanian means “schools.”  We were all very confused at first about the meaning of this term.  First we went to the Babes Bolyai Museum of History.  We learned about how the college was founded and its history.  The name Babes Bolyai came to be from two universities merging together. One being Hungarian and one Romanian.  The museum had many old objects, papers and pictures. 

After the museum we went to the school of psychology.  This was very interesting because I received my bachelors in Psych.  We went into the laboratory where they had a virtual cube.  This cube (pictures posted) is for treating people mostly with anxiety disorders.  I was the first person that was able to try it out.  It was really cool and felt like I was in the video game Call of Duty.  So to me it looked like I was in a video game.  The lady that led the tour there was getting her Ph.D in psychology.  She also showed us that they had virtual helmets as well.  This was very interesting to me because I had read about this technology in treating PTSD within the military.  I tried asking her about the treatment of PTSD but she did not give me much of an answer unfortunately.  Sometimes I don’t if its a language barrier or they just do not treat PTSD very often.  She kept mentioning Agoraphobia and other phobias.

After sometime at the school of psychology we went to the school of social work.  We met with the director Maria Roth.  Mihai was also there, he is our guide/translator/organizer.  He pretty much does everything for us.  Mihai is a professor at Babes Bolyai school of social work and a friend to Becky.  What was interesting to me was that the school of social work building was a lot older than some of the other schools we had seen.  You would think it’d be a newer building because social work did not become a profession till around 25 years ago.  But maybe its in an older building because the profession is not as popular.  We asked a lot of questions to Maria Roth.  She answered them the best she could but she did seem too prepared.  She mentioned that this was supposed to be an informal meeting.  What she did talk a lot about was the adoption situation over the past years in Romania.  Her speciality is also in child abuse.  During communism (1965-1989) the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu wanted to increase the population.  He banned birth control and abortions.  The population grew and families were unable to care for all their children.  Ceausescu told them give your children to the state.  These children were put into institution/orphanages.  I will talk about this more later.  Anyway when the communism period ended, Romania opened up for international adoptions.  Many children were adopted from all over the world.  More specifically from the U.S. and Great Britain.  Now international adoption is closed, the Romanian government is trying to get the children back into their homes with their families. 

**I tried uploading a video of me in the cube but it would not work =(

#2 History

#2 History 

So after our long few days I was very exhausted still the next day.  We had to be up early to go to the Resource Center for Roma Communities.  We met with Dr. Florin Moisa who is a Social Worker.  He was a part of the first generation of social workers in Romania.  The social work profession did not become more recognized till after 1989.  There were no non-profit organizations till 1989.  Dr. Moisa explained that the U.S. had a strong influence on social services in Romania in the ‘90s.  We spent about 2 hours learning about the Resource Center for Roma Communities and about the Roma people.  “Roma” is the proper name for “Gypsy.”  The term “gypsy” was given by others it does not exist in the Roma language.  Roma people are considered, dirty, thieves and they are looked down upon.  The Roma people face discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes.  One interesting thing I learned is that Roma is not an ethnic group.  What makes them different from others is that they have darker skin.  They also wear different clothes, work trades, speak Romani and live a traditional lifestyle.  There was also a genocide of the Roma people.  The Roma people often are in

contradiction with Romanian law.  Two of the complex issues are marriage at a young age and child labor.  It is in the Roma tradition that you get married by the time you are 15 years old.  Romanian law and the society seem to be against this because it is not the norm anymore.  Dr. Moisa said that the Roma people don’t call it marriage anymore at this age they describe it as the daughter is going to live with an aunt or something.  The issue with child labor is that young children are being sent to work.  In the Roma community family is very important and by having the children work they are supporting the family.  1/3 of the Roma population is children ages 0-14 years old.  What many social workers struggle with is that you don’t want to take away their traditions but they no longer fit with social norms.  The Roma community faces, poverty, high crime rate, difficult health situation, discrimination and lack of social services.  Today there is diversity among the Roma people.  There are some that are traditional and those that are formal.  Some that are formal do not even acknowledge that they are Roma.  We will hopefully visit one of the Roma villages but it is still up in the air.

After spending sometime at the Roma center we went on a tour with Professor Ardevan.  He teaches history/philosophy at Babes Bolyai University which is where we have been staying.  We learned a lot about the city of Cluj.  We went into many beautiful churches, such as St. Michael's Church and St. Peter and Paul Church I believe.  Because we were walking around the city I did not take notes.  One of the coolest things we saw was during the revolution a cannon ball hit a wall and the cannon ball is still there.

Finally, at the end of the night we went grocery shopping.  I was not too worried at first but it was a whole different story when we walked into the store.  Thankfully, there were a lot of pictures but everything was in Romanian.  I know I should have expected that but we didn’t.  The store was really crowded and everyone was pushing.  Also people were really in a rush.  My roommate Cathia and I worked as a team though.  Many of my classmates experienced a lot of confusion and anxiety.  We also had to deal with the language barrier.  It is crazy how just a simple grocery run could be so hectic and a learning experience.