RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Volunteering and social housing

Owning a decent house is still a problem in todays Romania for many categories of people

Volunteering and social housing
Volunteering and social housing

, 02.11.2016, 13:59

The most disadvantaged categories are in dire need of a house, as their children don’t have their own room or a proper table where to do their homework.



There are families that live crammed in dormitories for singles or in houses deprived of electricity and heating. Since the authorities are frequently unable to cope with these situations, they turn to community for help. People mobilize to help each other out.



An example in this regard is “Habitat for Humanity — Romania”, an organization based on volunteering. With a 20-year activity, the organization has built houses for families with small incomes or has refurbished the old buildings of poor families.



So far their programs have benefited 64 thousand people as they have built 600 new houses and renovated more than 2,000 buildings spread across Romania in Transylvania, near Cluj and Mediaş, in Moldavia, in Bacău, Comăneşti and Botoşani as well as in Constanţa county, in the southeast. Loredana Modoran is a coordinator with “Habitat for Humanity” and she gives us more details.



Loredana Modoran: “People need to comply with 3 criteria. The first one is the need for a home. The second criterion requires the beneficiary to have a source of income so as to be able to return us the price of the construction materials that we purchased for their houses. Since our programs are meant to make the beneficiaries responsible, we are looking for people who, despite working all day long, obtain too small an income to afford taking out a loan from a bank. These people are trapped in a poverty cycle. We mobilize certain resources, which help them assume responsibility for their lives. The 3rd criterion requires the beneficiaries to work alongside us and our volunteers on building or renovating their houses. Before being selected, the candidates have to volunteer for a number of hours, actually they need to volunteer for about 1 thousand hours or more. We are not giving alms to people, we simply give them an impetus to carry on with their lives afterwards.”



Volunteers work side by side with beneficiaries. They come from all over the world, belong to all social classes and have the most diverse jobs. Veronica Soare is one such volunteer, a radio journalist involved in several charity projects which she describes on her site called “minuni.ro”. She started working on the building sites several years ago and will next share with us her experience.



Veronica Soare: “Working on a building site for several hours gives you a unique feeling. You feel something special when looking at the wall you have just erected, when looking at the people you have just met on the site and you realize that we, the common people, can make a change. It is a great feeling to go to the building site on a Monday morning, where there is nothing but the groundwork or foundation of the house, and then to see with your own eyes how a house emerges with the help of your hands.”



The beneficiaries, in turn, become volunteers and supporters of other beneficiaries. The money which they pay by installments, without interest rate, for the materials used to build their houses will go into a fund. Then, the money will be invested in other construction projects. Veronica Soare could experience the joy people feel when helping their fellows.



Veronica Soare: “This year I have visited one of the families that had a house built last year. And I was impressed by two things: the mother was very happy that she now had a decent place where to raise her children and she expressed her wish to go to work as a volunteer at the building site, to help other people just as other people helped her. I don’t know if these people have ever volunteered before but they have now understood what it means to be helped, and so they want to give a hand in their turn.”



Bacău county, a region with many disadvantaged areas, has benefited from this system of building houses with the help of volunteers for 12 years. Andrei Chirilă, the coordinator of the Comăneşti branch of “Habitat for Humanity” organization talked about the social problems people are facing in this region.



Andrei Chirila: “I could say that the existing houses across Romania are rather old, many need repair works as families have no longer invested in refurbishment. There are many young families with children who still live in the same apartment with their parents or other relatives. These people really need to have their own space. Some families have even asked us to help them purchase central heating systems, to replace their old wooden windows with plastic PVC windows and insulate their walls to save money on heating bills.”



The demand for houses is very high, so new building sites will be set up in Comăneşti and its surroundings where volunteers will work to help their fellows have a decent home.


Souce: pixabay@Vertax
Society Today Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Life between work shifts for foreign workers in Romania

According to the latest survey conducted by the Centre for the Comparative Migration Studies, a little over 200 thousand foreign citizens were living...

Life between work shifts for foreign workers in Romania
atac cibernetic securitate hacker foto pixabay
Society Today Wednesday, 06 November 2024

Caution! Social engineering!

October has been proclaimed, at the level of the European Union, the month of cyber security. In 2024, the utopian the European Union has been...

Caution! Social engineering!
(foto: Anqa / pixabay.com)
Society Today Wednesday, 23 October 2024

Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on

Romanian society has a troublesome past regarding reproductive health. The country’s troubled past began in 1966. We recall that back then a decree...

Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on
Photo: pixabay.com
Society Today Wednesday, 16 October 2024

New solutions for old problems: bullying

A study carried out by Save the Children at the beginning of the year showed that one in two students in Romania was a victim of threats, humiliation...

New solutions for old problems: bullying
Society Today Wednesday, 02 October 2024

Romania must redefine itself economically

In 2022, the employed population of Romania was 7.6 million people. Of these, 5.5 million were employees with individual employment contracts. Most...

Romania must redefine itself economically
Society Today Wednesday, 25 September 2024

The Urban Bee Patrol

The concrete walls and trees groomed every season, are sometimes home to bees with honeycombs. Tens of thousands of bees find shelter in ventilation...

The Urban Bee Patrol
Society Today Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Romania’s new faces

Romania has been facing a workforce deficit for quite some time now, created by a negative birthrate, a dramatic ageing of the population and a...

Romania’s new faces
Society Today Wednesday, 11 September 2024

The Second Gender

Among all European countries, Romania has the lowest female employment rate. 45.4% of Romanian women have a job, compared to men, of whom 62.7% are...

The Second Gender

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company