scrivi al direttore
“After 4 months of volunteer work in Parada, I grew in my conviction that the most important thing for these young people had to be something concrete which could seriously help them to grow”. These are the first accounts of Lucia De Marchi, direct from Bucharest as she works for the association of Parada.
For those who are still unaware, the NGO was founded by Miloud Oukili, a French clown who, while on a trip in Eastern Europe after the fall of the wall, found himself confronted with the harsh reality of street children. From this experience came the idea to teach them the circus trade in order to teach them to have dignity and respect for themselves.
Lucia chose Parada as the topic for her college thesis in anthropology. She has already been in Romania for a couple months. “I’ve met many people who have experienced abandonment living a lonely life on the streets since childhood” she explains. “I’ve met young people who are simply searching for a little affection and a chance to show themselves and others that they exist and that they have a will to survive.”
What does it mean to help a young boy who is living on the streets? It’s not always easy to get close to them and many times they’re the ones who disappear because they’re afraid and becuase there are painful wounds that reappear. I’ve pretty much seen them in all sorts of conditions: users and non-users of glue, those who cry, hang around, or scream, near a bridge or in the center of town. Then when they come back and you spend some time with them, smoke a cigarette together, give them an ice cream and sit out on the front steps of the doorway you see them smiling again and this gives you an immense joy.
Since Miloud first came, do you think Bucharest has changed? The Romanian capital is a city all abuzz; there is construction of many new buildings, very well-dressed people crowd the city center at all hours and have an aperitif in the bars of Lipscani, and the flower-lined streets are full of traffic in which we see big cylinder cars flash by along with the new Dacia. Another thing which has caught my attention is the increasing number of weddings; people are getting married more and more, with elaborate and luxurious ceremonies and limousines. The parks are also full of young couples with children on the weekends.
But the problem of street children remains though. This reality clashes with the Bucharest of today. It seems like the other side of the coin. It is a reality which Romanians don’t accept and don’t understand. More than once I have stopped, with another Italian volunteer worker, to walk and chat with them a bit about this and that and people looked at us as if we were either martians or crazy.
Why were you considered so odd? When I spoke to my Romanian friends about this attitude, they told me that to change the mentality here people needed time. They’re not used to the idea of volunteering, since most of the population does not live comfortably, and salaries and pensions are still very low.
English translation by Serena Martini (Washington DC)
Organizza il tuo viaggio
Prenota il tuo volo
Prenota il treno
Rent a car
Lascia un commento a "Bucharest, the face of those abandoned"
