Located in
\nsouthwestern Bucharest, the district of Ferentari has over the years came to be
\nsynonymous with squalor, poverty, violence, extreme instability, which have
\nbecome widespread due to subpar living standards. The district is home to a
\nlarge Roma community and it very much resembles a ghetto, as its inhabitants
\nseldom go beyond the tangible and symbolic boundaries of the neighborhood to
\nseek a better life elsewhere. The solution would therefore be to improve the
\nlives of the people inside the ghetto, something which Valeriu Nicolae has been
\ndoing for over 10 years. A computer scientist with work experience in the
\nUnited States and Canada, the founder of the first think-tank on Roma issues in
\nRomania, a member of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
\nregional advocacy director of World Vision International and a Secretary of
\nState in the Romanian Government in 2016, Valeriu Nicolae has constantly
\nmilitated for the rights of the underprivileged. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Having himself emerged from a disadvantaged
\nbackground, being a Roma ethnic, Valeriu Nicolae is familiar with the problems
\nof the marginalized and knows how important it is for children, above everyone
\nelse, to be given the opportunity of leaving the ghetto. This is why back in
\n2007 and 2008, together with a group of volunteers he started working in one of
\nthe schools in Ferentari, helping children do their homework. The school was
\nlocated in the vicinity of the so-called Drug Alley, a place where a minimum
\nof 50 people are struggling with withdrawal in plain sight on a daily basis,
\nValeriu Nicolae says. Municipal waste, rats, cockroaches, 14-square-meter
\nstudios where up to 6 people live packed, all of that adds to the reality the
\npeople of Ferentari are facing, a reality Valeriu Nicolae is helping them cope
\nwith. With the volunteers’ tenacity and help, in the summer of 2019 children in
\nthe district would come to school to get help with their homework, taking up as
\nmany as 5 classrooms, Valeriu Nicolae recalls:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We would help
\nthem do their homework, and we did a lot of extra stuff as well: we obtained
\ndisability certificates for some of their parents, we helped people in bad
\nshape, from people who needed a dentist or heart surgery up to polypectomies,
\ndental extractions or orthodontic treatments. We tried to help out the best we
\ncould. Nearly every child we worked with was on the brink of dropout. None of
\nthem gave up, and now from over a hundred children only a couple are struggling
\nwith school. Before everything was a disaster. As soon as they got to the fifth
\ngrade, most of them dropped out. Now we have children who go to high school, so
\nthe situation has definitely improved. We’re also giving them hot meals. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The place was
\nrunning smoothly, maybe too much so, as the District 5 City Hall decided to implement
\nits own social assistance programme at that school, thus eliminating the
\nactivities designed by Valeriu Nicolae and his team of volunteers. But Valeriu
\nNicolae didn’t give up and set up the so-called Good House. In a nearby
\nbuilding close to his home, located close to the district of Ferentari,
\nchildren are brought over from the ghetto for afterschool activities. Built
\nwith the generosity of donors and volunteers who worked selflessly to get the
\nplace up and running, the Good House opened one month after the venue was purchased,
\nin the autumn of 2019. Valeriu Nicolae:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We bought two
\nvans, and with the volunteers’ private vehicles we brought the children over
\nevery weekend, as it was a lot better. We had as many as 100 children. The Good
\nHouse is a place where we can do everything we want. We set up a great library,
\nand things are looking up. We’ve got a lot of help, for instance from famous
\nchefs who come here to cook for the children. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Things again
\nwere running smoothly, up until the state of emergency was called, due to the
\ncoronavirus pandemic. Schools were shut down and lockdown became the norm.
\nChildren can no longer get to the Good House. Still, Valeriu Nicolae has come
\nup with solutions: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Children were
\nmaking progress, and we couldn’t just call off the activities. Therefore I
\nstarted setting up computers and hotspots all over the ghetto. I was donated a
\nnumber of unlimited Internet access accounts, and I got hold of a bunch of
\nolder phones from various people. We moved very quickly, and I got back to my
\nold job as a computer scientist, and managed to install everything that needed installing.
\nWe got the terminals up and running and fitted them with educational software.
\nNow we have over 50 volunteers who work every day online with these children.
\nThey stay and work from their homes, and we keep the children connected. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the ghetto
\npresent-day restrictions, in addition to the suspension of multiple economic
\nactivities, make it hard for many people to get on with their lives. Valeriu
\nNicolae and his team of volunteers are getting however donations from various
\ncompanies, and are providing local people with dairy products, bread, various
\nfoodstuffs, coffee and tea. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We manage to
\ncover the necessary food supplies. Many people in the district lost their jobs.
\nBut since the lockdown was called, our families are ok, we’re managing to cover
\ntheir needs. I hope we will continue to do so, but things are getting rough for
\nthe people. Although the people know me, even drug users, sometimes things get
\nout of hand, as the addicts need food as well. They know I’m coming to help the
\nchildren, but they need food too. Domestic violence has also gone up, and so
\nhave all sorts of abuse. Unfortunately, no one cares to put an end to such
\nthings in a place like Ferentari. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Valeriu Nicolae
\nestimates that Bucharest alone is home to a few dozen underprivileged children
\nwho lack access to online educational resources, and who might get behind with
\nschool during the lockdown and might eventually drop out. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by
\nV. Palcu)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Good House has worked wonders for the children of Ferentari<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":143514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43800,43799,43667,43798],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-143513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-ferentari-district","tag-good-house","tag-underprivileged-children","tag-valeriu-nicolae"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n