Romania
is different than what I’m used to I guess. It’s unquestionably different
than India and Nepal in terms of
modernization. Compared to Nepal,
I felt a spiritual shadow there, but here it’s a shadow of oppression
here. Due to past unjust political policies,
the Communist mentality has without a doubt settled on present day Romania. It was just over 20 years ago that Romania revolted
against its Communist regime. This is a
country with a cold past and the damage runs deep; a country still recovering
from careless dictatorship.
The memories and shadow of Communism still linger today. And the remnants of it is evident everywhere
you turn. One my team mates said “people
look sad here.” Our contact immediately
replied with “everyone is sad
here. People are still reaping the
result of oppressive, corrupt government/ Communism. It’s because of the oppressive nature of
Communism that the ‘woe is me’ mentality has become a cultural norm.” It has left Romania unstable and unable to gain
proper momentum to irrevocably erase the past.
The Romania
was changing with the fall of Communism.
Corrupt politics affected the country forcing underserved communities to
suffer the most. The well-being of these
communities was sorely ignored leaving families, especially street kids, to
fend for themselves for basic everyday needs.
It was around this time that our contact’s story began. As chaos swept throughout the country, her
passion for street kids was uncontrollably set in motion.
Our contact shared with us her heart behind how this
organization got started about 15 years ago.
Her story was filled with stories of homeless, helpless street
kids. Stories of children whose lives
hung by a thread of hope each day; stories of children who lived unexplainable
lives of survival. She shared with us
countless stories that broke her heart. Her
soul was so overcome with despair that her passion led her to take these kids
off the streets. This organization came
to be known as Oaza (http://www.oaza.com/),
which means oasis. Since its existence, it has helped many kids
who have been held captive to the spirit of the streets for so long. Although
kids have come and gone through this organization throughout the years, their safe-haven
has been Oaza.
