Casa Mea opened its first home in Romania because the need is so great! The unwanted children of Romania either live on the streets or are confined to the state run orphanages. Although progress has been made in 2004 there were 43,000 children in state run orphanages and in Brasov County there were 1650. The number of children living on the streets is unknown, but they are everywhere. There is absolutely no safety net for these unwanted children.



Why does Romania have so many unwanted children?

Romania is roughly the size of Oregon with a population of 22 million. It is a land of much diverse natural beauty consisting of the Transylvanian Alps (yes, the land of Count Dracula!), the blue Danube delta, and the Black Sea beaches. Despite its natural beauty and physical resources, Romania suffered economically and socially under its former repressive communist regime. Under that repressive regime, all married women were ordered to produce five children each or they suffered severe financial penalties. All methods of contraception were illegal. Additionally, the communists stripped Romania of its resources and sold them abroad in an attempt to eradicate Romania’s debt. Romanians struggled to obtain what little was left to feed themselves and their children.

Today, after the fall of communism, Romania’s industrial base remains obsolete and inadequate and although Romania embarked on a stabilization and structural reform program, its progress toward a market economy is intermittent and slow. Inflation is high, as is the unemployment rate and approximately 29% of Romanians live below the poverty line. In Romania, the average income is $120.00 per month. As a result of these economic and social conditions, Romanians had and continue to have many more children than they can support.

If we do not help these children, then who will?