Poverty can be – and often is – defined in purely monetary terms. At ‘People-to-People' Oradea we know that poverty is far more complicated. Poverty encompasses the whole range of environmental, economic, social and cultural pressures on children and families that reduce their chances for survival, growth and development.  

Inevitably poor children are denied a voice! Excluded from mainstream society, they, their families and communities come under great pressure. The poor suffer from bad health, low levels of education, inadequate nutrition and housing, and low standards of social welfare.

Are we poor due to a lack of education or are we lacking education because we are poor?

All data outlines the image of a vicious circle from which we cannot escape. Romania is the second poorest country in the European Union according to the latest statistics provided by Eurostat.

In our country, 40% of the population is currently at risk of poverty and social exclusion, while 48.5% of children are currently living in poverty.  Lack of money is felt strongest in villages, where half of Romanians reside. Some of them live in conditions that would appear to Western observers as something pulled straight out of the Middle Ages. 

The study conducted by World Vision Romania, shows that 2 out of 3 rural households are facing "a state of extreme poverty and a lack of basic necessities". This is supported by figures which show that 66.1% of Romanians in those living in rural areas don't have enough money to live on, or they have barely enough to live on a month to month basis. Poverty translates as such, into a lack of education, poor health and a poor diet. This in turn causes Romanian children from rural areas to choose the shortest and most uncertain roads in life, just to have some money in their pockets: abandoning school to go to work in the fields. And so a vicious circle forms, “the new generation of poor”, who in turn will battle with poverty, with the thought that maybe someday, they will have sewers, running water, or the chance to be able to wash themselves every day.

Read more: Lack of Education