No Title Provided

Jan Dago

Jyllands-Posten

Romania. Bucharest, Street children. Bobo on the left is just turning 18. He tells me that he has run away from home because of a violent farther. The children pour toxic paint into plastic bags to inhale the fumes this gives a quick high but the price is also severe brain damage. This group of street children is living in the heating channels that run under Bucharest. The heat down in the tunnels are intense and humid, the smell of human waste makes the stomach turn when one enters. The children are living down here because of the cold temperatures during winter in Rumania. They also try to avoid the risk of getting beaten or abused sexually if they try to sleep anywhere above the ground. They tell me that the police also harass them, but that they have never seen any policemen who want to enter the heating tunnels. They live from begging and from parking tips. . Precise figures about how many street children there is in Romania is difficult to obtain, the range is from some hundreds to 10.000. Romania and Bulgaria became new members of the European union on the 1.1.07. The union now is consisting of 27 members and 480 million people. The two new members have been through turmoil during history. Romania is still marked by their diseased dictator Nicolae CeausescuÕs and his surreal leadership. Many countries have also been affecting Romania and BulgariaÕs development and the mindset of the population. The different involvement from other countries has left the two countries and the populations in a state of divide about what will happen to them when they enter the European union. Some fear that it will be a repetition of history, others are hopeful that the wealth of the other members will have a positive effect on the situation. Life is already hard for the population in both countries. This makes it a nervous time of mixed hopes and fears of what will come for the people of Romania and Bulgaria.

Jan Dago, "No Title Provided," in POYi Archive, Item #45381, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/45381 (accessed June 14, 2025).