Vladut

Vladut participating in the fall play

Five-year old Vladut came to our attention after we found his older brother George begging on the street in Bacau. The brothers live in a two-room flat with their parents and grandmother. After we met George on the street, we visited the family’s flat and told his mother about the Stefanita program. We offered to  help get George accepted back into school, although he had been out for several years. We also urged her to send Vladut to our kindergarten and provided him with school clothes, shoes, and a book bag.

Vladut’s mother had to quit her job at a shoe factory several years ago due to debilitating arthritis. The family survives on her social assistance, the children’s government allowance, and the father’s pension. He works part-time at the shoe factory and is paid by the piece when there is work. The apartment belongs to the children’s grandmother, but they owe five times their monthly income in unpaid heat and maintenance bills.

Thanks to grants from Ursus Brewing Co. and Angus Rowe the brothers now spend their days in school. Vladut is getting a head start in the Stefanita kindergarten and will enter first grade in the fall of 2004. In addition to a hot lunch, he receives school supplies, winter boots, medical care and personal attention from the Stefanita team of teachers and volunteers. George, 17, is in the fifth grade. He comes to Stefanita in the afternoon to do his homework and play, excellently, on the Stefanita basketball team.