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Potatoes for the winter

The lack of well-paid jobs is extremely high in rural Siebenbürgen. Many men are not able to provide for their families, though they do everything and accept any work offered to them. The prices for food in the supermarkets are partly higher than in Germany. Many families therefore have to go into debts during the winter in order that their children do not have to go hungry.

Near Brasov, we distribute 200 kilos of potatoes near the end of the year to large families. Often in these families the mothers and fathers are without work and do not know how to get over the winter. Potatoes are a major food in Romania. With just 26 Euros you can help a large family to have enough food this winter.

Our misery will never change – of which Nadja Maximiuc was firmly convinced!

„It feels bitter, to be so hungry often, that one, because of thirst, is unable to know where to sleep in the night.“

The Austrian poet Johann Nestroy sounds like coming straight from the home of the Maximiuc family.

The 38-year-old woman from Zeiden, was abandoned by her husband a few years ago. Since his company went bankrupt, he was unemployed. That is why he was looking for work abroad. Nadia was hoping, but she buried that long ago: her husband has never reported, nor has sent money for his children. Nadja Maximiuc has been responsible for her growing children since then.

Although as of late she can earn 150 Euro a month, the money is not enough to pay for food and rent. Nadja lives together with her five children in one room, with an adjoining kitchen, which she was assigned to by the authorities. She had to fight for water and electricity for a long time, just like the other families living in this abandoned factory settlement.

Hans Otto Kasper writes, after he had brought Nadja Maximiuc the potatoes: “The poverty here is indescribable. The authorities can not help her, and she does not believe that her life will ever improve. She only thinks of survival!

Nadja Maximiuc stood in tears as we unloaded four sacks of potatoes in front of the house. She could hardly believe her fortune!

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