A Life Parade
PARADE
“Give it to me! I won’t take it away from you. Give it to me. I won’t throw it away. Here’s the deal: I’ll leave it to you but you won’t sniff it while I’m here. Better give it to me and I’ll give it back to you before I leave. Let me see if you can resist without it. I won’t tear it apart. If you want to give it to me it’s OK, if not… big deal!”
The kid dropped the glue bag but he wasn’t sure he would see it again. He was lured with a tin cup full of Brussels sprouts soup brought down from the kitchen of the Hilton palace. This is Bucharest, July 2001. It’s 20 past 8 in the evening and the caravan of the Parade foundation reaches the Baba Novac square. Here in one of the gutters there are 15 glue sniffers, aged between 14 and 24 years. Let’s meet some of them.
“My parents are divorced. My mother lives here in Bucharest in a rented room. She has no resources to raise me. She can hardly take care of herself. I’ve been living in the streets for the last 10 years.”
“I left home at the age of 7, when my parents told me they would beat me up for having torn the school bag to pieces. And they beat me, so I left home.”
“My father is a glover and made me sell gloves. Had I failed to sell all the gloves he would have beat me with a cable. So I left home because I had had enough of that life.”
All their stories seem to be episodes of cheap soap operas. You have to believe them as there isn’t anyone able to confirm or infirm their stories. For them each day is worst than the previous and a bit better than the next one.
Romanians have often been pointed at by the big powers on this issue. However there are over 250 NGOs in Bucharest alone having as main activity the protection of disadvantaged children and families. Many of them were established by dioceses others are branches of foreign foundations. Children know about them and some even visit them. They have understood that some adults fight for their lives. Here is what one of the glue sniffers in Bucharest told us.
“During the day I go to the Open House foundation. We starts our classes at 9:30 and now we have some extra courses because we are rehearsing for a theatre performance. I play in Hansel and Grettel.”
“We go and wash ourselves in the morning, then we prepare breakfast, we wash our clothes, then we go to school, watch TV, play table tennis. After that we prepare lunch, watch TV again and in the evening we return to the gutters.”
If it weren’t for these foundations, they would probably die of cold, hunger or of an overdose with glue. Their only job is begging. Nevertheless some have had chances for a better life. One day, this man appeared. With a red nose, white make up, dressed in rags, bright yes.. He somehow resembled them, just that he knew how to smile.
Miloud Oukili, a French clown with Annie Fratelinni’s circus school, discovered the street children in 1992 when he came to Romania to perform in shows organised by the Handicap International organisation, in orphanages, hospitals and centres for disabled persons. His red nose and his rucksack were his passport for approaching street children who had forgotten what smile means.
“I had my make up on, the red nose, I was surrounded by flying torches. I was able to show them the magic of entertainment. All children were either pleased, surprised or joyful. It was love at first sight. I was the French clown, the weirdo, for one year and a half. Children managed to see another kind of adult. I wasn’t the doctor, the educator, I was merely the clown. That is how I got close to them. It was easier than showing up and saying “Hello, I’m Bob, I am you tutor.” I realised that a smile could be a pretext for gathering together, an educational starting point, aimed at restoring self dignity. I was shocked by what I saw here at that time but instead of criticising I tried to do something, to get myself involved. True, in 1992 it wasn’t big deal, I only had the enthusiasm of doing something. So I decided to stay here.”
In the evening he used to accompany them to their shelters, at the northern station or in the gutters. He started teaching them some of his tricks, on condition they would go to the primary school. In August 1994 those children participated in the Sighisoara mediaeval festival. “The Parade” was a real success among children and also among the audiences, as all of them were re-discovering smile. The fact of being rewarded with applause, the joy of fulfilling something made some of those children wish for a change in their lives, for not living in the street any longer. So, some of them have made tours of France, Germany and even participated in the Venice carnival.
From January 1996, the abandoned children have an alternative to the street and stray life and to drugs: a day time centre where a social worker, a psychologist, a physician, educators and trainers supervise the various workshops. The visits of the permanent workers of PARADA to the places where these children lead their lives - stations, gutters, blocks’ entrances - are frequent. Thus, the places of refuge can be registered. The truck CARAVAN for emergency cases works day and night on the street to offer emergency assistance to the children. The social flats are shelters for the children and young people who have a real capacity for a complete social integration. At the moment, there are seven social flats, four rooms in student’s hostels and seven rooms in singles’ houses in Bucharest. The flats are kept by the young people who live there under the supervision of a social worker. The groups living together in the apartments are formed by seven to ten members. Up to now, 130 children and teenagers have benefited from these facilities. Another several thousands are still in the street. Milloud Oukili continues: “The homeless children phenomenon is not only a Romanian one, the social handicap of the streets is a disease spread in every society of the world. We can speak of the street of Paris, Rome, Paris, London and Barcelona in the same manner that we speak of the streets of Bucharest. “The Street” has its culture: they have no money, they lack affection and dignity. By protecting the dignity of a homeless child we give him a chance to exist and to integrate himself in society”.
“Give it to me! I won’t take it away from you. Give it to me. I won’t throw it away. Here’s the deal: I’ll leave it to you but you won’t sniff it while I’m here. Better give it to me and I’ll give it back to you before I leave. Let me see if you can resist without it. I won’t tear it apart. If you want to give it to me it’s OK, if not… big deal!”
The kid dropped the glue bag but he wasn’t sure he would see it again. He was lured with a tin cup full of Brussels sprouts soup brought down from the kitchen of the Hilton palace. This is Bucharest, July 2001. It’s 20 past 8 in the evening and the caravan of the Parade foundation reaches the Baba Novac square. Here in one of the gutters there are 15 glue sniffers, aged between 14 and 24 years. Let’s meet some of them.
“My parents are divorced. My mother lives here in Bucharest in a rented room. She has no resources to raise me. She can hardly take care of herself. I’ve been living in the streets for the last 10 years.”
“I left home at the age of 7, when my parents told me they would beat me up for having torn the school bag to pieces. And they beat me, so I left home.”
“My father is a glover and made me sell gloves. Had I failed to sell all the gloves he would have beat me with a cable. So I left home because I had had enough of that life.”
All their stories seem to be episodes of cheap soap operas. You have to believe them as there isn’t anyone able to confirm or infirm their stories. For them each day is worst than the previous and a bit better than the next one.
Romanians have often been pointed at by the big powers on this issue. However there are over 250 NGOs in Bucharest alone having as main activity the protection of disadvantaged children and families. Many of them were established by dioceses others are branches of foreign foundations. Children know about them and some even visit them. They have understood that some adults fight for their lives. Here is what one of the glue sniffers in Bucharest told us.
“During the day I go to the Open House foundation. We starts our classes at 9:30 and now we have some extra courses because we are rehearsing for a theatre performance. I play in Hansel and Grettel.”
“We go and wash ourselves in the morning, then we prepare breakfast, we wash our clothes, then we go to school, watch TV, play table tennis. After that we prepare lunch, watch TV again and in the evening we return to the gutters.”
If it weren’t for these foundations, they would probably die of cold, hunger or of an overdose with glue. Their only job is begging. Nevertheless some have had chances for a better life. One day, this man appeared. With a red nose, white make up, dressed in rags, bright yes.. He somehow resembled them, just that he knew how to smile.
Miloud Oukili, a French clown with Annie Fratelinni’s circus school, discovered the street children in 1992 when he came to Romania to perform in shows organised by the Handicap International organisation, in orphanages, hospitals and centres for disabled persons. His red nose and his rucksack were his passport for approaching street children who had forgotten what smile means.
“I had my make up on, the red nose, I was surrounded by flying torches. I was able to show them the magic of entertainment. All children were either pleased, surprised or joyful. It was love at first sight. I was the French clown, the weirdo, for one year and a half. Children managed to see another kind of adult. I wasn’t the doctor, the educator, I was merely the clown. That is how I got close to them. It was easier than showing up and saying “Hello, I’m Bob, I am you tutor.” I realised that a smile could be a pretext for gathering together, an educational starting point, aimed at restoring self dignity. I was shocked by what I saw here at that time but instead of criticising I tried to do something, to get myself involved. True, in 1992 it wasn’t big deal, I only had the enthusiasm of doing something. So I decided to stay here.”
In the evening he used to accompany them to their shelters, at the northern station or in the gutters. He started teaching them some of his tricks, on condition they would go to the primary school. In August 1994 those children participated in the Sighisoara mediaeval festival. “The Parade” was a real success among children and also among the audiences, as all of them were re-discovering smile. The fact of being rewarded with applause, the joy of fulfilling something made some of those children wish for a change in their lives, for not living in the street any longer. So, some of them have made tours of France, Germany and even participated in the Venice carnival.
From January 1996, the abandoned children have an alternative to the street and stray life and to drugs: a day time centre where a social worker, a psychologist, a physician, educators and trainers supervise the various workshops. The visits of the permanent workers of PARADA to the places where these children lead their lives - stations, gutters, blocks’ entrances - are frequent. Thus, the places of refuge can be registered. The truck CARAVAN for emergency cases works day and night on the street to offer emergency assistance to the children. The social flats are shelters for the children and young people who have a real capacity for a complete social integration. At the moment, there are seven social flats, four rooms in student’s hostels and seven rooms in singles’ houses in Bucharest. The flats are kept by the young people who live there under the supervision of a social worker. The groups living together in the apartments are formed by seven to ten members. Up to now, 130 children and teenagers have benefited from these facilities. Another several thousands are still in the street. Milloud Oukili continues: “The homeless children phenomenon is not only a Romanian one, the social handicap of the streets is a disease spread in every society of the world. We can speak of the street of Paris, Rome, Paris, London and Barcelona in the same manner that we speak of the streets of Bucharest. “The Street” has its culture: they have no money, they lack affection and dignity. By protecting the dignity of a homeless child we give him a chance to exist and to integrate himself in society”.
posted by Andreea Demirgian at
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