New WECF project in the Roma village of Prislop in Romania

Improving sanitation and hygiene through anti-parasite treatment and hand-wash basins.

11.05.2005 |Margriet Samwel

One of the poorest communities in Romania

Prislop is a small Roma settlement at the border of Sibiu’s urban region in Romania. It is located on hills about 3 km of rough dirt road uphill from Rasinari, 12 km from Sibiu itself.

The unique feature of this village is that it is separated from any other settlement. (Usually Roma living quarters are merely squashed together at the outskirts of a city or village.)

There is a population of approximately 300 persons who are mostly broom and basket makers, a low caste in the Roma system.

There is a school building which holds a large room for a kindergarten class, one medium-sized and one small room to each hold two classes, 1st and 3rd, 2nd and 4th class. Plus a teachers’ room. The teachers are from Rasinari, and their efforts are notable, though somewhat limited by lack of resources and space.

From 5th grade on the Prislop children have to attend the school in Rasinari, and very few can take the social and scholastic pressure. They drop out of school after 5th grade. The school is receiving water and toilet facilities at present, but they will not be available to the public.

One source of potable water is from a mountain spring. The water may often dries up during summer months. In this case the Prislopeans carry water from another spring about 800m away. This water is full of calcium sediments.

School attendance is weak, there are usually 30-40 children in class when there are about 60 school-aged children in the village.

The living quarters for families in Prislop are usually one-room-huts made from wooden beams with tar pole covered roofs.

There is a small grocery store has been made possible by sponsorship from private donors from Netherlands and Germany. An American private donor has distributed basic foods to the Prislopeans in the winter months as many families suffer from undernutrition. A Swiss doctor sponsors school children with good grades who have reached the sixth grade in the Rasinari school.

The sponsorship includes clothes and shoes, school materials and school snacks to avoid that Prislop children are ostracised by Rasinari children. The doctor checks on the academic progress of the children personally. At present there are three children from two families in his program. He also awards the parents for putting emphasis on the scholastic efforts of their children by improving their constructions and electricity supply.

Only school-attending children are awarded a small monthly allowance of about 5 Euros by the Romanian State. The school-attending children receive a school snack of bread and cheese spread daily. Since two years social aid of about 20 Euros per adult has been awarded by the Romanian state. This has improved the personal situation of Prislopeans.

Nevertheless, there is some money in Prislop. However, it is mostly spent on cigarettes. Every adult man is addicted to tobacco. It reduces the appetite. As to alcohol consumption we have no facts.

WECF sponsors a hygiene and worm treatment programme starting September 2005
As water facilities are being installed in the school, the children have to learn some basic ways how to use it. These lessons can be carried over into the households fairly easily.

At present the Romanian health care puts the full cost of ambulant medication on the patient. As the next winter approaches a lot of money will be spent on medication for coughs, colds, bronchitis, kidney troubles. Homoeopathic treatment could provide effective cures at low costs. As of September 2005 a three month program will include:

1. Parasite/Worm treatment

A homoeopathic worm treatment, which has been tested many years in India and proves to be very efficient, will be administered to the school children. The doses of homoeopathic remedies are administered by the doctor and consequently by the nurse. The names and progress of all children are carefully documented. 15 test children to be screened for stool tests and other symptoms, under supervision of the homoeopath doctor and helpers to document the feasibility of homeopathic treatment for worm infestation.

General strengthening of physical resistance to coughs and colds by weekly doses of homoeopathic remedies. The names and progress of all children are carefully documented.

2. A Hygiene course for children and mothers.

Two evening meetings, of 90 minutes as introduction to the problems of worm infestation, its causes, symptoms, dangers and prevention. Explanation of how to obtain a stool sample, how to prevent dust from settling on food stuffs, how to disinfect, (held by the nurse)
Water-containers, locally available, make from zinc metal, with a tap, to be fixed in the home and filled with water carried to the house in buckets, are made available for a reduced price (cost ca. 6 Euro, supplied at half price)
Families who commit themselves to fixing these containers in their homes are rewarded with a free soap tray and a free bar of good soap. Perhaps a hand towel can be supplied as well. The homes have to provide a stool and a bowl to be put underneath the water container.
A poster with step-by-step illustrated instructions for washing hands are supplied. The children can colour the illustrations in school. The poster is placed in a plastic cover and attached to the water container.
The teachers memorise and practice the steps with the children during the course of their classes.
The mothers are instructed to keep the containers full of water and dispose of the waste-water.
The children are tested in school and homes and are rewarded for mastering the skill with a small toy. The mothers are rewarded with a small pack of coffee.

Further similar instructions would include:

Cutting fingernails
Using a nail brush
Brushing teeth
Washing faces
Wiping noses (use of paper tissues)
Simple antiseptic measures for small cuts and bruises
For Mothers to supervise toilet habits of the children (using toilet paper etc.)

At the end of the three month program: distribution of rubber boots and warm socks for the children. The boots are transported privately to Romania, and the socks will be knitted by Prislop women who have already proven in 2004 capable of producing knitware.