Lighting up Romania

> Iulian Angheluta and humanitarian project brings the people of this poor nation in the European Union a ray of light in the darkness

the light.

The Moneas, the 92nd family to benefit, get by on welfare payments of 90 (RM448) a month, topped up by meagre extra earnings from the children’s father Georgica for tending to the neighbours’ cows.

Until now, their only source of light has been a tiny, batterypowered LED bulb, and occasionally a candle to light their Orthodox icon.

“When Dad has to charge his mobile phone, we go to a neighbour’s,” said 14-year-old Catalin.

And even that’s not free, his mother pointed out. “We paid six lei (about RM6.50) to charge the battery.”

The solar panels will provide enough power to charge Georgica’s phone and keep the lights on, though a refrigerator still remains out of reach.

The renewable energy means no electricity bills, and the family did not have to pay the

1,000 (RM4,980) it cost to install the panels, either.

“We have sponsors who finance our operations according to their means: some pay for a house or a school, others for a whole village,” said Angheluta, adding that his team prioritises households with large numbers of children.

Angheluta said lighting was “a step forward” for Romania’s poorest, “but people are lacking so many things – education, money, access to a health system.”

And sometimes, when free help is offered, it is greeted with suspicion. “People have trouble believing that we are lighting their house for free,” he said.

But he has seen old men burst in tears after seeing their homes connected to the grid.

In contrast, Angheluta said some children seem too traumatised by a life in desperate poverty to show much emotion after seeing the lights go on.

“But I know that in the evening, once we have gone, they’ll play with the light switch and dream of cartoons.” – AFP