It was late autumn of ’94… I still remember dull and capricious weather, similar to what we have now. I wasn’t too scared of cold at that time. I was more scared of my loneliness. What I was least scared of was myself. In fairly equal proportions, these things are reversed today, I believe.
“Will you come and help me, one of these evenings?” asked Oana, my good friend. Oana was the example of the ideal Christian for me at that time. Even today she continues to offer me a standard of faith, despite the many years coming and going upon us. I knew that, even though she was a student (in social sciences) and a radio editor, she used to go after hours to help the homeless children. Oana was my hero, as I could never completely understand how can you fit so much love in only one person…
“Where?”, I’ve asked.
“At the Train Station”, she replied. “The only thing I am asking is that you make sure you do not have an improper reaction, whatever you see.”
I was dreaming of changing the world at that time. Still, I wasn’t yet ready to pay a price at all, even a small one. “The enthusiasm builds castles, but the practice starts with the first brick”, used to say another person that is dear to me used to say, someone I met a few years later, though. That was me at that time: enthusiasm. I was always dreaming, but never laying my hand on the first brick.
So we decided: we will go together to the North Train station of Bucharest, to meet some of the street children. Oana wanted to dedicate one of her radio shows to them, as she hoped to sensitize the audience about the cause, to draw people’s attention to other people, to the most afflicted, the saddest of all.
In the Metro she briefed me:
“We are going to meet a girl. Do not wonder, do not stare; do not react inappropriately. She dresses and acts like a boy.”
“Why would she do this?”, I asked.
“To protect herself: the streets are a tough environment. “, Oana taught me.
Finally, we were there. The girl was no more than 13 years old. She had a trimmed haircut and, despite seeming calm, a hunted animal look on her face, a look that froze the blood in my veins. She greeted us with a smile. I was in complete shock, mostly glancing and trying not to stare, while getting as many details as I could. She led us to an abandoned metal kiosk. She moved a metal sheet and invited us in, with a wide gesture.
“This is where we stay”, the girl told us proudly.
“WE?”, I asked myself.
“Me and my little brother”, she continued, as if she could hear my thoughts.
Everything was like a dream, reverie and nightmare in only one short sleep. I had never been so close to “them”. Like everyone else, I saw them throughout the city, associating them with the famous plastic glue bags they were sniffing from. I used to meet them on OUR territory, on the “civilized world”. Now I found myself behind the curtain, in “THEIR” territory. The place was clean, at least as it could be in such conditions. The little brother was there too.
As I was helping Oana to get the recorder out of the bag, I was trying to remember the famous song – becoming almost an anthem for the street children in my city – the well-known “hit” they were using to beg for 1 leu or for a piece of bread.
“Mothers from all around the world I give you one piece of advice:
Do not allow your children on the street because of a husband,
For the child without mother is like a leaf with without a poplar
Today is born and dies tomorrow, but you can never forget after that.
When you’ve got a mother you can never forget her
Whether she is good or she is bad, she will still be your mother “…
“I’m wondering how it is to have no parents and to live on the streets at this age?”, was my last thought before the interview started.
I don’t remember much of what the girl with a child’s face and a hunted animal look in her eyes said. I am ashamed of that. I don’t even remember her name. I recall that she told us she is desperately trying to take care of her little brother. Only later I found out how she did that… Now I am thinking that it was good that I didn’t have the whole truth at once: it would have been crushing, too overwhelming for me.
At one point Oana asked her how she feels when she sees other children hand in hand with their parents or going to school. The girl’s answer gave me one of the few moments of life that are able to break your heart in pieces, instantly and for ever:
“This is not for us. This is for human beings…”
I could barely find my way out, shaking and crying. This is when I realized the cruel truth: “These children do not see themselves as people anymore. These children live only to die every day. And we just don’t care about it…”
I desperately tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, without Oana or the kids seeing me. My eyes just refused to obey and to stop crying…
I didn’t get to sleep much that night and those coming after. I carried with me for a long time the image of her eyes. I was haunted by her small hand, patting the boy’s head in a way only a parent does. He felt safe only because of her daily sacrifice of love. Although forgetting is a part of our life, the fact that this picture is so alive after all these years gives us clear evidence that we don’t have the right to let some things go.
I swore then that I will do everything I can to help the children without childhood. Their pain became my pain. And the stamp of the hunted look guaranteed that I will never renounce these vows…
Years passed. A lot has changed. Still some things are the same, despite democracy and the fact that most of us have a better standard of living: there are still children with no childhood in Bucharest. Still, they will keep being children, even if some believe differently.
We’ve decided that our love story will continue this year. We want to get presents for 100 homeless children and to share the Good News with them. For a few hours, they can get their childhood back. For a magical night, the children with no childhood will be allowed to become children again…
Because it’s almost impossible to do this on my own, even though I have a wonderful wife, sharing the love for them, I want to raise a big gang of crazy people who are ready to love those that are the least loved, brave enough to step behind the curtain.
If you want to join us, let me know! For more details, please contact us.