How Life Ascending (Viata  Ascendenta) meets the expectations of marginalized elderly people in Romania

Victoria, the head of the association, gives us hertestimony.

Most of us have very modest pensions. Some retirees are still active, so they supplement their pensions by working. Almost all retirees help their children or grandchildren whose parents have gone abroad to work, which increases the precariousness of the elders.

Sick pensioners face loneliness and serious problems. Some of them were deceived, harassed and found themselves on the street or interned in retirement homes. This is a very difficult problem for us.

At an international LAI meeting we proposed a law to protect marginalized older people. Only Belgium, through the then president, Léon Cassiers, had taken a position at the Ethics Commission. This is still a relevant problem and we believe that it can be solved in different ways in each country, by each association.

As far as we are concerned, here's what we've done:

We organized a small pastry shop next to St Nicholas Cathedral where some of the members of the association prepare products for the needy<people. But the members are getting older and we need younger members today.

We bring help to the sick.

The priests in our parishes visit the sick on the first Friday of the month. They also visit night shelters for people on the street. Some members of our association accompany them. There are other associations like Caritas that help marginalized people, but these large number of aids is not enough to meet their needs.

We have a volunteer in our association, who is particularly dedicated to the sick. She is a medical executive that, at any time of the day or night, helps people in distress. During the communist period, she accompanied a priest who baptized babies born with disabilities and who were abandoned in maternity wards. It's a beautiful Christian testimony.  Today she is being harassed by someone she has saved. She must protect herself, but there is no law in our country to protect the elderly.

We will still have to work on that.

Victoria Negrea

Responsible for Viata Ascendenta  (Ascending Life) Romania