{"id":2826,"date":"2016-04-19T18:42:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T18:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/?p=2826"},"modified":"2018-05-01T16:12:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T16:12:29","slug":"cand-casa-ti-e-o-prelata-si-o-saltea-un-pat-iti-pare-un-vis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/2016\/04\/19\/cand-casa-ti-e-o-prelata-si-o-saltea-un-pat-iti-pare-un-vis\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen your \u2018house\u2019 is a plastic foil and a mattress, owning a bed seems an impossible dream!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with Ms. Lenu\u021ba (Venus)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"doamna-lenuta\"<\/em><\/p>\n

The interview was recorded in Turnu M\u0103gurele town, in August 2015, in the frame of the project Maskar<\/strong>. It was recorded in front of Lenu\u0163a and her husband\u2019s house, at the time they were expecting their children and grandchildren to visit them from abroad.<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your name and age? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m 48 years old and my name is Lenu\u021ba. My nickname is Venus \u2013 the goddess of beauty.<\/p>\n

Where did you work abroad? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to work in Spain and it was not easy at all \u2013 but what am I saying, it was actually really hard. I stayed for five years alone with my children. I left for the first time in 1999. I left together with my children carrying their schoolbags and books. It was that really difficult period, when we knew we wouldn\u2019t get a place to stay, but we had some hope. I improvised a \u201chome\u201d out of two mattresses. I would lay a mattress down on the ground, and another one leaning against a wall, as a roof. That\u2019s how we slept.<\/p>\n

How long did you sleep like that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For months on end. Winter included. Mark my words, we slept like that for a long period of time and winter was really harsh! Sometimes, when I remember the things we went through, I feel like crying. You hope for something good to happen \u2013 but the situation you find yourself in is so bad that you don\u2019t know how to go through it!<\/p>\n

Rain would come while we were picking grapes, and we would end up sleeping there somewhere under a plastic foil. It was like my soul was growing old! I didn\u2019t feel like a complete human being anymore! Rain, wind, we would hold on to each other and sleep. The worst is when you stop feeling the harshness because you get used to it, it becomes part of you! Rain was pouring down on us. We would work and sleep in the same clothes! [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t you return to Romania? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t. I had huge debts, I borrowed money to go to Spain, and I couldn\u2019t pay back. My mom was old, I had two more children at home, I lacked basic resources. Before leaving for Spain, I would sell out things from the house in order to buy food. We had no means to survive, that\u2019s what determined me to leave. At least like that, working abroad, I was hoping to raise money and cover our debts. I worked for almost 18 years in Spain and at the beginning, for about five years, I\u2019ve been through hell; until my husband came and the situation improved. I sometimes went to sleep thinking maybe it would be better never to wake up again. What to wake up for? Only the children kept me alive. After five years, when my husband came, I felt resurrected. Then we were able to rent our own place with a real roof! When they entered the house, my children were so happy to have electric light and running water. I don\u2019t know if you understand what it\u2019s like to cry with joy because you can turn the lights on and off, because you have running water to wash up. \u201cMom, we have a bathroom and we have electricity!\u201d We gathered all the other children still living in the fields, we brought them to our place and fed them.<\/p>\n

Why couldn\u2019t your husband join you from the beginning?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In \u201998 he tried to cross the border illegally and was caught in Spain; he was told it was forbidden for him to return to Spain for four years.<\/p>\n

Did the kids go to school in Spain? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Three of them went to school, while the oldest one came to work with me. I could I do?! He was my main support! All that time working in Spain, I raised money to come back to Romania and build a small house here. Maybe it seems\u2026 weird what I\u2019m saying\u2026 but when a plastic foil and a mattress are your \u2018house\u2019, owning a bed seems an impossible dream! And that was my dream: to have a house. When I went abroad, we didn\u2019t have a house; we were staying at my mom\u2019s place with the five children, and it wasn\u2019t easy. We were crowded, we couldn\u2019t call it home.<\/p>\n

In Spain you went with three of the children? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

My husband went with one of the children; he then had to return and left the child there; then I went with two more children and, after a couple of years, when I managed to get contracted work, I returned for the last two. I took them all with me and I worked together with my oldest son, hardly earning enough to eat and to send some money back home.<\/p>\n

The child stayed alone in Spain? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our son stayed with some relatives. My husband had to leave quickly, so the relatives said they will take care of the boy; they said it\u2019s better for the boy to stay in Spain. He was 13 years old, he was able to work in the greenhouses and send us money back home. [\u2026] No child should go through the kind of childhood my son went through. He was already an adult since he was a child. In Spain, he had a caring cousin who begged her boss: \u201cTake him to work because otherwise I\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll lose him! He will live on the streets and who knows what will happen to him!\u201d And her boss gave him work, not without apprehension \u2013 as it was illegal for him to hire the boy with 13 [\u2026].<\/p>\n

What other jobs did you do besides picking grapes? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I also worked in harvesting garlic. There were huge piles of garlic and the workers had to load the garlic into containers. My boy would bring me the garlic from the pile and I would cut it and load it into containers. My cheeks were all sunburnt \u2013 I didn\u2019t have money for sunscreen\u2026 so imagine standing so many hours at 40 degrees Celsius\u2026<\/p>\n

How many hours were you working each day? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I would work for ten hours in a row, standing in the sun. My face would shrivel. I would ask the boss to allow my kids to help me, so we\u2019d fill up more containers and earn some more. I really wished I could send them to school everyday, to be educated, but I couldn\u2019t. When the other workers were taking breaks to eat, I wouldn\u2019t. I\u2019d keep working, to earn some more. I didn\u2019t leave the country because we were doing well, and we weren\u2019t working like crazy because we wanted to build a palace! We were working to survive, so that we\u2019d get to live another day! [\u2026] Sometimes I look at myself and wonder: woman, you, how did you find the strength to endure such hardships?!<\/p>\n

Then little by little, after managing to get contracted work and to pay social insurance, I was able to get a bank loan for a little house \u2013 so that my kids could have proper living conditions!<\/p>\n

I worked picking up oranges, harvesting the grapevines; I\u2019ve been through all the seasons [of agricultural work, trans. note]. It\u2019s so hard when you go abroad for the first time and there\u2019s no one there to help you. Sometimes I wish \u201cabroad\u201d didn\u2019t even exist for my family. \u201cAbroad\u201d dehumanizes you. All the humiliation you endure! And for the money you earn, you work until there\u2019s nothing left of you. It\u2019s good when you manage to save some money, but your heart is broken! [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Here in Romania you cannot earn enough to survive. [\u2026] The lack of jobs is the biggest problem. I told my children: \u201csave the money that you earn there and do something here, so that you can get by and we can all live together\u201d. It\u2019s easy to say \u201cthat person doesn\u2019t want to work\u201d, but it\u2019s misleading. I know people here who worked hard and did many jobs, until everything was privatized and they became unemployed. And then, who would be crazy to leave if things were all right?! [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The other workers in the fields, where were they from? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They were from Bulgaria, Portugal, Morocco\u2026 from many countries. We all got along well because we all wanted to work and survive. People going through hardships seem to be more caring. We would live all in one house. In the first house where we managed to stay, approximately 40 people were sheltered in four rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a hallway. I would share a small bed with my niece, on the hallway. There were four army beds crammed on that hallway. Some people would sleep in the house, others outside in the yard. We lived there for one year. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

What gave you strength during those times? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A woman in Cordoba once told me: \u201cKeep fighting, my girl, don\u2019t give up! Hang in there and it will get better!\u201d And indeed little by little it got better. Now my children have a home, they don\u2019t struggle the way I struggled, they have some savings, it\u2019s a bit better for them.<\/p>\n

Did you go to school? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I finished four grades. When I was a child, we were poor as well, but somehow we had our basic needs covered. My mom was working at the cooperative, my dad at the factory, it was decent. We could manage. I don\u2019t remember being stressed out and worried as a child the way my kids were stressed. When we were in Spain, my third child would wait for us at home doing the laundry and cooking \u2013 stuffed peppers, because we all liked that. Today\u2019s children \u2013 I\u2019m not talking about the rich kids, although they have their own troubles, being neglected by their parents working all the time \u2013 are very stressed out!<\/p>\n

When did the situation in Turnu-M\u0103gurele worsened?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After the \u201889s Revolution. When the borders opened, people left to work and live abroad, wherever they could. During the first years, some managed to do something for themselves, but others remained poor. The factory was ruined, the textile factory was sold, all the state-owned companies in Turnu-M\u0103gurele were sold and the people were left on their own. It was like we were all sold at the fair. People and places were sold piece by piece. When you leave, it\u2019s because there\u2019s nothing there anymore \u2013 or it will soon turn into nothing. That\u2019s why I left. There was nothing there for me anymore. But I can\u2019t say it enough: being abroad leaves deep scars. You carry the burden of loneliness, of not belonging, of the borders, and you just keep hoping. When your hope wears down, you\u2019re finished!<\/p>\n

What do you wish for the most? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To see my children and grandchildren with my own eyes, not in the photos! To cook for them, to gather them around the table, to have them close. We\u2019ve been away for so long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interview by MIHAELA MICHAILOV and ILEANA GABRIELA SZASZ, with the help of Ana Maria P\u0103l\u0103du\u0219<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with Ms. Lenu\u021ba (Venus) The interview was recorded in Turnu M\u0103gurele town, in August 2015, in the frame of the project Maskar. It was recorded in front of Lenu\u0163a and her husband\u2019s house, at the time they were expecting their children and grandchildren to visit them from abroad. What\u2019s your name and age? I\u2019m 48 years old and my name is Lenu\u021ba. My nickname is Venus \u2013 the goddess of beauty. Where did you work abroad? I went to work in Spain and it was not easy at all \u2013 but what am I saying, it was actually really…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[92],"tags":[124,125,118,152,128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5236,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions\/5236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapolitica.ro\/gazetapolitica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}