A woman and one of her children with bags of plastic bottles near a recycling station in Babadag, Romania.
Some families in Babadag, Romania, survive by collecting plastic bottles for recycling. One full bag may earn enough to buy a loaf of bread. When there are no bottles, children are often left home alone while parents search for work far from home.
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The payout for an entire bag? About two dollars. That money might buy a family’s bread for one day. “Maybe some bread,” says Vali Pavlov, director of the Hope Center in Babadag. Then comes the harder question. What happens when there are no bottles?
That is the reality facing many families in the poor neighborhoods surrounding Babadag. Some children are left home alone while parents leave for other cities or even other countries searching for work, money, or any opportunity they can find.
Sometimes the oldest sibling becomes responsible for the younger children.
Three kids.
Four kids.
Sometimes six.
“It’s a sad story, but it’s true,” Vali says.
For many families, survival becomes a daily search for food, work, and stability.
Hope Partners International works inside communities like this across Romania and around the world. The mission is simple:
“We don't wait on the children to come to us. We go to them. That's rescue.”
— Kirk Nowery, Hope Partners President
Vali walking neighborhoods to find children to rescue.
At the Hope Center, children receive meals, educational support, mentorship, discipleship, and safety. For many, it is the first stable environment they have ever known. And over time, lives begin to change.
Children who once begged on streets are now graduating school, entering university programs, and building completely different futures.
Children at the Hope Center in Babadag learning in a safe and stable environment.
For $79 a month, you can help provide food, education, safety, and long-term care for a child living in extreme poverty.
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