Yesterday I felt weighed down by the poverty and hopelessness of some people's lives. This derelict house is just round the corner from our "Secret Garden" and has three families still living in it. From what we have been told the house used to belong to the state and has now been sold to a private owner. The residents were given notice to move out but stayed put and today had to appear in court. they were told that they must move out by May 21. 
There are several children living here and if they don't find another place they will join the other homeless families on the streets. Even if they find a place it will most likely be in one of the "squatter" communities who live in home made hut type homes on the edges of the city.
The housing situation in Arad as elsewhere in Romania is desperate. There are far more homeless families than homes available. The local authorities have already built some new houses and apartments but the needs are too great. Part of the problem is that a law was passed a few years ago which allowed people to reclaim formerly owned property. This meant that even people who have settled in Germany, I
srael or the US, and in many cases received housing there from the respective states could re-claim their properties. Sadly, many re-claimed only to sell for a profit. While I have sympathy for anyone who had their home taken off them, I can't help feeling that if their lives are so much better now in their new countries and they have no intention of returning to Romania that just maybe they might have chosen not to make others homeless.
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