Who is Irena

Irena is the oldest daughter of the Talpaz family from Simian.
We got to know them in 2000, the first house financed by the foundation was the one for this family. We particularly have a great bond with her little sister and brother, Monica and Kritzi. Father appears to be a hard and closed person.
Mother looks unhealthy and is an introvert woman.
Irena grew up in miserable circumstances, poor living conditions and the little food are visible when looking at her. She never went to school and had to help her mom at a young age already. As far as we know, 8 children were born in the family, of which six are still alive.
On the picture: above from left to right: Viola, Irena, Monica. Below fltr: Alexander, Kriztian. The youngest brother is not in the picture. Baby Jozef died of malnutrition a couple of days earlier.




She’s never very clear about her age, the one moment she is 15, the next 17. Since her sister is 13, we guess she’s 15.(2005)

  I am pregnant

Aan haar glunderende hoofd is wel te zien dat ze trots is. Trots op haar zwangerschap. Nu is ze een echte vrouw en hoort ze er bij. Ze kan op zichzelf gaan wonen. De vraag is natuurlijk waar?
In het nu al te kleine huisje van vader en moeder kan eigenlijk niet maar er blijkt ergens anders geen plaats. De baby wordt in januari geboren te vroeg en moeder en kind blijven een poosje in het ziekenhuis.


Op zichzelf geen slechte zaak. De winter is streng en er is thuis weinig eten. In het ziekenhuis krijgen ze wat ze nodig hebben. Stichting Annovyn vat het plan op om een afspraak te maken met Irena en haar man. Het houdt in dat wij in Simian een huis bouwen waar ze mogen wonen. Als voorwaarde stellen we dat de kinderen naar school gaan. We zijn benieuwd hoe ze erop reageren.

 Who is Ibolya

We know very little about Ibolya. We always saw her in the village and she always looked healthy and taken care off. Smiling, always a bit more on the background.
We don’t know who her parents are or where she lives. Have to ask that on a next visit. What we do know is that she is fourteen years old.(2005)

 A baby for Irena en Janos

Born in Januari and on 11th of April we see it for the first time. Completely wrapped. The parents are very proud and named her Irena.
We talk about the future. The future, they cannot imagine theirs, next week is already far ahead. We make agreements about the house we’re going to build. They can live there, but have to promise that Irena and possible other children are send to school. They solemnly promise this and we hope they hold to their end of deal.
Janos does not know what he wants with his live and promises to think about this. We come back to this halfway July.

 

 

 

      

 Ibolya: Look my baby!

It’s a bit of a shock when I find out that it is not a joke. She really has a child, aged 14. She has no money, nor a roof to live under. Sleeps where she can find a place and begs for money to buy milk for the baby. In al the commotion of a couple of hours in Simian, I forget to ask who the father is, Imre wil ask and tell me later. That was in April and thus far we haven’t heard anything. She should have a house and something to live from. I hope I can go there again soon to arrange something. One hopes they’ll manage, they’ll survive…but how?