Life in a rat infested basement

This is Ileana who is 66. She has lived in a damp rat infested basement room, approximately 8' x 6' for the past 2 years. Her previous home was a one roomed apartment in the same building but she had to leave when the original owner repossessed it through the courts. It was a building that had previously been siezed by the communists. Many original owners are now able to reclaim their property provided they have proof of ownership.

During our visit to deliver food we saw first hand the extent of the damp conditions she lives in. Ileana was waiting for a man to come and dispose of a rat which she had trapped in her old gas oven!!!Her only source of heating is from the gas rings. She obtains water from the outside yard, where she prepares her food and uses the toilet at the nearby Hungarian Restaurant. In addition to back problems, she suffers with bronchitis due to the damp conditions.

We give thanks that hope is on the horizon - Ileana has been promised a new one bedroomed apartment in the Aradul Nou part of the city which she hopes will be ready sometime in the new year.