Category: Society Today

Reading is no longer considered a priority by the youth of today. A recent survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Social Policies shows that 22% of young people have never read a book, while 1 in 5 people has read only one book. The fact that Romanians lack the mood or financial means to buy and read books is reflected in the book industry, a sector shrinking every year and raking last at EU level.

For this particular reason, various associations, libraries and publishing houses have joined efforts to organize a series of projects aimed at encouraging the public to read more. One such project, Romania, read me! was launched last year, given that in the absence of a national strategy for developing written culture, the book industry has been confronted with new challenges in promoting books and reading. Lucia Ovezea is the president of the Association of Book Retailers in Romania.

Lucia Ovezea: ” We considered initiating all sorts of activities, but since the ones who need to acquire the habit of reading are the children, we picked 4-grade students to take part in a reading contest. The competition was organized last year in 50 schools in Bucharest, in all the schools in Targoviste, as well as in Campina. What we did was to give the contest a national scope. This year the poor financing prompted us to let the Book Distributors Association, which is a member of the Romanian Federation of Book Editors and Distributors, take over the campaign. More than 20 schools in Bucharest will participate in this year’s reading contest. The awards ceremony will be held, just like in 2013, within the Bookfest International Book Fair due on May 31st. “

With young people nowadays spending a lot of time on the Internet, a young man from Cluj-Napoca, Victor Miron, launched a Facebook campaign to encourage reading. The campaign, called “Books over Faces,” is based on the concept of “selfies” and involves the making of a “book-selfie”, an image where one’s face is hidden behind the book he or she is reading at the moment. So far the campaign gathered hundreds of comments, photos and likes, and seems to be bringing young people back to book reading:

Victor Miron: “I managed to persuade a bookstore in Cluj, Bookstory, to give a 10% discount to those who have a book-selfie as their Facebook profile photo. This happened in February, and the news announcing the discount was quite appreciated. The first site that announced the campaign got almost 2,000 likes on Facebook within days. This means that people are quite interested, and after the first story was published, hundreds of people posted this kind of photos.”

After the Facebook was full of selfies of people reading, Victor Miron initiated other types of activities within the campaign:

Victor Miron: “Our intention is to put the books where people expect them less. We built some book shelves at a car repair shop and people taking their cars for servicing received a book, accompanied by the message that no matter how beautiful, a car will never create in a person the feelings a book does. A dental practice in Cluj Napoca has another interesting offer for its customers, in the form of a 10% discount of the cost of a dental treatment if they check in to the Facebook page of the practice and recommend a book that made them smile. So we do many unusual things to break people’s routine and make them think about books in a pleasant way and exchange ideas about books. We know most people respond well to discounts and even better when it comes to things that are completely free of charge. So we proposed the Cluj Napoca local authorities that on the first Sunday of each month, people reading a book on the bus don’t have to buy a bus ticket. The city authorities confirmed they wanted this concept tested at a book fair first and we soon implemented it on the occasion of the International Book Day. Anyone who carried a book had free access to the Botanical Garden in Cluj Napoca. The results were great. We made the announcement on the Internet and in a few days 32,000 people saw the post. We know this because they shared the image advertising the event. So 1,230 people visited the Botanical Garden free of charge, because they all carried a book.”

World Book Day, celebrated on April 23rd, has become a major event for book readers. Bucharest and other cities in Romania organized events aimed at promoting reading. However, a study conducted by the National Statistics Institute reads that Romanians devote on average only one and a half hour per month to activities related to theatre, cinema or art galleries, and reading takes them only 13 minutes a day. Also, the appetite for reading drops along with the growing in age.

Lucia Ovezea: “We now live in a globalized world, we have the Internet, information is widespread and there are many ways of spending one’s free time and expressing one’s imagination. Consequently, reading has lost ground, being considered outdated by many or even nonexistent. Nevertheless reading is still important for a great number of people in Romania, although their percentage is much smaller than in other European countries. “

So, television and the Internet have the upper hand, offering young people much more than books used to. The virtual reality has won over millions of young people and the only books they read now are those included in the school curriculum.

A source of not only fresh air and biodiversity, but also jobs, the forest currently covers only 27% of Romania’s territory, which is 6.4 million hectares. The Romsilva National Forestry Authority owns half of them, and the rest is private property. Restrictions regarding the exploitation of forests, if provided by law, are hardly observed, according to Alin Useriu Ulhman, president of the “Taşuleasa Social” NGO. He says that cutting forests has reached a dramatic level in the past years.

Alin Useriu Ulhman: “I think that never in the history of Romania the abuse of forests has been that dramatic. Our association carries out its activities in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains, but, unfortunately, since there is no coherent plan for the 850 thousand mountain households, the only that is actually being implemented is plundering for profit. There are many who do that, and they are helped by the very people who are supposed to guard the forest. So, from this point of view we are in a very bad situation. And this abuse has been going on for 25 years now.”

Massive deforestation has been an alarm signal for several NGOs, who are now trying to remedy the situation using specific means, such as lobbying, protest meetings and afforestation projects. World Wide Fund has also drawn attention to the importance of forest preservation. Csibi Magor, the head of World Wide Fund Romania believes that deforestation in the past years has occurred not necessarily because of the bad law, but because of the way in which the law has been applied.

Csibi Magor: “The Romanian legislation on forests and the principles underlying the current Forestry Code are quite good actually. Thanks to them we still have natural forests and a wide variety of flora and fauna. The fact that the Forestry Code is not observed or its regulations are applied improperly is another thing. And this is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Forests but also of the Ministry of Justice. With 95% of the cases of forest crimes still unsolved, it’s no use talking about fighting corruption in this field.”

Another problem is that in Romania the opportunities provided by the EU are not sufficiently capitalized on. For instance, under the Common Agricultural Policy, more precisely the European Rural Development Fund, member states may benefit from funding for afforestation, ecosystem preservation and rural development projects. Csibi Magor again:

Csibi Magor: “There are EU funds for forests, but this does not necessarily mean that such funds are drawn by Romania. For instance, I believe that with regard to rural development, Romania badly negotiated before its 2007 EU accession, because forests were not included in the rural development fund. We were about to make the same mistake for the 2014-2020 budget framework and to have another seven years without money for forests. Fortunately forest owners came to Bucharest and protested, we supported them and eventually the Ministry of Agriculture promised to include forests in the new Rural Development Plan.”

Civil protests and social engagement seem to part of the solution to this problem, at least until authorities decide to get more involved. Established in 2001, “Taşuleasa Social” has been operating only thanks to its volunteers, who have planted dozens of thousands of saplings, especially in Transylvania, but also on the outskirts of Bucharest. “Volunteer work is not perceived right in Romania. Anyway, this is something that you cannot explain, you just have to feel it. Doing something for your fellow citizens means, first and foremost, doing your duty as a human being” believes Alin Useriu Uhlman, who, making use of his power of persuasion, has managed to mobilize thousands of volunteers for afforestation works. As for how large the afforested area is, Alin Useriu says it’s not enough:

Alin Useriu Uhlman: “We have only managed to cover 115 hectares, with the help of over 5 thousand young people. Unfortunately, this is about the area that is being deforested every year in Romania. But we cannot just sit and wait, and do nothing about it. Romanian forest is a European asset, not just a Romanian one. That is why I keep saying that wood is not the property of those who exploit it, but everybody’s property. Unfortunately, people who are supposed to say “no” to such abuses do not react as they should. “

Social engagement is vital and it must continue, especially now that a new Forestry Code is being debated in the Romanian Parliament. Here is again Csibi Magor, head of World Wide Fund Romania.

Csibi Magor : “Social engagement can make all the difference. The first draft of the Forestry Code stipulated full freedom as regards tree cutting. But we intervened and we asked all World Wide Fund supporters to text message MPs and even to call them and explain to them that this is not the future that citizens wish for themselves. What happened was that 9 MPs withdrew their signatures from the draft law. Then, another 4 drafts were sent back to the parliament commission and today we have a version draw up based on consultations with civil society. This version, however, it’s still stuck in Parliament. The idea is that the least we could do was to stop that initial draft from passing, and we must keep putting this kind of pressure.”

So, civil engagement and volunteering are just two ways of correcting some negative situations, not only deforestation but also other social issues.

One of the oldest initiatives in the EU’s history, dating back to the early 1960s, is the Common Agricultural Policy-CAP. Meant to help farmers produce foodstuffs and also to protect the environment, to improve the well being of animals and to support viable rural communities, the CAP has had its content changed a couple of times along the years, for the sake of adaptation. The most recent reform of the CAP targets the period 2014-2020 and it was preceded by a large-scale public survey. Now, after its launch, the European Commission once again asked for the European citizens’ opinion related to the changes brought to the Common Agricultural Policy. The Euro barometer drafted in this respect looks positive: more than 3 quarters (77%) of the Europeans believe that the CAP benefits all the EU citizens. Over 90% of them are in favor of the main directions of the new CAP, such as more equitable and better targeted aid for farmers as well as establishing a link between the financial aid granted to farmers and using environmental-friendly farming practices.

For Romanians, agriculture is vital. 92% of them believe that agriculture and the rural areas are important to Romania’s future and 78% of Romanians think that the CAP brings benefits to all Europeans, not only to farmers. Actually, those data, which are extremely favorable to the CAP, are part of a favorable trend for all EU institutions, as we have found out from Diana Filip, the coordinator of the Europe Direct Center in Bucharest:

“Romanians are still optimistic about the direction the EU is heading for and about to the EU’s policies implemented and the results it has managed to obtain. Almost half of the Romanian respondents believe that the EU is going in the right direction in order to overcome the crisis. 63% of them are optimistic with regard to the EU’s development. 11% say they are very optimistic and have a positive perception of the European policies as a whole, as well as of the European legislation that is being enforced in our country.”

As in most of the Euro barometers related to the citizens’ perception of the community institutions, the level of general knowledge is good enough. But if you go into details, you’ll discover that some information is missing. For instance, asked if they heard about the support granted by the EU to farmers through the CAP, 45% of the respondents said yes without knowing the details, while 36% said they had never heard of it.

In this case, statistics are not far from reality, as Szocs Attila, a member of Ecoruralis, an association of peasants doing organic and traditional farming, says:

“When I look at these figures, I can see that, all in all, the Europeans, be they farmers or not, are satisfied with the way in which the reform was conceived. Our association members go from village to village and talk to the small producers there. And we find out that, although people know many aspects of the CAP, the young villagers don’t know much about it. So, we can conclude that Romania’s young farmers still don’t know about all the opportunities offered by Europe”.

However, 62% of Romanians believe that granting young people financial support is a very good thing. Also, supporting farmers according to a more equitable and better conceived plan is perceived as very good by 54% of Romanians, while 52% of them say they are very pleased that farmers who apply environment-friendly measures get financial support. However, Szocs Attila says that there is a gap between the citizens’ perception and what local officials actually do.

“Unfortunately, although there is political will at a European level to help rural areas grow and develop, at government level, policies seem to run counter to that will. Even if the idea that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could be of help is generally accepted, nation-wide bureaucracy hampers the farmers’ development. So young people eventually lose hope. We have lots of depopulated villages, young people who leave the country to work as seasonal workers, although back home they have land and parents who could teach them how to run a farm.”

Before managing to curtail bureaucracy and develop a better information campaign, Romania can develop its organic farming potential. Szocc Atilla again:

“One of the goals of the CAP was to be greener. In Romania, those who manage to be the greenest are small farmers who cannot and do not want to use chemicals. In this way, they manage to get the closest they can to the new trend that’s been developing in Europe, the so-called eco-farming or organic farming. Romania has lots of areas that are good for green farming. People who have already got some experience in both traditional and organic farming are ready to provide high quality products. The approach to agriculture should change. Instead of focusing on productivity, it should become an integrated kind of agriculture, taking into consideration environmental protection and the social and economic background as well. We should invest in the development of rural areas, and in rural development in general.”

One initial draft of the National Rural Development Plan for 2014 — 2020 was submitted to the European Commission for negotiations in late March. Among the measures envisaged, those regarding incentives for young farmers and ecologization, are more visible than before, in line with the new CAP. The fact that 2014 is the International Year of Family Farming could be auspicious for the 4.5 million small farmers that are still work-able in Romania.

The Moroccan dessert hosted between April 6th and 12th, the internationally famous “Marathon des Sables” (the Sands’ Marathon). Of the numerous ultra-marathon competitions in the world, “Le Marathon des Sables” is well known for the severe conditions imposed on the participants. Consequently, throughout the entire competition, runners carry their 11 kg backpacks containing everything they need: the survival kit, clothes and foodstuffs enough for a whole week. The organisers offer them only water and provide shelter in Berber tents, the sleeping bags and pads being carried by the competitors, who also receive medical assistance, if need be.

For the fourth time in a row and for the third time together with the Children’s Heart Association, Paul Dicu ran 250 km in the Sahara dessert, in six days. Upon returning from the marathon, Paul Dicu told us what had motivated him to enrol in the race:

“Just like in the past years, I chose to run in a competition, as part of a fund-raising campaign for the Children’ Heart Association, which raises funds for children who suffer from heart diseases. It is also thanks to this association that a paediatric cardio-surgery department has been built at the Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest, as well as a new intensive care unit. This is the main reason, and actually a good one, which makes me run every year. It is not a duty, but an honour to be able to run in the competition. Thus, you stand the rare chance to meet truly special people and this is the reason that makes me go on, without a moment’s hesitation.”

Everything started three years ago, when a friend asked Paul if he wanted to run for these children. Therefore, Paul Dicu decided to reach his goal of becoming a role model for all those who want to help the Children’s Heart Association, as part of a campaign entitled “Keeping in step with Paul. Run for the children suffering from heart diseases, too!” The ultimate goal is to raise funds to help children suffering from heart diseases.

“The main sponsor has increased his contribution. This year, we have collected 25,000 Euros from the sponsor, in the context in which according to the protocol of the campaign, the sponsor should pay 2 Euros for every kilometre covered by any runner in the world. There were a total of 1,350-1,400 people, I haven’t managed to add everyone up, including those working on oil platforms, who chose to take part in the campaign ‘In step with Paul’. This was great news for me, because all these people have contributed a lot to raising funds. Some 1,100 people participated in the campaign in the past two years and some 1,400 this year. It was simply fantastic. There were people who sent me messages when I was in the Sahara dessert, who supported me and told me not to give up, to hold on, as they knew from previous editions how harsh the competition can get.“

Although the conditions are tough and the participants in the marathon are unrelenting, this is not a sports race. Paul Dicu explains:

“The race is just like a charity story; it is not about you, your achievements, about rankings or medals. The race was initiated by Patrick Bauer some 29 years ago, out of his desire to show the world how beautiful it is to run for a noble cause and what you can achieve by doing that. So, at least half of the participants are running as part of a charity campaign or the runners themselves have health problems. Participating are people diagnosed with cancer, visually impaired, one-legged people, it is incredible to see what happens there. You return from Sahara with a totally changed perception and view of the so-called life problems you are facing”.

What should we learn from such experiences? What can each of us do to help others? Paul Dicu:

“I would rate this race as a must-do in life. Everyone should do it, to realize how important another person is, to realise the value of the relationship they should have with others, to understand that not everything is about oneself, but about what they can do for others. Undoubtedly, our campaign, run by the Children’s Heart Association, which is focussed on this idea, is not about who we are and what we do. The whole idea is to reach out and help others. Unfortunately, children have been diagnosed with heart problems and will continue to be in the future. Therefore, some people ask me why I decide to keep going. And the answer is: because there will always be people with problems. And what do we learn from this race? Well, it simply teaches us to share, to be generous, without waiting to receive something in return. There are always people with problems, and what can we do about this? We can ‘keep in step with Paul’, we can make a donation by sending an text message to 8861, we can fill in a form by which we donate 2% of the tax income and to understand that by donating this money we can make children’s life easier.”

We have already joined the campaign “Keeping in step with Paul” and we invite you, too, to contribute in any way possible, for instance, by simply sending a text message. It is important for you to decide that you want to be part of it.

Political cartoons were something traditional in the Romanian print press, but it seems that nowadays the public and the fine artists alike do no longer take a keen interest in this type of political commentaries. To everyone’s surprise, a new character, “the Misanthrope Rabbit” has emerged, to prove, once more, the endless opportunities provided by the Internet and the virtual reality. A virtual, small, whitish animal, with a blasé, bored figure, the rabbit is commenting particularly on international issues on Facebook, as well as on his dedicated page “mizantrop.info”. His creators, Madalina and Adrian Raileanu, are making together both the drawings and the rabbit’s juicy comments. Adrian Raileanu has further details on the rabbit’s biography:

Adrian Raileanu: “He was born some three years ago, on a blog, and in time he has even got a face. From the very beginning, he has been a sort of news aggregator. With its help, we started putting down what was happening during a week, in an effort to remember what to talk about on Saturdays, when we went out with our friends. The rabbit was born online, grew up on Facebook and is an animal made entirely of pixels. I have always been fascinated by the cat in ‘The Master and Margarita’, the hind leg walking, eternally mischievous giant black cat who was talking ironically to all those around it. In order not to take over the same idea, I created a rabbit, a big hind leg walking rabbit, speaking ironically to all those around him.”

But why is it a misanthrope and ironical rabbit? “Maybe, because it is just like us”, Adrian Raileanu explains. But when asked why the misanthrope rabbit chose to be born on the Internet and to express itself online and not in the pages of a print newspaper, the rabbit’s creators answered openly and clearly, without a shred of irony: “Because the Internet is the most active, lively, resilient and saucy environment”. There, the misanthrope rabbit is commenting mainly on foreign policy and news. Adrian Raileanu.

Adrian Raileanu: “At the moment when the ‘Misanthrope Rabbit’ started to be rather successful on Facebook, foreign policy meant mostly European policy. It was the moment when the economic and financial crisis broke out in Greece. What was happening there back then was a matter of concern to us all. And foreign policy is not the only topic of interest. We are part of a Union and everything that is happening in the EU has a direct impact on us. I think it’s wrong to see what’s going on in Europe as foreign policy”.

In time, the misanthrope rabbit became famous on the Internet. Actually, when it shot to fame, it left its favourite place, the Internet, and appeared in a classical format, too. In January 2014, the Humanitas Publishers launched the book “The Misanthrope Rabbit. Breaking The News. Small Atlas of Realities” and starting last year its sarcastic commentaries have been published in the pages of a publication called ‘Only a Magazine’. Here is editor Gabriel Dobre with more on this collaboration.

Gabriel Dobre: “We try to have as much illustration in our magazine as we possibly can. When the rabbit appeared on the Internet, we found the idea very exciting because although we have very good cartoonists here, at our desk, an inspired cartoon accompanied by a social commentary is something quite rare. It would be difficult for me to find a young cartoonist able to come up with an interesting and fresh approach. I believe that in this context, the idea of the rabbit is even more unique.”

Political cartoons are still being published in various magazines– such as those made by Dan Perjovschi in ‘Revista 22’ and by Ion Barbu in several other publications — but they don’t seem very popular with artists. Maybe it’s because of the readership’s diminished appetite for it. Here is Gabriel Dobre again.

Gabriel Dobre: “It’s very easy to blame the readers for it, but I don’t think that’s the reason. It’s more like a disconnection from topics that are no longer appealing, in favour of a sort of aesthetic, but empty art. I believe that political commentaries, under the shape of cartoons, should be more present though.”

Nevertheless, the misanthrope rabbit has so far got 8000 likes on Facebook, from people aged over 25, who have university studies. Surprisingly enough, most of those who appreciate the rabbit are women. Given the big number of fans, Adrian Raileanu came to the conclusion that readers are hungry for international news and good commentaries.

Adrian Raileanu: “We would like to render people more curious about what’s happening around them, beyond our national landscape, and we were surprised to learn that there are many well informed people, interested in knowing more, people who understand they are living in a global village. Some of the people posting comments are sometimes more informed than we are. It does not bother us, because this isn’t our job, we are not journalists. We have our own professions in various other fields.”

The Romanians have shown a keen interest in political cartooning and the Internet seems to have revitalized this field. In fact, liken in the case of many other fields, the Internet has taken over what used to be, in the past, the privilege of the print press.

Romania joined the EU seven years ago. After a period of weighing the pros and cons of the accession, we have now reached a moment when the country’s EU membership must be consolidated, by making people more aware of what the European citizenship entails. Apart from clearly focusing on justice, economy or domestic affairs, EU membership issues mainly deal with the citizens’ rights and obligations.

“EU for YOU! That’s How the EU Works!” is an educational project that has caught our attention recently. Roxana Morea is a press officer with the European Commission Representation in Bucharest. She told us more about the project.

Roxana Morea: “The project was run by the European Parliament jointly with the European Commission Representation, in 41 schools, and it presented European information, which was used in history and social science classes. Earlier this year a report on the pilot stage was compiled, and right now a general report on the entire project is in progress, including recommendations on whether it is important or not for the project to continue. In principle, the stakeholders are interested in carrying on the project.”

Last year, the European Parliament’s Information Desk in Romania edited the volume: “EU for YOU! That’s How the EU works!” a supporting teaching material tailored for secondary school children, which it then forwarded to the National Education Ministry, for testing. The volume was used for history and social sciences, in 41 schools, targeting 1,360 pupils in Bucharest and the counties of Brasov, Neamt and Suceava, during the first semester of the 2013-2014 school year.

In January, specialized institutions assessed the outcome of the project, highlighting that the textbook “EU for YOU! That’ s How the EU Works!” was an excellent support for the teaching process for optional subjects related to History and Social sciences. The textbook offered information accessible for all students, regarding the way EU institutions work. As a result, the continuation of the project was recommended, so that the teaching staff could be provided with a fresh set of resources for both content-based and skills-based activities, focusing on the European citizenship. But why are such projects useful and what is their envisaged outcome?

Roxana Morea: “The EU for YOU projects are part of a large-scale effort of the European institutions to strike up direct dialogues with citizens. One of the EU’s major values is the belief in democracy and the rule of law. The project “EU for YOU” was run in various member states, and in some of them it received financing from the European Social Fund, in others from the resources of the member state Representation or the European Parliament’s Information Desks. All these projects have the dialogue with citizens as their main goal. The eventual aim was an increase in public participation in the debates focusing on citizens’ rights and social inclusion across Europe, the dialogue between European institutions and the citizens of that state.“

We asked Roxana Morea how Romanians perceive their membership to the EU, and how much they know about how the European institutions work.

Roxana Morea: “Romanians see EU citizenship as a positive thing. They still trust the European institutions and the EU as a whole, and they believe the future of the Union looks good. Unfortunately, in terms of how much they know about European institutions and how they operate, the percentage is rather low. Only 21% of the respondents said they were well informed about the European construction. However, this is not a reason to dismiss the idea that Romanians support the EU and its future.”

The project “EU for YOU! This is how the EU Works!” is to be extended and implemented at national level. Roxana Morea told us what she hopes the project will achieve.

Roxana Morea: “The aim of these information activities, targeting the European citizens in general and the Romanian ones in particular, is to increase the percentage of those who believe they are well informed. Usually, if students learn about European issues and they understand what is happening, they will later get actively involved in the European construction and will inform the young people around them about what that means.”

Such activities are very important for civil society to understand the role of the European institutions and of the European citizens, such as the right of the latter to participate in direct talks with other citizens. The ultimate goal of the project is to enhance public participation in the debate on citizens’ rights and social inclusion in Europe.

A person is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease every 4 seconds all across the world. In Romania, of the estimated 270,000 suffering from the disease, only 35,000 have been diagnosed, mostly in the advanced stage. Even though there is interest on the part of experts in early diagnosis, the organization of the medical system does not favor it, according to Professor Catalina Tudose, MD, head of the Romanian Alzheimer Association.

Professor Catalina Tudose: “The first step would be to set up an inter-ministerial department with representatives of the 5 or 6 ministries involved in any form of human and financial resource planning needed to create an assistance system. This department would also need workgroups to evaluate the situation as it stands. If we only think of the number of physicians who have graduated and don’t have a job, specialists, neurologists, psychiatrists, geriatrists, maybe we could make a starting solution for creating diagnosis centers, which would not take very much. At the same time, we should have a National Dementia Registry. Also we need better and new legislation to defend the rights of people with dementia. This is not something that happens in a month, or even a year. We intend to have this done by 2020. However, a lot of things can be done in the meantime, important things, such as stopping the exodus of physicians. It seems to me this is essential in applying such a plan for medical assistance across a country.”

Dr. Bogdan Popescu, representing the Romanian Neurology Society, explains what happens with a patient with dementia and what their needs are: “We estimate that a large part of them are without a diagnosis. To diagnose them, you need physicians, but unfortunately there are not many doctors who can diagnose dementia. Then you need the technological means, because any dementia diagnosis means having an investigation, which costs money. Then comes the care part. In an initial stage, the dementia is mild, and generally care means medication, which is fortunately covered by national health care. After that initial stage, medication is no longer sufficient. There comes a stage when patients can no longer take care of themselves, but they are not in such a bad condition to be hospitalized. In many European countries they have the idea of caretaker companion. Then comes the final stage, when the patient with dementia is so helpless that institutionalization is needed. Therefore you need a certain number of hospital beds for these terminal patients, and here we are talking about institutions able to provide long term in-patient care, with qualified medical personnel.”

Experts in neuro-degenerative diseases point out in alarm at the rate of dementia afflicting people by and until 2050. In world studies, past 65 years of age, about 10% of people have some form of dementia, and past 85, over 40% are likely to develop it. Dr. Gabriel Preda, who teaches medicine, head of the Romanian Geriatrics and Gerontology Society, told us about the breadth of the phenomenon against the backdrop of global aging:

Gabriel Preda: “In Romania in 1990, about 10% of people, that is one in ten, were over 65. In 2008, it was estimated that the figure would reach 15%, therefore one out of seven, and in 2011 the figure was 16.1% people over 65. This is a rather sudden rise in the number of people with a predisposition towards developing the disease. In Romania, as in most countries, the percentage of people with extreme ages is on a rapid rise. Which is why we need a coherent, progressive-type care system. That means the system should be adapted to the various stages of evolution of the disease, from mild to severe forms.”

Dementia is on the European agenda. There are some directives that urge member states to bear in mind the issue of caring for people with neuro-degenerative disease. In Europe, around 13 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia is the seventh cause of death in high-income countries, and is the cause of death for half of patients with neurological and psychiatric conditions.

The history of communism was introduced as an optional course in the high school curriculum in 2008. The decision came as a result of a recommendation made in the final report of the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania. The first textbooks dealing with the history of communism targeted 11th and 12th grade students and were drafted together with the Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism in Romania and the Memory of Romanian Exile. The former executive president of this institute and a co-author of the textbooks, Adrian Muraru, told us more about their content:

“The textbooks cover the period between 1947 and 1989 and look at issues such as daily life during communism, the economy, cultural life, minorities, the political regime, repression, etc. It wasn’t easy, of course, to deal with such a variety of topics, but we focused on short texts and a lot of historical sources, from archive documents to oral history materials. Textbooks come with a DVD containing footage from the Romanian Television archive dating back to 1988. In our opinion, these textbooks are very well designed in that they also allow students to do their own research. We did not want to do propaganda or impose a single view on the history of communism in Romania. This is why the name of the textbook is ‘A History of Communism’, because we can have several histories of communism depending on who conducts the research.”

146 schools across the country are teaching this optional course today. Since its inception, it is estimated that 3,000 students have taken this course every year. The Institute for the Study of the Crimes of Communism also holds training courses with history teachers, because teaching this course implies different methods and information than a normal history course. The need for information is great, as indicated by different surveys.

One such study run by the institute in 2010 concluded that Romanians are ambivalent about the communist period. 47% of respondents viewed communism as a good idea, but badly put into practice, while almost 30% believed it was a bad idea altogether. Three years later, in a poll run in December 2013, 47.5% of Romanians believed that Nicolae Ceausescu was a politician with a positive role in Romania’s history, while 46.9% believed he was a bad person. Similar percentages apply to his predecessor as head of the Romanian Communist Party, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was viewed positively by 42.3% of respondents and negatively by 39.1%. This explains some of the opinions held by students before starting the course. Mihai Stamatescu, a history teacher and co-author of the textbook, told us more about this:

“Generally, children get their information from their families, neighbours, the community at large and, to a lesser extent, also from the media. The information they have is generally what they get from the public space, such as ‘Communism was good because we all had a job and a place to live’. Children come to school with this information, and suddenly find out that what they know doesn’t fit. The explanations offered by the course and the recent history studied in school shine a different light on reality. Children suddenly realise that their parents’ nostalgia does not necessarily refer to the communist regime, but simply to their youth. If you have arguments and provide proof, if you challenge them to read historical sources, if you explain to them what manipulation and propaganda are, children will understand what happened to their parents. They are willing to think logically and critically about all the things that happened.”

When students start to understand the realities of everyday life under communism, they become more and more interested in the course. Plans are under way to teach this course to younger children as well. Here is Mihai Stamatescu once again:

“We put together a material called ‘Human Rights in Recent Romanian History’ which targets children up to the 8th grade and can also be used by younger children. We thought the best way to provide children with information about the communist regime is from a human rights’ perspective.”

Of course, a single optional course cannot change the perception of an entire society. School activities should be accompanied by various other initiatives to inform the public about communism. Andrei Muraru explains:

“It also depends on what we do as a society in general. Our counterpart in Poland, the Institute of National Memory, has over 2,000 employees, while we have only 36. They have a budget of over 60 million euros, while we have only one million. They started doing what we do today as early as 1999, and the results have started showing after 10 or 15 years of massive investment in education. The investments were not made only in terms of courses, but also in terms of games for children and teenagers, school curricula, film screenings, conferences and books. Everything depends on the resources society is willing to invest in this area.”

So as an absolute first, World Radio Day was celebrated on February 13, 2012, when United Nations also celebrated 66 years since the set up of its own radio station. And ever since, this particular day has been an opportunity for us to remember the prominent part radio waves have played in our lives.

Aside from the access to a wide range of pieces of information, the radio has also acted as a means of entertainment and has brought warmth to people’s souls, as a Radio Romania International listener form Moscow, Viktor Yakovlev, told us: “It is difficult to find someone in whose life Radio does not play an important role. And that is just as difficult as finding a spot on the planet where there is no Radio. I lived in a village with no electricity. Yet I had a Radio receiver on batteries and there, for the first time in my life, I heard music — one of the first pleasant memories of my life. Later in the city, a radio receiver had its place of honor against the wall. I have been listening to the radio on the Internet, lately. But as long as not everybody can get access to the Internet, I can say Radio’s role is far more important that its replacement in the modern world. In my opinion, radio plays an even bigger role in our lives than television.”

The Radio was present in crucial moments in many peoples’ lives, still accompanying those people in their real or imaginary journeys, just as one of Radio Romania international’s listeners from Great Britain, Richard Cooke, told us: “2014 and now I am aged 67. I have been involved with radio for over fifty years as a photographer/writer/journalist and broadcaster. My travels have taken me around the globe during this long involvement, from Australia to Antarctica, from Finland to the Falkland Islands, from the Sahara to South America (…) If not for short-wave radio, I personally would have never heard ‘The American Moon Landing’. When Apollo 11 was the space flight that landed the first human on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1968, at 20:18 hours UTC. (…) The world still requires radio, in all its amazing forms.”

In the age of digital technology, radio has managed to keep its place. Even if you can no longer listen to the radio on Hertzian waves exclusively, you can listen to the radio on the Internet, getting access to it on your cell phone or other state-of-the art devices. As for the Hertzian waves, they still enjoy the attention of radio aficionados. One of them is Radio Romania International’s listener Gerhard Siegbert. “Listening to radio stations from around the world has been my hobby for 44 years, which makes me a dinosaur of the short waves. It makes me unhappy to see the slow devaluation of the analogical short waves, as a growing number of international radio stations give them up in favour of the Internet. We, the RRI listeners, are glad that RRI continues to broadcast on short waves, which can be received anytime, anywhere.”

Jean-Marie Monplot from France also listens to RRI on short waves: “My radio amateur license enabled me to get in contact, confirmed by QSL, with over 200 regions from around the world. Naturally, we continue to listen to international stations, over 400 short-wave stations broadcasting in French, English, Spanish from over 150 countries. Today, when the short waves are on the verge of extinction, the Internet helps me to stay in touch with my radio friends, and my focus now is on quality, so as to improve my international knowledge.”

For the Italian listener Stefano Citterio, the radio will never be replaced by anything else: “For me, radio has always been and will remain the best means of communication in the world, the one nothing will be able to replace, the one which, even at times of war or other hindrances, meets this primary need of human beings for information, for hearing voices which are not all equal and levelled down, and which stand by people through the best and worst moments of their lives. Radio is alive!” And according to Volodimir Sytnikov, from Ukraine, radio means “…curiosity, pleasure, culture, and a means of communication that defies extreme conditions.”

The first radio broadcast in Romania was aired on November 1st, and that was also the moment when experimental programmes for international listeners were broadcast. The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s first proper shows in foreign languages were produced a little later, in the early 1930s, for the information of the diplomats in the Romanian capital city. Meanwhile, the foreign language programmes have diversified, especially after World War 2, and today Radio Romania International broadcasts programmes in 10 foreign languages, in Romanian and the Aromanian dialect, on short waves and over the internet. It is on short waves that Shan Jinhai listens to RRI, too. He was so kind as to congratulate us on World Radio Day: “Radio brings me a lot of joy, in our family the radio is a source of harmony, a treat, whether we talk about medium or short wave broadcasts. We are even happier to receive letters, to hear familiar voices that truly touch us, so on behalf of my entire family, I’d like you to receive our best wishes and warmest thoughts, from far away.”

Roberto Carlos Alvarez-Galloso from Miami, USA, is another long-time radio listener. He wrote: “I’d like to congratulate you on World Radio Day. In an internet-dominated society, radio still plays an important part, because radio alone keeps the world connected in case of natural disasters or dictatorship. I have been a constant listener of RRI since 1970, and it is a pleasure and an honour for me to welcome you in my home and anywhere I may be.”

This year on World Radio Day, UNESCO has chosen to also promote gender equality, the role of women in the mass-media and anti-discrimination policies.