The Transylvania Joem: A Young Peace Corps Volunteer in Romania

When I left for school this morning, there were three, big, brightly-colored bins lined up in front of my apartment building. They are color coordinated, and there is one for glass, one for paper/cardboard, and one for plastics. These recycling bins have been distributed throughout my town as part of a mandatory EU initiative to curb unrecycled waste.

The recycling bins are set alongside a row of numbered, silver dumpsters that recently replaced the rusting, iron crates that sat there a month ago. I’ve been living at site 14 months, and I can easily throw together a respectable list of positive changes that have occurred in my community since I moved here in August of 2008. Some people consider Romania a ‘developing nation,’ but I hate that term. After all, what country isn’t ‘developing?’ No country has attained an ideal of perfect infrastructure and industry–there is no ‘finish line,’ when it comes to improving one’s surroundings.  Hence, these changes I’ve noticed assure me that Romania is working hard with each passing year to improve the quality of life of its people– direct challenges to the occasional nay-sayers that complain that Romania isn’t improving, or is even moving backwards because it isn’t ‘on par’ with other parts of the westernized world. It is in this unfair comparison that Romania’s great steps forward seem diminished, or insignificant.

I have done my best to ignore aesthetic things like the new grocery store, or the opening of a Chinese restaurant–while these things indicate development, in some way, they are not necessarily sustainable, or proof of progressive mindsets & positive ideals:

• The dumpsters: noted above, my town recently replaced all of its dumpsters. The new dumpsters are numbered, and are being used in places where, formerly, people piled their trash together in an empty lot or courtyard.
• Trashcans: about a year ago, my town replaced its public trash receptacles. They used to be thin, green plastic and were breaking apart. Now they are metal, and even have attached ash-trays for cigarettes (I’ve seen a small handful of trashcan  fires in other Romanian cities).
• The recycling bins: also previously mentioned, these bins are also present at each of the schools in the area.
• Cross-walks: The town has put down a few more cross-walks, in places where foot traffic was heavy (in front of churches, and schools).
• Streets: There are three paved roads in my site, and two of the three have recently been re-paved and marked with dotted center lines. The kids love them, as they’re good for rollerblading (which is really popular here).
• Insulating Blocs: There is a major initiative in the town to insulate and paint the existing apartment buildings. My understanding is that they bloc residents pool money to match a contribution from the mayor’s office. Then, the outside of the apartment building is insulated and painted. The tallest bloc in town recently underwent the process, and now it has tones of peach and rose rather than the dingy grey that it once was. Other apartment buildings around town have also been transformed, in this way. As such, residents will use less heat, and the blocs are more visually pleasing.
• Kindergarten: There are currently a handful of kindergartens spread around my town, but a large building is being built outside of my school to consolidate every pre-school into one location.
• I.D. Sirbu: A famous Romanian poet, I.D. Sirbu, was born here, and wrote much about the area. One of the schools, and the theatre in Petrosani, are both named after him. There is a growing movement of educators and students to spread awareness of his works, and renovate his house (which has fallen into disrepair and only has one, small plaque to distinguish it). This week, the heads of the project are holding some readings and round-table discussions in a sort of festival promoting Sirbu.
• Organics: The two supermarkets in town now carry certified organic products.
• Migrant Parents: Romanian families are increasingly under duress as parents are leaving the country for better work opportunities abroad. This last weekend, Peace Corps helped organize a conference about this issue, and it was reassuring to hear about organizations and laws confronting the problem.

The mere fact that Romania is doing so much to improve its infrastructure is a major sign of improvement. While the idealist in me wants to see progress in human rights, or a crack-down on political corruption, the realist in me knows that these greater, abstract problems can’t possibly be solved if public works are in disarray. The path to ending illegal forrestation, or trash dumping in Romania’s national parks begins with responsible waste disposal and recycling initiatives in its urban places. A country cannot be made by ‘mirroring,’– it’s a matter of small shifts in the public mindset, which lead to progressive contributions & actions, which in turn shift the public mindset again. And repeat.