FintechOS supports the children of Ponorâta community to receive a hot meal each day they attend school in January 2023

Hot school meals for every child in Ponorâta

An educational incentive that significantly increases kindergarten and school attendance; for many of the children in Ponorâta, this is the only meal they have that day.

Ponorâta - Maramureș County is one of the poorest communities in Romania.

Due to a lack of education and employment opportunities, more than 750 people, two thirds are kids, live on welfare, government children benefits, and seasonal work or day work. The little amount of money they get is not enough to survive.

99% of adults are illiterate or functionally illiterate. 

We are trying to change this through an integrated approach focused on children's education and offer them a chance to break the vicious cycle of poverty they live in and, thus, a better future. We provide a hot meal to every child who attends kindergarten or school. 

Key points of our support for the Ponorâta community over the years:

Ponorâta 2010 – poverty-stricken children were not going to kindergarten or school. OvidiuRo NGO started the Every Child in Kindergarten program. Families received social vouchers worth 50 lei/month for each child who attended kindergarten daily. Kindergarten attendance increased by 80%.

Ponorâta 2012 – kindergarten attendance increased by over 50%. We took over the program started by OvidiuRo NGO. In 2014 we extended the model with social vouchers to the school. Attendance almost tripled. The social coupons had a considerable impact, but we realized they were insufficient. 

Starting in 2015, children attending kindergarten and primary school have received a hot meal daily, with the support of Kaufland Romania. Sometimes, it is the only meal the little ones eat that day.

We realized that if we want these children to have a chance to break the vicious cycle of poverty they live in, we need to try an integrated approach focused on education. In addition to supplies, scholarships for highschoolers with good results, Christmas gifts, and training for teachers, we built a public bathroom in Ponorâta (a module with three shower cabins, two washing machines, two dryers, and two sinks with washer ), with the support of Romstal Romania. 

Additional actions we took for the community: we helped them repair their houses, organized medical caravans to solve medical emergencies and improve health, invested in developing a local initiative group to solve some general community problems, etc.

Ponorâta 2019 - the community has changed; more houses are built using real solid bricks, and we have repaired 35 homes in the last three years. There are a large number of children in kindergarten and school. On average, 218 children out of 247 attend kindergarten and school daily (average for September), and five are in high school. The adults also found temporary work at a furniture company in a small town 10 km away.

Change does not happen overnight nor through one or two projects. We must continue to act long-term through an integrated approach centered on education.

Ponorâta 2022 - we continue to support the community with integrated services centered on education (social, health, and community development). 310 primary school children receive a hot meal daily; social vouchers are awarded based on performance, not just school attendance.

More and more children know how to read and write, and the changes for the better in Ponorâta started to be noticeable.

Thank you for your support and contribution!