"Floare de Colt" means Flowers from the Corner. It is the name of a rare flower in Romania that only grows in the mountains and it is so rare that it is protected by law. If you destroy it- not only do you destroy something that is beautiful and delicate but you also violate the law.

My organization is called Floare de Colt (FdC) because like this flower - you also cannot destroy a human being. FdC started in April 2003 under a USAID RASP grant. To date, the organization has helped over 260 clients in the community and surrounding villages of Sighisoara.

The Director of FdC is Petra Popa, who is an incredible woman with natural leadership ability and a keen understanding of people. She worked for 15 years in the girls orphange before joining Veritas.

Our psychologist, Monica Stefanescu, has the most gentle disposition and a heart of pure gold. She is also a psychologist for one of the elementary schools.

Eva, our Social Worker, is currently on maternity leave.

And our heart and soul, Dorina Lazar, offers legal advice and counsultation as well as doing all the secretarial work in the office.

The project I helped them write is a training to utilize FdC's volunteers to make a door-to-door survey in the community of Sighisoara. Our goal is to survey 400 families through various parts of Sighisoara. We are hoping to gain a better understanding about the needs of beneficiaries, the extent of violence in the community, and the opinion of the community about ways to combat and prevent domestic violence.

It is an exhausting task- I have been to over 34 homes with various volunteers- somethings you hear are absolutely shocking!

Romania has a huge problem with domestic violence and because it is a subject that is considered taboo to discuss - not enough is being done to prevent and combat domestic violence. A 2002 United Nations survey on Romania stated that 45% of families experience verbal violence, 30% physical violence and 7% sexual violence (altough it is believed to be underreported- only as of 2003 has a law against marital rape come into being). Another study by a professor in Timisoara found that 68.7% of Romanian children are abused by their parents.

I also try to find funding through grant-giving charities to support the services of FdC because to-date social services and services to victims of violence is not a priority of the government in Sighisoara. While the police and social service department in the local government rely heavily on the services of FdC to mediate family problems and counsel victims of violence - no funding is provided inspite of very painstaking efforts that were made by Petra to obtain funding.