Embassy Press Release

Remarks Delivered by Ambassador Mark H. Gitenstein at "Ambassador's build"

Baltesti, Prahova
October 30, 2009

Ambassador Gitenstein helps building a home for a Roma family living in substandard housing. Baltesti, Prahova, October 30, 2009 (Photo: Lucian Crusoveanu / Public Diplomacy Office)

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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ambassador’s Build. I would like to start by showing my appreciation for all of you that could make it here today. It is with great pleasure that I, along with our hosts Habitat for Humanity Romania, the Soros Foundation Romania and the Mayor’s Office of Baltesti, can include you among those who are working for a brighter future for Romanian families in need.

No parent wants to raise a child in poverty, to struggle to keep warm in the winter or to struggle to find work to put food on the family’s table. Given an equal chance, all parents will work hard, as these families have, to give their children a brighter future.

Today we are here to literally lend a hand to these efforts. In the American spirit of volunteerism and helping your neighbor, we’re here to paint the walls, hammer the nails and honor your community spirit.

Poverty in many Roma communities remains one of the most intractable problems facing Europe. While many issues for Roma cross national borders, the best solutions are local, starting with the efforts of local organizations, local administrations and citizen who offer their time as volunteers. When a local community decides that their neighbors deserve the dignity that a new home, a decent job and a decent education bring, great change can be made. May the success the “One Home, One Future” collaboration firmly demonstrate that positive solutions exist, as long as there is a will to implement them, as in the American saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

My fellow builders, our presence here in Baltesti, the effort that we will put into new homes for the Dancea, Spira and Nicolae families, is a powerful message of hope. I, for one, look forward to participating in other Habitat for Humanity projects to contribute to other communities across Romania as well.

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