EU and NGOs Aid Romania's Most Impoverished

SARULESTI, ROMANIA - MARCH 12: Kalderash Roma stand in the Kalderash corner of town on March 12, 2013 in Sarulesti, Romania. Many of the Sarulesti Kalderash are among the most impoverished local residents, and some are receiving help from outside organizations. The Soros Foundation Romania, part of the Open Society Fund of billionaire investor George Soros, has funded the construction of five new houses and the renovation of five existing ones for the poorest Kalderash in Sarulesti. And many Kalderash collect food donations supplied from a local project by the European Union. Romania's Roma belong to a myriad of different tribes defined by their craft, and the Kalderash, known as coppersmiths and scrap metal collectors, are among the most distinctive, traditional and least assimilated into modern, Romanian society. Many of the women marry before they turn 15 and break school off so early that they slip into illiteracy. According to a local social worker the Kalderash of Sarulesti are not among the Roma of Romania who have sought work in recent years in western Europe. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)