Habitat World Online

Romania: The Bacos family grows — and gives back
Living in a single room in a decrepit communist-bloc apartment building, Florin, Daniela and Benjamin Bacos were greeted on freezing winter mornings with no heat and no hot water. The family shared a communal bathroom with the residents of the 21 other apartments on their floor. Benjamin was quickly outgrowing their cramped quarters.

Leaping at the chance to own their own home, Florin and Daniela were selected with nine other families to receive one of 10 homes constructed for the 1999 Eclipse Build event, a Habitat Romania 10-day blitz build held during a full solar eclipse.

The Bacos family — together with the other partner families, Habitat Romania and a host of volunteers — literally built their own neighborhood, starting from the barren land they were given by the mayor up to the last shingle on their roof.

Their new home, which they put over 1,500 hours of work into, has changed their lives in concrete ways. Florin was able to finish Officer’s School for the Romanian military, while Daniela was able to complete nursing school. The raise in their standard of living ushered in their greatest gift of all, the newest member of their family, Daniel, now 6 years old.

One of the most significant changes was in their world view. “It was the first time that we saw normal people come from all corners of the globe to help out complete strangers,” says Florin. “We understand now what it means to be a volunteer. We realized that it’s our moral obligation to help others in need to receive the blessing that we once received.”

In the 10 years since, the Bacos family has become an integral force in turning dozens of individual homes into a thriving Habitat community in Beius. They began by volunteering for a Building on Faith blitz build, helped build the first playground in a Habitat Beius neighborhood and, year after year, coordinate annual Children’s Day festivities and annual Christmas caroling for the children of Habitat.

Today, Florin volunteers as the head of the family selection committee, lending others the knowledge and experience that he has accrued over the last 10 years. “We have already experienced what it means to be helped by Habitat,” he explains. “In 1999, God extended a helping hand to our family and gave us what we have today. He connected us with these fantastic people, who taught us that only by working together can we solve our communal problems.”

By Chris Fontanesi, a Peace Corps volunteer working with Habitat Romania