How the diseased and destitute are forced to carve out a grim existence in the sewers of Eastern Eur

[dipsydoodle]

Life UNDER the streets: How the diseased and destitute are forced to carve out a grim existence in the sewers of Eastern Europe

Once dubbed 'The Paris of the East', Romanian capital Bucharest is a city teeming with ornate architecture, Baroque palaces and tree-lined boulevards.

But beneath its mansions and iconic squares lies a second city that no tourist gets to see - an underground kingdom of outcasts and drug addicts living in the city's vast network of sewers.

Here, everyone is HIV-positive and a quarter have TB, yet they are left to rot in the darkness, huddling against heating pipes and snorting glue to stay warm.

At the head of this city of vice is one man, named Bruce Lee from his street-fighting days. A father, mentor and drug-dealer to all, he brings safety - and a bottomless supply of glue - to the 'sewer children' of Bucharest, many of whom have lived there since the fall of Communism two decades ago.

Now this underground society is exposed in a new film by Channel 4 News' Paraic O'Brien, Jim Wickens & Radu Ciornicuc.

This is their dispatch.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2632858/The-ultimate-living-How-poor-carve-living-SEWERS-Eastern-European-city.html#ixzz32CwLOcix

[Mika]

1. The horror.

[Diclotican]

2. dipsydoodle

dipsydoodle

It is horrible - and have been horrible for the last 25 years - the regime of Ceausescu was bad enough - and it have not being anything better since then - Romania is one of the poorest countries in Europe - and have never really recovered from what Ceausescu was doing to the country in the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s - before he and his wife who had ruled the country like despots was toppled - and both of them killed in a rather bloody revolution who was stopped before many others, who also had benefited from the old regime could face their consequences of their actions - and after that - Romania have been a country of corruption and a extreme poverty for many who was left out when the new regime was building up their powerstructure... The many orphanages - was left to root - and ten of thousands had to be rescued by the western part of europe - who adopted many of them - and gave the children a better future than they had - even if it was with all the challenges from children's who had horrible damages made to them - both physical - and mentally by a system where people who was not part of the "romanian people" was tost aside - and hopefully would die soon - many of the orphanages under the regime of Ceausescu was little more than places where young children was left to die - a slow death - because they had defects - or had handicaps who was not meant to be a part of the new romanian state - handicaps from all over the country was put on this orphanages - and let out of sight for everyone - after the wall was going down - and specially after Ceausescu was being shoot - the truth about it all was let out....

And still 25 year after that the legacy of the old regime is there - all to se - I have no clue why Romania was left into EU - as the country is as backward as they came - specially when it comes to "weak groups" that be people with handicaps - or the minorities who also have a hard time in the country...



Diclotican