Eva Maria, 11, stands in the embrace of her adoptive mother, Kati, 56. Eva was abandoned at birth by her young mother, Izabela. The little girl fell victim to a cruel cycle of abandonment, as Izabela herself was abandoned at birth and left to be raised in an orphanage.

Eva and Kati live in a one-room “home” in Cluj County, northwest Romania. The single room has no running water and serves as a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Kati struggles to provide for Eva since she is illiterate and has no qualifications for jobs that are stable and pay decently. She works hard, gathering crops, and cleaning the yards and homes of wealthier people, making around US $5 for one day of work.

Child abandonment in maternity units and pediatric hospitals is a continuing problem in Romania. Lack of education and preventative services such as counseling, financial assistance, support for mothers to find employment; poverty; and societies rejection of unwed mothers are some of the main causes of child abandonment. Thousands of infants are abandoned immediately after birth, or after being cared for in pediatric units. World Vision is working to prevent child abandonment in Cluj and Vilcea Counties and in Romania’s capital, Bucharest. Text and Photos by World Vision Romania Communications staff.