Romania - Torn between work and home

In the 1990s, many Romanians left their homeland in search of work. They left behind deserted villages: children were raised by their grandparents, the elderly lived alone, and communities fell apart.

Antoanela Andonescu — affectionately known to everyone as "Coca” — also left her homeland back then. She worked for decades in Italy as a geriatric nurse. "The harder I work, the sooner I can return,” she kept telling herself. But months turned into years. Her sisters followed her, and home faded into a memory.
When Coca finally returns to her small hometown of Bicaz in eastern Romania, she brings her savings with her — and a new sense of responsibility. She establishes a nursing home for the elderly who were left behind during the great wave of emigration. Almost all the residents in her nursing home have children abroad: Former cement factory worker Vasile has lived here since his family moved to Western Europe.

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