Winner of the 2004 OneMinutesJr Award
Category "Inside - Out"



NAME: Tatiana Panait
COUNTRY: Romania
CITY: Bucharest
AGE: 19

Tatiana Panait was abandoned by her parents at birth and was raised in state institutions ever since. She is diagnosed with slight intellectual disability and is going to end her vocational training in 2005, after which her future is a huge unknown quantity, as the safety nets provided by the state are likely to prove with too big holes to hold her afloat.

She is of Gypsy ethnic background, but she does not have a Gypsy identity, as she was never raised by them. Tatiana’s physical abilities are remarkable, making her, along with her other colleagues, a perfect candidate for athletic events. For the past three years Tatiana was part of a group of institutionalized children who supplemented the number of street children taught by the Parada Foundation to perform in the street joggling and athletic moves, like human pyramids.

As such, Tatiana and her colleagues toured France in 2002 and Italy in 2003, while being hosted by local families. Tatiana moved out from the orphanage last year and shares now a three-bedroom apartment, funded by the Direction for Child Protection of Bucharest 2nd District, with other five girls of the same origin. They have constant supervision and financial support. However, that is likely to end once Tatiana graduates from the vocational school in 2005.

Her film, Sleeping at the orphanage, is an amazing piece of art that gives an insight in the feelings of an orphan.

Further information and links:

The Convention on the Rights of the Child – in 35 languages

UNICEF in Romania

OneMinutesJr website

Voices of Youth

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