Making Ends Meet in the Danube Delta, Romania

Ana and Traian Gherasim live in Mila 23 with their 4 year old son Octavian and Ana’s mother and father. Ana is 25, Traian is 27. Ana is from Mila 23 and is Lipoveni, but Traian is Romanian, and comes from a community nearby, Crisan. When they first married, they lived with his family in Crisan, but three years ago they moved in with her parents.

Traian is a fisherman. Ana’s father, who is 69, also fished until a year ago. Ana looks after their garden on a tiny strip of land about a mile away, only reachable by boat. She also looks after their one cow, which they keep on another strip of land. Her mother isn’t very well any more and isn’t able to contribute much to the livelihood of the family.
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