English
DoR ran for 13 years as an independent publication focused on telling true stories from modern day Romania. We used narrative journalism to build empathy, highlight solutions, give people agency, and remind them that no matter their struggles, they are not alone. This is an archive of the pieces that we had translated into English over the years.
The Ghosts of International Adoptions
Tens of thousands of abandoned children were adopted internationally between 1990 and 2004. Many of them are trying to understand their roots but their search can be overwhelming as the Romanian state still hasn't recognized it has failed to protect them.
„It’s my job to keep the patients calm”
An Indian doctor from Ukraine has become a facilitator for refugees in Romania in need of free health services.
Bystander Victims: Facing The Trauma Of Children Who Witness Domestic Violence
Children who live amid domestic abuse are at serious risk of long-term physical and mental health problems. It's imperative we start to look deeply at these long-term effects because violence is passed down from generation to generation. A close-up investigation from Romania.
The Summer of David Popovici
Gold medals, records, fame and other stories from the summer of a teenager who became the fastest swimmer of all time.
(Updated) The Future of DoR: We’ll Stop Publishing at the End of 2022
We are going through a crisis, by far the most complex we've ever been through. This summer we're downsizing our team and activity to be able to tell the stories we plan to tell by the end of the year.
David Popovici wants to be the world’s best swimmer and has every chance
In the pool, the 17-year-old athlete is a phenomenon. On the sidelines, he had the right people who knew how to nurture his talent and encouraged his personality instead of molding him to fit a template.
How We Give Birth in Romania
What the medical birth system in Romania looks like, criticized by mothers, doctors, and midwives alike, without any of them listening to one another.
We Hadn’t Planned to Die This Year
Lica and Zamfirică were married for over 50 years. They raised a family, built a home, and had a good life. Then the pandemic took him.
Some Family Doctors Do Everything that’s Expected of Them, and More. Others Don’t. Why?
When the state, doctors and patients are after each other’s mistakes, everybody loses.
Who Am I in the World?
Until I was 25 years old, I was convinced that I’m just a label of my ethnicity and that my world was predestined to remain between 4 walls of dirty glass. Then I left.
“Everyone smiles here. Except the Romanians”
Conditions for Romanians at meat factories in Germany were bad before COVID-19 infected thousands at these sites. But could the shattering impact of the pandemic improve their working environment?
Botoșani: Land of goodbyes
Welcome to the Romanian region that expects its residents to live and work abroad.
How the pandemic brought labor rights out of the cold
Romanian union leaders are defending key workers from wage cuts in industries under threat from outbreaks of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.
I speak to know I’m not alone
If you can’t even trust your own family to raise you in safety, how can you believe in anything? How do you live your life?
The flip side of medals: The line between tough coaching and abuse was blurred in Romanian gymnastics
For over 40 years, during the golden age of Romanian gymnastics, we celebrated the medals won by child-gymnasts and looked away from their pain, fears and sufferings. What if we listened to them more carefully?
The power of racism, its trauma, and the road to healing
To heal on a societal level is to recognize and repent, so that we can begin to imagine a future in which no one has to feel the painful effects of racism.
“Until we are able to gas them like the Nazis, the Roma will infect the nation:” Roma and the ethnicization of COVID-19 in Romania
Amid fears of the global spread of COVID-19, Romanian society fails to keep racism towards Roma at bay.
In Search of the Lost Pulse
In Sibiu, a team of foreign doctors repairs children’s hearts thanks to donors, as the state fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens.