The 2020 goal: Leslie Hawke on giving underprivileged children access to early education, leaving Romania, and the country’s hidden resource

Throughout the twenty years she spent in Romania, Leslie Hawke has worked to help underprivileged children get the chance of early education. In an email interview occasioned by her withdrawal from the daily activity of OvidiuRo and departure from Romania, she looks back on her work in the country, points to Romania's biggest hidden resource, and explains how she plans on helping OvidiuRo's cause further.

Leslie Hawke arrived in Romania in 2000, as a Peace Corps volunteer and spent the first four years in Bacău, a city in eastern Romania's Moldavia region. In 2001, she teamed up with Maria Gheorghiu for the Gata, Dispus și Capabil initiative, providing education for underprivileged children and job training for mothers. In 2004, the two founded Asociația OvidiuRo and expanded their work to Bucharest's District 5. In 2006, they launched the Fiecare Copil în Școală(Every Child in School) initiative, aimed at keeping high-risk children in school.