Fundraising campaign for Iran, a delivery driver from Sri Lanka who was seriously injured in Bucharest

Following the road accident in Bucharest, on Pipera Boulevard, Iran had his left leg amputated from the knee down. He is one of thousands of Asians who have moved to Romania to work as food delivery drivers. He is 23 years old, the eldest of three brothers, and comes from a fishing family in a village on the west coast of Sri Lanka.

Like many other Asians, Iran took out a loan of nearly €5,000 to finance his move to Romania for work, with a monthly interest payment of €100. He did not manage to work for more than two months in Romania, so the burden of the money he has to repay now weighs heavily on him and his family, in a country where the average wage is barely over €200. 

One of the first questions Iran asked after returning from surgery was whether it would be possible to get a prosthesis and still find a job to help him pay off the loan. 

At the moment, his Sri Lankan friends are the ones looking after him, bringing him food, buying his medicines, talking to the doctors, helping with translations into English and trying to ease the burden of this difficult period in his life. 

“We don’t know how the healthcare system works; nobody explains it to us. Now we’ve learnt and we’ve all registered with a GP,” says one of them.

We know very little about the Asian workers who deliver our food. The injustices faced by their communities in Romania are countless, but the patience, resilience and solidarity they demonstrate deserve to be recognised.

We are launching this fundraising campaign to cover the loan of around €5,000 that Iran took out to come to work in Romania and to support him in making a fresh start after returning home. As well as repaying the loan, Iran plans to invest in his family’s small plot of farmland and sell the fruit and vegetables he can grow locally. He estimates that he needs around €1,500 to get started.

In total, we aim to raise €6,500 for Iran. Any contribution, however small, helps him regain his dignity and a livelihood. If you cannot donate, you can help him greatly by sharing this campaign.

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EN

Fundraising campaign for Iran, a delivery worker from Sri Lanka seriously injured in Bucharest

Following a road accident in Bucharest, on Pipera Boulevard, Iran’s left leg was amputated from the knee down. He is one of the thousands of Asian workers who have moved to Romania for food delivery jobs. He is 23 years old, the eldest of three siblings, and comes from a village on the western coast of Sri Lanka, from a family of fishermen.

Like many other Asian workers, Iran took out a loan of almost 5,000 euros to finance his move to Romania for work, with a monthly interest payment of 100 euros. He managed to work for no more than two months in Romania, so the burden of the money that has to be repaid now weighs heavily on him and his family, in a country where the average salary barely exceeds 200 euros.

One of Iran’s first questions after coming out of surgery was whether it would be possible to get a prosthetic leg and still find a job that would help him repay his loan.

For the moment, his Sri Lankan friends are the ones looking after him: they bring him food, buy his medicines, speak to the doctors, help with translations into English and try to ease the burden of this difficult period in his life.

“We don’t know how the healthcare system works; nobody explains it to us. Now we’ve learnt, and we’ve all registered with a GP,” one of them says.

We know far too little about the Asian workers who deliver our food. The injustices their communities face in Romania are countless, but the patience, resilience and solidarity they show deserve to be recognised.

We are launching this fundraising campaign to cover the loan of around 5,000 euros that Iran took out in order to come to Romania for work and to support him in making a fresh start once he returns home. In addition to repaying the loan, Iran plans to invest in his family’s small plot of agricultural land and to sell the fruit and vegetables he grows locally. He estimates that, to get started, he needs around 1,500 euros.

In total, we aim to raise 6,500 euros for Iran. Any contribution, no matter how small, will help him regain his dignity and a means of making a living. If you cannot donate, you can still help him a great deal by sharing this campaign further.