Roma Communities Struggle Against Abject Poverty

PONORATA, ROMANIA - SEPTEMBER 11: Roma sisters Natalia Varga (L) and Camilia Istvan pose for a photo in the abjectly poor Roma settlement of Ponorata on September 11, 2013 in Ponorata, Romania. Between 400 and 500 Roma live in squalor at Ponorata, few have access to electricity and 95% of them are illiterate and unemployed. A Romanian NGO called OvidiuRo, co-founded by Leslie Hawke, who is the mother of American actor Ethan Hawke, is attempting to get young Roma children to regularly attend pre-school through a coupon incentive system for food at Ponorata and 23 other Roma communities across Romania. Many Roma from Ponorata have spent time in France to earn money, mostly through begging and scrap metal collection. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)