In an isolated village near Brezoi, Romania, the festive season looks very different from how it does in the movies.

Here there are no brightly lit Christmas trees in windows, fridges filled with all the trimmings, presents piled high.

Here, poorly-built shacks alongside a river strewn with bits of rubbish do an ineffective job of shielding inhabitants from the cold. In this part of Romania, temperatures are below freezing throughout winter and can drop to -15C. Instead of plaster walls and tiled roofs, sheets of plywood and corrugated aluminium are all that protects people from the bitter cold – and there is no snow plough to make roads accessible and safe in winter.

Mariuca* is a young girl who lives in this Roma community at the foot of the mountains. While surrounded by natural beauty, villagers struggle with high rates of unemployment and poverty, and survival is a day-to-day struggle. Four out of every five people in Romania’s Roma community live below the poverty line. Many families cannot afford to celebrate Christmas, and many hardly know that such a holiday even exists.