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last updated on
01/06/2011 06:07:19 PM |
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Friday &
Saturday 15+16/4/2011
animals,
the cat, the dog, 5 cows, 30 sows, one boar, some 30 piglets and 100
chickens. What an experience! On the way home we called to see the
Foundation’s new project, a building that will in time be turned into
a care home for the elderly and disabled children, as well as a café
and a shop or two. There was clear excitement at the thought that this
project will make a difference to some of the most vulnerable people
of the country. Back to the centre for supper - pizza and chips -
before planning tomorrows events - a day of visiting the homeless
people of the country. A busy week ahead!
return to
the bus bare-footed. Some were trying to take our 'wellies', clothes
and jewellery. Great relief when we eventually reached the bus! We
went on to the city of Oradea to visit the site that had just been
purchased by Smiles. The Smiles Foundation are planning to put
'shipping containers' on this piece of land which will have been
converted into homes for the homeless (like the ones already being
used in Salard). Before going back to the centre, we visited a village
where there was a home for women and children who have been abused. A
very hard day emotionally, but the day will stay in our memory
forever.
A day visiting
the schools in Tileagd today. Although it is the Easter holidays, the
children chose to stay in school for two additional days in order for
us to see their lessons. First we went to the nursery school
'Kindergarten' for young children 3-5 years. Here we had a chance to
paint Easter things and play games with the children. We had delicious
coffee and doughnuts! Then we went to a school for children from 6-17
years. There we walked around the building to see the various
facilities (dentist, doctor, music room, bathrooms, dining hall,
sports hall) and then all the classes. Each class gave us a short
presentation of the
Easter story. It was wonderful to see all the smiles and to receive a
welcome from each child. One thing that shocked us was seeing the
respect and interest each child had in their work. After lunch we
presented gifts to two small children that Llandysul primary school
sponsor- Andrada and Dafin. Seeing their little faces light up when
they received a bag, t-shirt, sweater, chocolate (and lots of other
things) was invaluable. The children performed various traditional
dances for us. At the end of the afternoon we went into the village of
Tileagd: another gypsy community. Homes were rather bad but in
comparison with the homes that we saw yesterday in Salard , they were
much better. Here again the first thing that hit us was the friendly
faces and the open arms that welcomed us.
Another sunny day
in Romania. Summer's here, but work needed to be done. In the morning,
we loaded the bus with a variety of food and toiletries, to distribute
to the poor families. After a journey of about an hour on the bus we
reached the village of Tria to visit five poor families. One family
had seven children. The home was very primitive - just two rooms. The
whole family slept in one room to save on firewood. There was an
elderly woman living in another home with her son and daughter (33
years and 45 years), and they lived on the mother's pension of £50 a
month. The poverty was obvious when they said that there was water
coming through the roof. When we went out to investigate the problem
(and expecting a small hole in the roof) we found the side of the
house in a ruin. In the afternoon we went into the city of Oradea to
visit some homeless families to distribute food and toiletries. It is
unbelievable that people in the twenty-first century are living in
such conditions, although the country is part of the European Union.
Great poverty could be seen here. They lived in fear of not knowing
what would happen tomorrow. A long and tiring day, but a day full of
unexpected and unforgettable experiences.
