A mother and her son who has a physical handicap, a situation that I presented in last year's report, when they were living in a shed, in conditions worse than animals. Their living conditions changed completely because, with the help of the Burgess family, a new house has been built for them alongside the old one.

They moved into the new house in November 2008. The house has two rooms and a stove which was very efficient in the winter. We have furnished the house with what was needed for them. Their life changed completely as they are living now in normal conditions. Thanks to specific sponsorship from another family in the UK we provide them regularly with food, clothes, money, bedding, etc as they still do not have any income. What we offer them is all they have, our help for this family is vital and we have to continue to support them.

Ilie (47), Maria (42), Gabriel (11), Mariana (10), Marcel (5), Aurora (3)

A family that we have known for a few years. They live in a village near Dorohoi in a house which themselves started to build many years ago but it is not finished. They have a small piece of land near their house, but do not have any fowl or other animal in the garden. They live in very difficult conditions, nobody in the family works; their only income is the children's allowance from the state. Their oldest son has a mental handicap and is attending a special needs school in Dorohoi, from Monday until Thursday. The situation of the oldest son has complicated their lives very much as one of the parents needs to stay with him all the time. It is very hard for them to cope. All the children are attending school except the youngest one.

With them lives also her granddaughter who has a son of about eighteen months old. They also do not have any support as the boy's father left her and she is helped only by her grandmother. She has another brother who is in prison at the moment but he will come back next year to the same house.

It is a big burden on grandmother’s shoulder as she needs to look after all these people with her little pension of 60 GBP per month. We help this family with food, clothes, money, etc. Their most urgent need is money for the operation for Mugurel, who should have had it a few years ago and the auditory tube has blocked on that ear already. They also need food, clothes, soap, a bike for the boy, etc.

He doesn’t have a job and has no other source of income. The conditions they are living in are very bad. Last year he went to Spain for a few months with his son but he couldn’t find work and now he has borrowed a horse with cart from his brother who went to work abroad, and uses that from time to time for finding some work. His parents are pensioners and come from a poor family background and do not have other people to help them. 

We help them with clothes and food. Now, due to the difficult situation, they can’t take the child to school. They need ongoing support for coping with the situation and for being able to take the child to school.

Ioan-Petru Stiubianu (24), Ionut-Marius Florea (20), Mihai-Catalin Bucataru (25)

All these boys grew up in orphanages but because they have finished school they have been evicted onto the streets. They do not have anybody to help them. I got to know them in December 2008 when they were living in an abandoned house near our office. Two of them lived in the cemetery and conditions like that for 5 years. They were not able to work, just doing simple jobs; because of their mental problems nobody employed them or if they did, then they were not treated like normal people.

In February 2009 I found them a room where all three could stay with a rent of 25 GBP per month plus electricity. We put carpet tiles, mattresses, bedding, changed their clothes, gave them an small gas ring with a gas bottle and have done small repairs in the room, and they moved in at the beginning of February. Together with the Centre of Hope team we taught them how to keep the room clean, how to keep themselves clean, how to use the gas ring and make basic food and since then their lives have changed completely. They keep the room very clean, they have a shower and two meals per week at the Centre of Hope and are themselves clean and treated like human beings. I’m very happy with how we managed to help these boys and how well it worked with in collaboration with Centre of Hope.

They are still depending on our support with rent, food, clothes, etc, but they are now seen as people who are living in normal conditions and people treat them normally and they are very happy.

The situation of this family was included in the last year report as well. Both parents came from an orphanage background, without any help, no job, no family; our help was vital for the child and also for both parents.

We continued to help this family as they had to move from the flat that they used to live in and we found them another place where they stayed temporarily. Finally in September 2008 after many requests to the Town Hall, they were offered a small old house which has not been used for many years. 

We helped with money for repairs and making the house safe to live in. We helped them with beds, tables, bedding, carpet, paint, etc and also with food, powder milk for the child for all year, money, etc. The family is safe in their home now and they are much happier.

There are so many families here in these sort of situations; we can help only a small percentage, but it means a lot to them. I know that this is a very difficult time for all the countries including Great Britain and it is not easy to donate or to help others when you are in need, but if we offer a little bit, with God’s help we still can do a lot. Continuing this work means that many other families will receive life, hope and a bit of comfort in their lives. Thank you!