Sam's story after visiting Romania in april 2007

Romania April 2007

Gabby and Rod are undoubtedly the driving force behind Convoy Aid Romania, without them there would be no charity.

Nothing could of prepared me for the sights, sounds and smells of Romania. It is so very different to anything i've ever experienced in England.

Whilst there i met all kinds of people from many villages, all of whom need some kind of help. How can such a small charity help so many people? I don't quite know how Rod and Gabby do it, but they do it very well!

The task of sorting boxes should of taken Gabby and I just a couple of hours, instead it turned into a days work. Many parcels weren't labelled correctly, resulting in Gabby and Carmen having to look up their full name or village etc. It is impossible for anyone to remember the reference number of each person sponsored. Please ensure that when you label your parcel it has the person's full name, reference number and village name on it. If you are able to put a photo of the person you sponsor on the box then this is an added bonus and makes life so much easier.

Everyone that recieved parcels were so pleased and they really do enjoy recieving them, time is taken to take photographs and dvd footage when possible.

Alongside Rod and Gabby, I experienced many things, from cooking food for an elderly blind lady to delivering parcels on a horse and cart.

After a hard days work, we head back to the house where the evening work begins, from making jellies ready to deliver the next day to Gabby downloading the days photo's, ready for godparents and anyone else that has requested photos!

I met my Godchild, Elena, and was pleased to see how well her parents took care of her inspite of the terrible poverty that surrounds them. Everywhere you look is poverty, the kind of poverty that we can only imagine.

I spent some time with Nicolleta, she is 18 years old yet looks more like 8, she weighs much less. We sat in the garden whilst the house was being painted. This was a rare occassion for Nicolleta, who usually spends her days in her dirty, wet bed. After an hour outdoors she came alive, it was great to see, Nicolleta laughs when the ball is dropped by one of her cousins or myself in a game of catch, and she hums along to music, even my bad singing! I feel that trapped inside that young body is a young person just waiting to be found.
There is so much to say about Nicolleta, her mother and her living conditions, but the bottom line is that she needs help, the centre that Rod and Gabby are trying to set up would be of a huge benefit to Nicolleta and the many other children like her.

I urge you all to make the journey to visit the person that you sponsor, after seeing them you have a much better idea of what they face each day and how you can help.

I met some amazing people and thoroughly enjoyed my trip, I have come home to plan my next trip!

Sam Farmer