Sam Farmer return to Romania-her story

Romania 2008

This year I returned to Romania firstly to pay for a Well to be built in the remote village of Hermeziu - Trifesti, and secondly to see how Romania has progressed in the year that has passed.

I am pleased to say that after much hassle the Well was completed in the rain! I had a lovely letter of thanks from the family that I sponsor and I am pleased to know that they and others now have easier access to water. Some of the distances that are covered by people just to get to water are unbelievable, surely everyone has the right to fresh clean water.

It was also good to see my sponsored child and be able to personally give her the box that I had sent over. She is definately one of the lucky ones, in that she recieves regular aid from myself, as do many other godchildren. Unfortunately their are sponsored children that rarely or in some small cases never recieve a letter or packet from their godparent, this is sad as they will often travel for miles and sometimes hours to Bivolari, where the charity is based, in the hope of a packet to make life that little bit easier and nicer. Of course it is very rare for people to go away empty handed, but on occassions this does happen, you can't give something that you don't have.

On the topic of packets and parcels, I was very pleased to see that most of them were properly named this year and those with a photo attached were even easier to match to the child. The thing that I noticed this year was that where most children and old people recieved the advised shoebox or small box, well packed with goodies, there were a few that recieved extreme amounts of aid that could of been distributed to many more much needy families. One family had 10 large boxes! Yes 10. Although this was very generous and I am sure that the family will enjoy the goodies, it really didn't seem fair on other families that were waiting to collect aid. So please think about the size of your future parcels. You will be amazed at how much you can fit into a smaller box and the challenge can be quite fun!

Romania is a beautiful country but so full of poverty, there is an amazing old lady in Bivolari, who is totally blind and yet lives on her own without aid from the government. In developed countries there is help available, in Romania there isn't. Safta is a lovely lady, who is grateful of any aid that she recieves, she loves chocolate and quickly puts this into her pocket! She is always pleased when people visit and could talk the hind leg off a donkey I am sure! I was pleased to be able to cook for her and with help from Dana, deliver it to her, walking down the backroads, which are all mud.

Dana is a lovely lady from the village, who comes to the charity home to do odd jobs cook and clean. She is a polite and caring person, who is very proud of her two sons and works long days to try to improve their lives in some small way.

It is amazing how much work can get done in one day and most of the credit for that must go to Gabbi, she is up early and to bed late, she is the only one with enough knowledge of the Romanian and English language to be able to supervise the Romanian workers, give out aid and converse with the families.
Gabbi was also intent on getting an update from each and every family that we saw, with information on their families, home setting and other useful bits and pieces. Rod had a brainwave too, he thought it would be a good idea to draw around each childs foot to give godparents an idea of shoe size, for those wishing to buy shoes. This was a good idea, but of course took more time and energy! You will recieve all these bits and pieces when Gabbi is back in the UK and has a minute or two to sort them out, so please be patient.

During my stay we visited an orphanage, many of the children were soon to be turning 18, all were eager to find work placements so as not to be committed to a mental institution, it is so difficult for these children and they have little hope of a good future. One boy kept asking us to go and take photos of the bathrooms and send them to the telly to get them help. These young people know that they shouldn't be living like they do but they are helpless to do anything about it. Of course we were not allowed to take photos, nor were we able to get passed the showroom entrance. These young people are meant to be looked after but instead they are kept like animals, life is so unfair and unjust for these youngsters.

On each journey to Iasi we passed dozens of children and elderly people picking stinging nettles and trying to sell them by the roadside for pennies. We stopped and gave out what food we had with us and even bought some nettles that we later donated to a family to make soup out of. The elderly people are really very shocked when you stop to give them something for free, they have never known kindness like this.

No trip would be complete without an adventure or two! The greatest adventure of all was getting to the airport on time for my return flight. As the white van had brocken down earlier in the week, we were travelling in the old blue van that has dodgy brakes, tyres that just don't want to stay up and endless other problems. How we made it i'll never know, very skillful driving from Rod at an unearthly hour in the morning!

If anyone knows of someone that would like to become a godparent, please give them the charity contact details, more families in Romania are being found each week, but their are just not enough sponsors for them.

I urge you all to go to Romania to see for yourself the work that is being done, it is the best way to get to know your sponsored family and to see behind the scenes of the charity. I am sure that I will return again one day.

Sam Farmer.