“I never met an ordinary mortal” (C.S. Lewis)
ADD R IA L ESS: IN Ciu MOLD K ROM rchi A ANI A 46, VIA TEL Iasi E , P 004 Rom 0 72 HONE ania 8 44 4 52 1 FAC SI 004 0 23 MILE: 2 23 9 10 0 FUN
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January 2013
Issue 3, New Edition
Christmas gifts for the poor children
www.linkromania.ro
“... but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.” (Proverbs 14:21)
WHO RECEIVED THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS THIS YEAR THE GIFTS OF DECEMBER 2012
We distributed Christmas gifts and food in the rural areas where people are in great need, and also in Iasi, to the homeless and the very poor. Continued on Page 2
“Mowgli” (Andrei) is happy for his Christmas gift.
THE GIFTS OF DECEMBER 2013
We posted a video on YouTube regarding the Christmas gifts of 2012, but its message is rellevant for the year 2013. We would be highly grateful if we could repeat this project in the new year. Continued on Page 3
OUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR
We will have a few teams coming to Iasi this year to work in building projects. The recession continues in Romania, and we recommended a few families and individuals who could benefit of their help.
Sebastian received a box and a food parcel.
Miriam with her box.
“People have good ideas all time but unless they act on them it’s just an idea not an action” Michael Carey, Plumbers and Pipefitters member
Continued on Page 4
Fundatia Link Romania Moldavia, str. Ciurchi 46, Iasi, Romania | 0040 728 444 521 | www.linkromania.ro
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Mowgli’s (see first page photo) horses (left) and Christmas tree (right).
THE GIFTS OF DECEMBER 2012
Our charity had many projects during the 15 years since it was founded. We renovated a few floors of the local children’s hospital, built houses for the families who could never afford it, we dug wells, distributed food parcels, purchased wood for heating, worked with children in orphanages, and even published for a few years a street paper, to be sold by the homeless of Iasi. One of our social worker has worked almost 20 years with the homeless and orphans on the streets. But the project with the longest life was the distributing of Christmas gifts in the rural areas and to those in great need. This is what we did during the months of December 2012 and January 2013.
difficult roads covered with snow. We even considered the use of the horse and cart, and a slay ride, but most of the times we managed without them. The temperatures did not drop lower than -20 Centigrade, and despite these temperatures the children have enjoyed fully to play in the snow during their whole Christmas holiday. Unfortunately Fanfan, one of the most famous of the ex-homeless has died. Reports came from all over the country, and neighboring Ukraine, that many other homeless have died too. In fact, the winters are the time when always we receive bad news. In a sister charity, working with young men who were raised in the orphanages, one of the best and most reliable boy has been hit by a truck, and died.
PURCHASED FOOD FIGHTING WITH THE DEEP SNOW AND COLD
Compared to other recent winters, this one was really difficult to face. We checked almost on an hourly basis the weather forecasts and listened to the news, to find out what roads are closed and what chances we will have to get to the villages. Thanks to our driver’s great skills, we were able, as you can also see on the video, to climb the most
Thanks to the generosity of a church from Great Britain we have also received funds to purchase food that would be added alongside the Christmas gifts. The items that we have put in every bag were: oil, meat, sugar, fruit juice, diary products, sausages, flour, rice, sweets.
This year’s wish list: To buy a land to build a house on it for 1 Euro/ square meter. The total cost of 1000 square meter plot of land: 1,000 Euros! Buy 1,000 litres containers for collecting water during the drought: 300 Euros each. Quality food for the very poor and sick children: 50 Sterling Pounds per month.
Fundatia Link Romania Moldavia, str. Ciurchi 46, Iasi, Romania | 0040 728 444 521 | www.linkromania.ro
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This grandmother was raised in a communist orphanage, and she is trying to raise her grandchildren with love.
THOSE WHO WILL GET THE GIFTS OF DECEMBER 2013
Items suggested for the Christmas gifts of 2013: • tin of meat • chocolate/ wafers • sweets for the children • pasta • soap bar • shampoo • small jar of coffee
The people who received the shoeboxes live in rural areas, quite far from the city. They are not very skilled, and they can’t get a fulltime employment. Their daily income, when they have the opportunity of a job, is the equivalent of 6 Sterling Pounds (or 10 US Dollars). There is a high rate of serious sickness in their families. They don’t have running water. They don’t have toilets indoors. During the summer they don’t have water in their wells. They don’t have gas. Only the most fortunate have bottled gas. They have chicken, pigs and even cows, so they can have a little food on their tables. During the winter they heat their homes with wood for fire.
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Rebecca with her shoebox
• a small jar of coffee, or a small bag of instant coffee • shampoo • toothpaste WATCH THE VIDEO
Thanks to a good friend’s insistance, we made a few footages with what we would recommend to insert in a box for Christmas, and also with how we distributed the gifts and food. You can find the links on our website, linkromania.ro. You can also see the pictures of the children or families who received gifts. Thank you everybody for their hard work, which is highly appreciated!
ITEMS SUGGESTED FOR THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS 2013
Because they need real food, that they can’t afford due to their low income, we would highly recommend such items as: • a tin of meat/fish • pasta • a small jar of coffee • chocolate/wafers • sweets for the children • a bar of soap
Fundatia Link Romania Moldavia, str. Ciurchi 46, Iasi, Romania | 0040728444521 | www.linkromania.ro
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Our plans for the summer of 2013 FOOD PARCELS & BUILDING HOUSES, STABLES AND WATER CONTAINERS PLUS WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS As we stated before, we want to continue to help the poor families and individuals as the title says, at least the following directions: building homes (rooms), stables and concrete water containers/wells in the rural areas, teaching and food parcels. One of the biggest challenge of the people living in the villages is to survive the severe drought that is a new phenomena in Romania. A few decades ago there was plenty of rains and snow, that helped a lot the profitability of the small farms. Nowadays there are just a few wells in a whole village that have water. And the owners of the wells with water don’t allow anymore the neighbours to extract water from the wells, because they want to protect the little water that they have.
The water is needed in the following major areas: cooking, washing, animals and gardening. The water has become so dirty and yellowish, that the women have to purchase bottled waters - which is unbelievable for people who decades ago were boasting with their free, cold and clean wellwater. Building/purchasing water containers for the benefit of larger groups of people from villages is a new challenge for us. And an other challenge that we face, another that we couldn’t foresee in the past, is the increase of the cost of fuel for heating. We will concentrate this year to do pilot methane gas plants, and work together with reliable people who would use and do the maintenance for them, and spread the word about them, so that more
people would become free from the payment of the high fuel bills. And of course, we will continue to improve the housing of the people we work with. A family that we wrote about on the internet and in our past newsletter, whose daughter Andrea, 2, needs an improvement of their home, as they all live in a one room house. This room has the role of bedroom, kitchen, bathroom. There is also Rudi, who you know from our website and newsletter, who would gladly have his own place to stay, after living all his life together with other boys in the orphanage and now, at a charity. The needs are many and great, and we would happy to achieve everything of our to-do list, with the help of our sponsors.
Homeless couple with sweets from England.
Fundatia Link Romania Moldavia, str. Ciurchi 46, Iasi, Romania | 0040728444521 | www.linkromania.ro