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Habitat Pitesti Starts New Constructions and new projects in Oarja Special Report Christina Jones Closes succesful Mentoring Project
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Features
The Importance o f Vo l u n t e e r i n g by Christina Jones
Playground for the Children of Oarja page 15
Habitat for Humanity Pitesti Completes succesful mentoring project page 10 Habitat for Humanity Pitesti and AISB Continue long term partnership page 8 Habitat For Humanity Pitesti Romania Strada Smeurei, BL PS 37 A, Scara C, Apartament 2 Pitesti, Arges tel./fax: +40 248 215400 comunicare@habitatpitesti.ro www.habitatpitesti.ro
HFH Piteşti pag 2
Just imagine a world where no one volunteered….think of what would happen after a natural disaster, nobody bothers and everyone refuses to help. Volunteering has become a part of every society and it is truly unimaginable to think of a world without it. Without volunteers, Habitat for Humanity would not exist. Without housing for families in need, the world would be in a sad and deplorable place. There is nothing more rewarding than finding a way to devote your time, energy and compassion to help your neighbors and to give back to your community. From mentoring or tutoring children, cleaning parks, building houses or planting trees, there are countless ways to touch the hearts and lives of those around you. If you are already a volunteer, we applaud you and invite you to join our other volunteer opportunities and to learn
about other ways to contribute. If you are not currently a volunteer, we encourage you to devote time giving back to your community. Even if you do not have a lot of time, there are many ways to volunteer and reinforce the community spirit that will help us build a bright and strong future. Muhammad Ali once said, “Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on Earth.” It is a rewarding experience to volunteer. When you volunteer, it not only makes a difference in someone else’s life, but it brings joy and new friends to your life.
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Who We Are How HFH Pitesti came to be.
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FH is a non profit ecumenical Christian housing organization and has been working in Romania since 1996. Working through locally run affiliates, HFH partners with low income families to build and renovate simple, decent, healthy and affordable housing. The houses are then sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged. Working in the cities of Beius, Cluj, Comanesti, Craiova, Pitesti, Cumpana and Radauti, the 100th home in Romania was dedicated at the end of June 2003. This house also represented the 150,000th Habitat home world-wide. May 2001 - affiliated by Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity Pitesti was the third Romanian active affiliate. The Oarja Project started in 2005. In the beginning the blocks did not have plumbing or sewage and the yard was a garbage dump.
In 2005, only 3 families lived there. Now they are over 30 and the apartments have running water, sewage, and also a clean yard. The project will be finished in 2009 with the building of a fifth block and playground. In the end there will be 47 apartments there. In the Habitat Oarja project live over 30 children and by 2009 more than 50. The children do not have proper conditions to play near their house, and also the street that takes them to the nearest playground situated one kilometer away is very dangerous for the children. That is why the building of decent conditions for the children living in this area is mandatory. With your help and the help of other volunteers we hope to provide these children with a decent and safe living environment to grow up in. HFH Piteşti pag 3
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The Oarja Project A lo ok o n t h e Oa r ja Proje c t a n d o t h e rs ma de by HF H Pit e st i in t h e pa s t ye a rs The Oarja Project started in 2005 - In the beginning the blocks did not have plumbing and sewage and the yard was a garbage dump - In 2005, only 3 families lived there but now there are over 38. The apartments have running water, sewage and also a clean yard. - The project will be finished in 2009 with the outside of the buildings being panited, building a playground and a waste disposal center being built, and two more new blocks, In the end there will be 47 apartments there. So far we have accomplished : -59 apartments renovated (“classical program”) - 210 people living in Habitat apartments, 74 children - 10 more housing units during 2006. - 8 new apartments in 2007 - Cost of a housing unit 18,400 USD HFH Piteşti pag 4
- Mortgage length 20 years -Hosted teams from four continents and over 21 nationalities. Thermal Rehabilitation Program Heating is also a big concern for Habitat for Humanity Piteşti. Most of the apartment blocks in Pitesti are over 35 years old and they are very difficult to heat during the winter. Plus for a normal family the cost of heating is almost double the rent they pay. Our program reduces the costs with over 40%, making a big difference in the families way of life. So far we have helped over 100 families in the Thermal Rehabilitation Program. Flooding Response Project -4 houses built -96 repaired houses -Over 400 people assisted -120 days; two locations: Golesti and Micesti.155 local and international volunteers involved.
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Building The Future
T he wor k on the f if th blo ck in Oa r ja sta r te d in ma rc h with t he he lp of ove r 100 lo c a l vo lu nte e rs. In 2009 HFH Pitesti will end construction on the 5th block in Oarja. This is the final stage of the project. This Block will provide 8 more new apartments for, 8 needy families from Arges county. The block will be built with the help of the Oarja local council who donated the land for the new construction. The families have already been se-
lected and we just need your help to finish. In the Habitat Oarja project there are living over 200 people from which 80 are children. That is why the building of decent conditions for the people living in this area is mandatory. With your help and the help of other volunteers we hope to provide our partner families with a good and safe living environment. HFH PiteĹ&#x;ti pag 5
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New Skills New Opportunities
A c h a n c e f or o r ph a n s in Arg e s a n d pa rt e n e r f a mile s a llike .
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or children living in Romanian orphanages sometimes the future is not that bright. Once they turn 18 they have to leave their foster home provided by the state and go ďŹ nd a job and a place to stay. Most of the times because of poor education or lack of experience, they can not get a job and end up living with the already numerous homeless people on the street. Habitat for Humanity Pitesti has started a program called "New Skills, New Opportunities" to help these children, or people in general that need training to get a job in construction. The project was HFH PiteĹ&#x;ti pag 6
started in march 2009 with the help of a local orphanage. Both theoretical and practical sessions are taught on HFH Pitesti's construction site. Over 20 teenagers have joined the program.Most of them say that a job in construction is something they dream about but never had the chance to even try.
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FH Pitesti hosted in March the first Danish team on the building site in Oarja. The team of six, two teachers and four students represented a high school from Denmark and planed their trip since last year. The team worked on the construction of the fifth block in Oarja and together with local volunteers also built a playground for the children in the community.
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First Danish Team at Oarja
Green Project in Oarja
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group of six students from the Zinca Golescu High School in Pitesti joined HFH Pitesti in building a playground in Oarja for the local children. The students also started an environmental protection project which consists in planting trees in areas allover Arges county. The HFH Pitesti work site was the first place they chose for their actions
CEE SA b uild o n t he wo r k s ite O ar ja
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team of six teachers that attended the CEESA (Central and Eastern European Schools Association) conference in Bucharest in March, joined Habitat Pitesti to volunteer for one day in Oarja. The volunteers helped in preparing the foundation for the
fifth block that HFH Pitesti is building in Oarja. HFH Piteşti pag 7
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Am e r ica n International S choo l of B uchare s t A lo n g t e r m pa rt n e r s h ip be t we e n AIS B a n d HF H Pit e st i c o n t in u e d wit h t wo da ys o f bu ildin g t o g e t h e r in ma rc h .
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he American International School of Bucharest is a long term partner of HFH Pitesti. For the past three years teams from this school have come to Oarja and volunteered for HFH Pitesti. Many of the students have come to our work site before and returned for more. They had the chance to observe the results of their work and to see the way the area is developing thanks to their
HFH PiteĹ&#x;ti pag 8
efort each year. The last team of 20 volunteers that came here literally laid the foundation for the fifth block to be bulit in Oarja by HFH Pitesti.
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G e t Involve d W hy be a vo lunte e r
Be the change you want in the world ... Act! - Be positively involved in your community. Be generous. - Interact with people from other corners of the world. Maintain connections. - Leave behind something that will last. Receive joy and form new memories. - Be the change you want in the world ... Act! - How can you help? Anyone can work on a Habitat site. The house plans and modes of construction are specially developed for volunteer work. Under the coordination of the construction supervisor you can work where it is safe and appropriate . Interact on site with Romanian and foreign volunteers who come to support the Habitat program and help families live in decent conditions. - Corporate involvement Habitat for Humanity Romania’s program to establish cooperative relationships with other organizations is a priority effort. The relationships established by this effort will enable Habitat and its partners to provide affordable housing for low-income families and make decent shelter a matter of public conscience. The program recognizes: Habitat for Humanity in
Romania as an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to building housing in partnership with low-income families. Your organization as having a concern, being committed to improve the quality of life in communities you serve, enhancing economic development of your service territory, and assisting organizations which address the social needs of the community. Corporate Sponsorship enables companies to establish multifaceted and mutually beneficial relationships with Habitat for Humanity in Romania and its affiliates. This program offers company management and employees an opportunity to give back to communities where they work and to see tangible results of their efforts. It encourages employee volunteer activities and participation with a Habitat for Humanity project.
HFH Piteşti pag 9
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HF H P it e s t i completes s ucce s f ul m e nt or ing proje ct
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ake a moment and think about a person from your past who went out of their way to invest time and energy in your growth and well-being. This will almost always bring up a memory of a teacher, coach, neighbor, relative or family friend whose ongoing support played an instrumental role in helping you become who you are today. This memory should open the door to an understanding of the power of mentoring. The main focus of this project was to create a sustainable program to offer the children of HfH homeowners and children from disadvantaged families in Pitesti the opportunity to have a positive mentor. Habiteens, the youth volHFH PiteĹ&#x;ti pag 10
unteer organization that represents HfH Pitesti, was trained and matched up with disadvantaged children in order to accommodate the needs of the children. There will be options to suit the different needs of the children. Each child had their own mentor and they worked together first in a group setting, one-on-one and then later only one-on-one. Meeting and approving their child’s mentor involved also the parents in the process. HFH Pitesti helped the Habiteens and children connect together. This is was in order to further sustain the project and keep the Habiteens actively involved to maintain regular meetings with their mentee.
Family selection
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amilies in need of decent shelter apply to local Habitat affiliates. The affiliate's family selection committee chooses homeowners based on their level of need, their willingness to become partners in the program and their ability to repay the no-interest loan. Every affiliate follows a nondiscriminatory policy of family selection. Neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing the families who receive Habitat houses. The need in the country is great. The conditions in which needy Romanian families live are un-
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Pove r t y ho us ing in R o m a nia
acceptable. Similar stories for many families of existing HFH affiliates can be seen. Shacks or awful houses. And all across the country, we have such need. Dozens of thousand of families are seeking the blessing of a safe, simple and decent home. They think only God can help them. Please have a look at housing before and after Habitat intervened to change people’s lives. New houses, renovation of apartments or houses have been creative housing solutions in the past years. Volunteers and staff work hard to get the costs as low as possible. Different ways to help are in place … We would love you to continue to be our supporting partner or join in if you feel guided by: Volunteering on our building sites in Romania by joining a team of international volunteers or assembling yourself a team; Allocating some of your financial resources to fund a house or more houses or half a house or fractions of a house cost; Praying for the ministry Habitat is doing in Romania; By giving us feedback on our publications, appeals or the work we do in general. Your opinion is valuable to us! Tithing or asking your Habitat affiliate to tithe to us in Romania. In any case, we are GRATEFUL for what you are and what you do. Grateful both to God and to you. You are and can be a stakeholder / shareholder in God’s work with Habitat in Pitesti. HFH Piteşti pag 11
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Par t ne r Fa m ily P ro file The Badoi Family Marius (30) and Ionela (28) met while working in Spain picking strawberries. They moved back to Romania to get married six months later. They knew right away that they would be married someday and have been married for five years now. They have a two year old daughter named Larisa and one year old twin sons named Robert and Răzvan. After getting married Marius and Ionela moved in with his parents in Bucharest along with his four older brothers. It was very crowded so when Ionela got pregnant they were forced to move into a small farmhouse in the village with her mom, brother and his wife. They also have two nieces aged four and four months. Now they share one room with their three children. Marius still works near Bucharest at a storage facility and hitch hikes there every day. Ionela is a stay at home mom. The Romanian State gives a small amount of money for two years after the birth of a child so the mother can stay home. They also have Marius’ small HFH Piteşti pag 12
paycheck and are able to live off of small amount of crops and milk from her brother’s animals and land. When they have time, their hobby is working in the small field with their family. Due to their small income, the Bădoi’s are forced to live in a cramped but loving house. Ionela is able to work a lot on the Habitat for Humanity site because of her mother’s generosity of staying with the children. She is a very strong and happy worker to have with volunteers.
Volunteers remember their trip to Pitesti
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n the Fall of 2008 I had the privilege of leading a Habitat for Humanity group to Pitesti, Romania working in the village of Oreja. Our 16 team members were greeted in Bucharest by Christine and Alex from the local affiliate in Pitesti, and it was a hard working close group from then until we had to say goodbye again 8 days later. What an experience it was for all of us; young and old from all over America and Europe. We got right to work by Monday with the patient direction of Christy, our construction foreman.; he would say, “fine, don’t worry” or “no good, we must do this again.” With a few skills and lots of determination, we left the building site each day a bit weary, a bit sore, and very happy we had done so much with the future homeowner families. Of course, working with local folks, eating in the evening with affiliate staff in town, even wandering about town,
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With a few skills and lots of determination...
Biff Houldin GV Team Leader made us feel a part of local Romanian society. The week passed with a few excursions nearby castles and tourist spots just for a break. Yet, the final dinner found our team members, and Romnaian homeowners, expressing the sadness of having to say goodbye. It was a dramatic adventure for all of us.
HFH Piteşti pag 13
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Co r porat e I nvo lve m e nt H
abitat for Humanity Romania's program to establish cooperative relationships with other organizations is a priority effort. The relationships established by this effort will enable Habitat and its partners to provide affordable housing for low-income families and make decent shelter a matter of public conscience. The program recognizes: Habitat for Humanity in Romania as an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to building housing in partnership with low-income families. Your organization as having a concern; as being committed to improve the quality of life in communities you serve; as enhancing economic development of your service territory; and assisting organizations which address the social needs of the community. Corporate Sponsorship enables companies to establish multifaceted and mutually beneficial relationships with Habitat for Humanity in Romania and its affiliates. This program offers comHFH PiteĹ&#x;ti pag 14
pany management and employees an opportunity to give back to communities where they work and to see tangible results of their efforts. It encourages employee volunteer activities and participation with a Habitat for Humanity project. It provides financial support to Habitat for Humanity Romania or designated Habitat affiliates. It offers the opportunity for a sponsoring company and Habitat for Humanity's projects to receive increased visibility and community good will. Above all, the combined efforts of the sponsoring company and Habitat for Humanity address the problem of poverty housing with a positive solution. Your corporate involvement would be identified in an agreement of understanding enabling your organization to support project activities as mutually deemed appropriate. Participation through Corporate Sponsorship enables your organization to assist in the elimination of poverty housing throughout the world.
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FH Pitesti built a playground for the children in the community. The building of a palyground for these children was imperative since the nearest one was situated two kilometers away from the Habitat Oarja neighborhood. Habitat Pitesti responded to this need and built the playground with the help of a team from Denmark and local volunteers. Now the children living in the Habitat Oarja neighborhood have a clean and safe place to play in.
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A playground for the children of Oarja
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