ROMANIA UPDATE
The newsletter of Romania Care, registered charity no. 1012759

January 2004

Nursing and Respite Care Home Completion Appeal launched!

Work progressed well on the project during 2003. During February heating will be installed followed by lightning protection. Then work will have to stop until further funds are forthcoming.

We have already raised over £140,000. We have received estimates for the remaining work and need a further £25,000 to build or install :

Water Supply
Sanitary fittings
Cesspit and external pipe work
Paths and car park

Then the home will be ready to bring in the furniture and the first guests can arrive. We hope this will happen in June.

The timing of the opening is crucial due to the costs of operating the home while it fills up and the costs are much higher during the winter months. If we miss the June target the opening will have to wait until 2005 and 22 people will have to spend another winter on their own without the care they so desperately need. Prices will also have gone up - inflation is still fairly high in Romania, and whereas in recent years the depreciation of the Lei has helped to offset price increases, this is no longer the case – for periods in 2003, the Lei actually appreciated in value! There will also be the further costs incurred in maintaining the building empty.

The trustees have launched a special appeal to help raise the remaining costs. Would you please consider a special donation to Romania Care to help complete the work. The lives of some of the oldest and most vulnerable people in Romania depend on you. Thank you.

3 years to go until Romania join the E.U., but what has changed in the last 13 years?

Well the airport has certainly changed! No more the dark stained wooden walls and smoke filled atmosphere of the arrivals hall where we first arrived in 1992. No more noisy, vibrating conveyor belts with people surrounding the top of the chute where the luggage arrived. Otopeni airport is now a light, open, glass fronted airport which would not look out of place in a western country. Corruption is still a problem which has led to the duty free shop being closed for longer than it has been open in the last couple of years.

Tarom, the Romanian state airline has changed - Boeing 737’s and Airbuses have replaced the Tupolev 154’s which they used to fly with their threadbare tyres and multi coloured seats. Flight refreshments are now better than BA’s as they try to attract trade.

The rail network has been upgraded - new (well second hand German) carriages have arrived and the toilets are cleaner - no more soiled toilets which were to be avoided at all costs. That’s true of first class anyway and only the well off and foreigners can afford to travel first class. For the rest the old carriages with broken windows and doors which do not shut properly continue. Although slow, the trains do always seem to arrive on time!

In towns and on trunk routes, large amounts of money have been spent on road repairs. For a few weeks conditions seem better, then the roads start cracking up again.

So much for the infrastructure, what about the lives of ordinary people? Most families who live in towns cannot survive on one income. The minimum wage is still only about £100 per month and this will hardly cover the costs of a flat - heating, electricity, water let alone food and clothes! Many pensions are even lower than the minimum wage, that is if you are fortunate enough to have one.

We visited Podriga Psychiatric hospital in November. We had been previously in 1990 and 1994. Things had improved - the adult patients were no longer sitting half naked rocking in the urine soaked basement. The new director had seen to that. But there was still a cold room inhabited by wild, almost naked adults (men and women) who swung across the room and ate the biscuits we brought more like chimpanzees than humans. They were locked in their room due to staff shortages. The director talked of there being 80+ residents and a similar total staff number to cover shifts - when we were there we only saw the director, one nurse and a cook! The building is in very poor state of repair, the director is trying his best, but there are no funds. The cook was also trying hard to make a palatable diet for the residents but finance made this very difficult.

The report from May 2001 suggesting seven times more Romanians living below the poverty line than in 1990 seems easy to believe - as always the unemployed, rural peasants and the disadvantaged come off worse.

Corruption is still a big problem. In recent months this was exposed within the financial guard in Suceava area and all of a sudden we can get all the VAT back on our bills - how long this will last remains to be seen.

This is Romania three years before they join the EU—will they be ready? Will it be a benefit to them? Who knows, only time will tell, but it seems come what may they will join!

Thank you for the food boxes

Thank you to all of you who contributed to the food box appeal. 312 food parcels were delivered to needy people at Christmas time. Watch this space for news of next years appeal!

September team to Romania

Members of a post Alpha course from Brighton visited Romania on 13 September 2003 for a week and helped to complete the internal painting of the upper floor. The team of five, comprising three in their early twenties and a married couple, much enjoyed Cornelia's generous hospitality in Suceava. The group teamed up with Paul dark and appreciated his friendliness and hospitality both on site and on Paul's excursions.

Each team member has been richly blessed during their visit and deeply touched by the kindness and generosity of people who they had the privilege to meet. Only one of the group had previously experienced developing countries (including Romania in 1991, when helping to decorate an orphanage kitchen) or of serving in this way. They wish to thank Romania Care for the opportunity to help on this project and all who prayerfully supported them. The team hope that their contribution will be a blessing to all those who live and work in the nursing and respite care home at Ilisesti.

Rebecca Crosthwaite, Robert Johnston, Nick Jones, Stephen and Rosalind Malins

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It is possible to give by cash, cheque, CAF voucher, CharityCard and Give As You Earn.

More details of all these ways of giving can be obtained from the office. We are also looking at adding the ability to give on line by debit and credit card

Romania Care
Registered Charity No 1012759
Office: 4 Bury Lane, Codicote, Herts, SG4 8XT
Phone/Fax: 01438 - 822007.
Email: info@RomaniaCare.com