Asociatia Neemia

working with

The Romanian Aid Foundation

Family Support,  April 2008

During this year I started to do more visits to the families that we assist. This has helped me a lot in seeing how the families are living and to have a complete picture about them. I write some examples about some families that we helped and how we helped them:    

Vasile Ivanescu 

An old couple living in Dorohoi. Wife is partly paralysed, she can hardly walk, and her husband is also ill having Parkinson’s. They are getting a very small pension, which is not enough to get food for that month. They spend most of their pension buying medicine necessary for both of them. Because of the floods we had last year, and because their house is in an area where is this risk of getting flooded, their house was very bad affected and was fallen down, so they moved in the end part of the house where they use to have chickens, without electricity and in very bad conditions, being also very cold in the winter.

Ionut Bechet 

Ionut Bechet is 24 years old. He and his partner have both grown up in orphanages and do not have any support and help from anybody. They are living in a flat, which somebody allowed them to borrow. They have a baby girl of 4 months. The condition of the flat was very bad before the baby was born and in order to be able to keep the child they had to improve the living conditions and also to connect the flat to electricity and water. Ionut works very hard in the vegetable market but he is very badly paid and couldn’t afford to pay the big sum of money to reconnect the flat to the electricity and also to improve the living conditions. 

With the help of RoAF in south Wales and also some money from AN we managed to reconnect the flat to the electricity. Some of our staff worked there and repaired the electricity and water supply, also the drain and some other work. We bought and replaced the entrance door, donated them some carpet, clothes, food, powder milk for baby, bedding, push chair, cot, money for some medicine and for fittings, etc. The family is very happy that they could keep their daughter and look after her, not having to put her into an orphanage, as their own parents had done with them. Our support for this family is vital.  

Vasilica Cozmiuc is a 21-year-old girl with  a physical handicap; she can walk only if she is helped. She didn’t grow up normally and she looks like a girl of 11 years old. She is living with her parents in a old house in very bad conditions. The only income of the family is a pension of 24 GBP that she is receiving from the state for her handicap, which may help them just to buy food for a few days. She needs all the time adult Pampers and care, she can’t look after herself.

We have got to know her, visiting other families from the same village. She needed a wheelchair, some adult Pampers that she can’t afford from their money. We also helped them with some bedding, duvets, food, soap. All the family were so happy, the wheelchair made her life better as she can now go outside easier and also for her mother is easier to take her out, also the rest of the things we donated them helped them very much and improved their life.

Elena Balan 

Elena Balan is an lady of 71 years old. She lives in Dorohoi, she has a very small pension per month that would be enough to buy food for five days, just that. She is a widow and she is very ill, she looks after her grandson who is 8 years old, because his mother died from cancer and his father does not have any job here and he is going very often to get jobs in different parts of the country. The situation of the family is really difficult, as the old lady needs medicine very often; they need food and clothes for the child.
We helped them with some furniture, some stationary for the child, some money for the medicine, food, clothes for the family, bedding, blankets, soap, etc. Our support for this family is vital; they wouldn’t cope without our help.

   photo coming

Elena Cazaciuc 

Elena Cazaciuc is 62 years old. She lives in a village near Dorohoi in a house that is almost fallen down, she doesn’t have any income at all and she has a handicapped son who is 38 years old. Her husband died many years ago. She has to look after her son all the time. Their situation is horrible, as they do not have any help from anywhere, her work during all day is to go in the forest to pick up and carry with her arms wood sticks to keep the fire going to warm to room where her son is staying. Their food is generally what we would donate them (generally tinned of beans) or cornflower boiled (food called here mamaliga). Inside of their house is worse than in an animal shed.
We help this family generally with food, clothes, bedding, and soap. We paid and replaced the two doors of this house as the doors were in very bad condition making the house very cold. Also with the help of RoAF in south Wales we connected the house with electricity this year, as they didn’t have electricity till now.

Mariana Istrati 

A family from Dorohoi with 5 children. There is no income in this family, three of the children are going to school, the mother wants the children to attend the school even if they are very poor. For that, they needed clothes, shoes, food, electricity at the house, etc. 

They are living in a very poor house left from her grand mother, where all the family are crowded in one room and a small hall.  We couldn’t repair their house or make another one but we helped them with clothes for children, food, stationary, sometimes paid the electricity bill, gave a pushchair for the baby child in the family, some powder milk for the baby, etc. Also this family is so dependent of our help.

Mihaela Teliban 

A lady of 38 years old. Her husband died 5 years ago. She has 9 children, the oldest is 18 years old and the youngest is 7 years old. They are living in a very poor house in a village near Dorohoi. Their only income that they are getting is the allocation for the children. Nobody works in this family. They have just a few chickens and a goat. One of her children is deaf and can’t speak. It is very difficult situation in this family as the mother tries hard to keep the children in school.
We helped this family with: clothes, a computer for the children which is a very big help for school lessons, some carpets, food, bedding, stationary, money for wood and medicine. This family needs a constant help from us, which we try to offer as much as we can. Our support for this family is also vital.

   photo coming

Georgeta Jitareanu 

A lady of 35 years old. Her husband left her about 3 years ago. She has 4 children; three of them are going to school. She doesn’t have a job, the only income is the children allocation. She lived in a social house that belonged to the town hall, near some gypsy families. Her house burned with all things of the family and couldn’t live there anymore. The town hall social department found them a small flat to put the family in but the flat was devastated, very, very bad condition. The lady applied to us for help and we considered we should help this family
We donated them: a bed, bedding, duvets, carpets, clothes, food, furniture, sink, etc. and helped the family to be able to leave there normal.

How you can help …

South Wales centre: ‘Oaklea’, Temple Bar, Lampeter. SA48 8BQ

Many thanks to all those who have made donations of time, goods and money to help this work continue.

Asociatia Neemia offers the facility to manage one-to-one sponsorship links between donors and selected families.  However, pound for pound, more people can be helped by assisting with transport costs from the UK to Romania.  Without this core funding the other activities cannot continue.

Gift boxes at Christmas

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  This newsletter is published on behalf of the Romanian Aid Foundation and Asociatia Neemia.  For further information or to be added to the newsletter mailing list please use our response page or write to us using the contact details below: 

The Romanian Aid Foundation

179 Albert Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7HS 

Oaklea, Temple Bar, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 8BQ

The Romanian Aid Foundation is UK Registered Charity No. 1060828. 

Asociatia Neemia

Str Spiru Haret nr 9, Dorohoi, Botosani 6850, Romania.

This newsletter is  © Romanian Aid Foundation, April 2008.  

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