August 2011: Newsletter

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Since our last newsletter lots has been happening! In December 2010 Jean and Karen visited Jibou just after the shoebox gifts had arrived. Jean and Karen spent a busy week helping to distribute some of the gifts to children throughout Jibou and district. On a snowy Sunday evening they gave out some of the gifts for babies under one year old to the Roma community in Jibou, assisted by Solomon and Rodica. It was snowing heavily as they went round house to house to give out the much needed items, which included baby clothing, blankets and toiletries.

At other times various other gifts were given out to the toddlers, and on a separate occasion Christmas packages for widows and widowers were given out, including socks and blankets.

Hands of Hope Romania also provided shoebox gifts for some non-Roma families and Jean and Karen visited some homes in Jibou with Lacry, to give out gifts. Jean and Karen were also able to visit a family of ten children in the village of Cecu on the way to Zalau to give out gifts. Their eldest child, aged fifteen, had just been admitted to hospital with a broken leg and we were able to assist the family with some of the costs.

During the visit, Jean, who is a qualified teacher, spent some time working with Rodica at the local school assisting with her lessons and working directly with the children to do various tasks including preparations for displays. The children really enjoyed the creative input that Jean was able to give!

Overall it was a successful trip and during the visit Jean and Karen were able to liaise with Victor and Solomon to re-start food packets for widows and widowers for twenty-two people in the Roma community. These individuals now receive a substantial food-packet once a month. There are also nine other families that Hands of Hope assist in Jibou.

At Easter 2011 Sarah visited Jibou. Sarah was able to meet with the group of Roma widows who were all very pleased to be receiving food packets again. It’s perhaps hard for us to appreciate in the UK how difficult it is for that group of people to manage, but the packets do make a vital difference.

Sarah was able to catch up with some of the families we have assisted over the years within Jibou, including a young woman with a child whose mother had recently passed away. We were able to assist with a contribution to her utilities (gas) which, despite wages being at least ten times less than the UK, are about the same cost as in the UK.

Sarah was able to visit the social work department in Zalau with a friend Daniel, who showed her around the projects they run there including a cantina/food kitchen for Roma people.

While in Jibou Sarah was able to take a group of twenty-two Roma children on a picnic with Solomon to the river Somes near Jibou. The children were able to enjoy salami, juice and sausages provided by Hands of Hope, while playing a variety of games. To us here in the UK it sounds like simple fun, but to the children it was a special treat that they would not otherwise enjoy.

Hands of Hope have been supporting two young people in higher education and it is congratulations to Julia for completing her Masters degree in genetics and Bianca for completing her degree on European Studies. They have both been studying at Babes Boylai university in Cluj. Well done to both of them!

We also cannot forget our very own Sarah White who has just obtained a First Class degree from Edge Hill University in Social Work Studies. Well done Sarah!

For those of you who are energetic out there, it will be the third Walk of Hope on Saturday the 3rd of September. The walk has expanded since we began in 2009 and we are working together with other local charities such as the Maisy Rose Project and Twinkle House to make the event bigger and better than ever. There will be a family walk, of a couple of miles for children run by the Maisy Rose Project, and two other walks of either 18 or 25 miles depending on your fitness level. See the website www.walkofhope.co.uk for further details of how you can enter. There will also be stalls and activities on the day at the finish that you can enjoy even if you don’t wish to do any walking. Please get involved or promote the event where you can as it has become a major source of income for Hands of Hope that supports our activities in Jibou.

Thank you once again for your support both financial and otherwise: we cannot run Hands of Hope Romania without you, and even the smallest donation can make a big difference for children and adults in Jibou who are living in severe poverty, as a little can go a long way.

Thank you.

The Hands of Hope Team

December 2010: Newsletter

Hello to all our friends and supporters!

We last wrote to you in May and a lot has happened since then. Over the Summer period Sarah spent seven weeks in Jibou contributing to the work of HOHR. In August, Lacry, one of our long-standing volunteers in Romania, got married: Sarah and Karen were there for the wedding. Here in the UK in September we had our second annual ‘Walk Of Hope’ to raise funds and in October and November we have been busy packing Christmas boxes for children in Jibou and the surrounding area.

While in Jibou Sarah spent time doing practical HOHR tasks such as buying food for food parcels, which is hard work and time-consuming. Sarah and Rodica also managed to take a group of the Roma children out for a visit to the local botanical gardens one day, a rare treat for those children and a chance to get away from the hardships of their lives for a few hours. Sarah also had the opportunity to visit some of the families we have been supporting while she was in Jibou and to liaise with the new social worker, as it has always been important for us to work closely with the Romanian authorities.

In August Lacry’s wedding was a joyful occasion. Lacry has been a key volunteer with HOHR over a number of years, so it was an emotional occasion to see her get married and start a new life with her husband Simi. Lacry and Simi are living in Zalau, which is about fifteen miles from Jibou. We wish Lacry every happiness for the future and appreciate all the support she has given over the years. We will still keep in touch with Lacry and she will help us in December by distributing some of the presents for children sent over from the UK.

During the Summer we had to consider our position as a charity, like many charities in the UK, given the lack of funds we have been experiencing. This has meant stopping some of the activities we were previously running while matters were reviewed. In the interim some old friends from Jibou, Victor and his wife Nadia, were distributing some of the regular food parcels to Jibou families. We have already been supporting Victor and Nadia in some of their work with children in villages surrounding Jibou, so it was not too big of a step for them to become more involved. We had to suspend activities within the Roma community from August while matters were reviewed; however, we hope to restart some of the activities from Christmas particularly the support given to the group of Roma widows there. We have still been supporting Solomon and family and we hope to continue working together with them to support the Roma community in Jibou. Watch this space!

In September our second annual ‘Walk Of Hope’ took place. It was a fantastic day and we managed to raise £1200 for HOHR which was brilliant. (Just to give an indication, this pays for a significant part of the expenses for the Christmas boxes for children.) Sixty two people did the two long walks of either eighteen or twenty five miles, and a further 120 did the 2 mile Family Walk. We took a new approach this year and worked in collaboration with another local charity, the Maisie Rose Project, who were raising funds for their own charity, but helped us as the entrance fees came to HOHR. Next year we hope the 'Walk Of Hope' will be even bigger and better and plans are afoot to involve more local charities. The plan is that as organisers of the walk, HOHR benefit from the entrance fee (and some sponsorship) whilst other charities can use the day as a means of raising funds for themselves via sponsorship. A big thank you to everyone who helped on the day with all the practical tasks involved from registering all the entrants to providing drinks along the way and much more. We can’t do it without all the volunteer help, so thank you.

This Autumn has seen a huge amount of activity preparing the Christmas boxes for this year. A massive thank you to Jean, our secretary, who has again coordinated this project. Every year we have sent more presents, and this year we packed a staggering 630 boxes! A big thank you to everyone who helped in any way with this task, from donating funds, collecting items, wrapping boxes and eventually packing them! Again, we cannot send these presents to some of the most needy children, without the significant volunteer effort that it takes to achieve this task, so thank you! Karen and Jean will be travelling to Jibou in December to hopefully give out the Christmas boxes that we have sent over, assisted by Solomon and Rodica, along with Victor and Lacry. While they are there they also hope to renew the lease on our flat there which is used as a base and for storage. It will also be a chance to catch up with everyone and make arrangements for food packages etc to be provided by HOHR for families for Christmas.

HOHR is in a process of change and we ask that you would stick with us while we review our activities and perhaps make plans for some new ones! If you are a person of faith, we would value your prayers and any support practical or financial that you can give.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

The HOHR Team

May 2010: Newsletter

Hello to all our friends and supporters!

It’s been some time since we have written so there’s lots to update you on!

It seems a long way away now, but the weeks leading up to Christmas are always a very busy time for Hands of Hope Romania. Christmas 2009 was no exception and thanks to a very hard-working group of volunteers, coordinated by our secretary Jean, we managed to send a staggering total of 520 shoebox presents over to Jibou, predominantly for those from the Roma community. This was a fantastic effort on behalf of all concerned and was an increase of nearly 200 presents from last year. It’s perhaps hard for us to appreciate, living within our consumerist society, that many children in other places do not get anything at Christmas. Within the Roma community many of the children would receive nothing other than the gifts we sent, so thank you to all the people who have given up valuable time to organise and pack the boxes, people who made donations of items, schools that supported us such as St Edmunds, and the individuals who regularly donate money that helps send them. A big thank you because without your support, we couldn’t send anything!

The shoeboxes get taken to Romania on a lorry, after being put in bigger boxes to be transported. We are indebted to Chris Mutch who drives the lorry, only charging us the actual physical transport costs, with no charge for his time and effort.

We had hoped that the shoeboxes would be given out in Jibou during the time Jean Rudin, our secretary, and Karen Brown, Trustee, were visiting just prior to Christmas, but unfortunately the school closed early for Christmas due to an outbreak of illness, so Rodica and Solomon gave the presents out before they arrived at school as it is not possible to give the gifts out within the community as this can cause chaos!

Jean and Karen were however able to take part in the last children’s group before Christmas when we all made cards together. They were also able to catch up on all the other activities of HoHR that regularly take place such as the widows food parcel programme, along with getting the shopping in for the next few months!

This was Jean’s first visit to Romania. She writes…

My shock at the circumstances in the Roma Community was raw. Their needs are immense. The slums of Mumbai have a parallel to this community. Children appear out of dilapidated hovels into the waste and sewerage of the dirtways and roads, which are their play areas. The widows arrive with lined and haggard faces to receive a food parcel. Accidents are frequent. Poverty is abundant. Poor health and disease widespread. Jealousy and distrust abound. Survival is paramount. Jobs are scarce. Cost of living and healthcare is high. Inclusion into Romanian society is slow and inadequate with hostilities both socially, educationally and culturally.

And yes, on that bumpy road it is easy to put a distance between us, and say "I am going home.” But, memories remain. The homes I saw are pitiful. The eyes of the children and the touch of the widows compelling.
We are faced with many obstacles and setbacks in our work. There are many challenges to overcome. But, I am encouraged by the support of our friends in Hands of Hope Romania. I believe our hands can bring light into a dark place. I have a conviction to return to show we care.

The seasons have been whizzing by and Jean was so taken by Jibou that she decided to visit again at Easter time with one of our Trustees Sarah White, who was making one of our regular visits to Jibou. It’s fair to say the weather was a bit warmer than December! Sarah and Jean were able to catch up with some of the families we support and with our volunteers in Jibou. Easter is a very important time in Romania and Sarah and Jean were able to share this time with others.

In considering the future it is clear that some changes will need to be made with regard to how HoHR is organised in Romania; like many charities we seem to have been affected by the world-wide recession, and our finances are being squeezed which means reviewing our activities. There’s also change of a different kind on the horizon as one of our longest serving Romanian volunteers, Lacry, is getting married in the summer which will mean her moving away from Jibou. We’re not quite sure yet how this will affect HoHR, but it will mean significant change for Lacry!

If you are a person of faith, please pray with us as we consider the best ways we can continue to serve the people of Jibou in this time of change.

Sarah will be visiting Jibou again during the summer months, along with a colleague, Debra, and we look forward to hearing all about their trip!

Thank you for all your support in whatever way you give; it is vital to enable us to keep serving this deprived and disadvantaged community.

The Hands of Hope Romania team x

Walk of Hope 2009

At the beginning of this year a small team including Karen Brown and myself, applied to do the 40 mile Keswick to Barrow walk to raise funds for Hands of Hope Romania. Despite the walk being in May, and our application going in in January, demand was so great that our application was unsuccessful.

Though this was frustrating, it gave birth to an idea. As there was clearly a great demand for such long walks (more fit and or mad people than I realised!) why not create our own annual long distance walk to raise funds for Hands of Hope?

A 25 mile route taking in the four hills of Billinge, Ashurst, Parbold and Harrock was devised, along with a short 4 mile route. Spring and summer were spent getting the official clearance necessary for the event, walking various routes to decide the best, and creating a website. Many people had input to all this, too many to name here, but a big thank you to all of you! The event was planned for 5th September and called the “Walk of Hope”, primarily to reflect the link with Hands of Hope, but also that the event might bring hope to other situations through other charities that some walkers might raise for.

Unfortunately, a month before the event I sustained injuries in a biking accident that ruled me out of the event. Furthermore, another of the walk guides, Martin, was also ill in the days leading up to the event, and so we were increasingly hoping numbers would be small enough to manage. This was the case with about 35 people taking part in the day, plus a number of helpers – my heartfelt thanks to them too. This proved to be an ideal size for a first event, and a few lessons were learnt for next year. The weather began wet, but all the walkers showed great commitment. The weather improved through the day and at the finish all walkers and helpers said they’d been really glad to be a part of it.

The event raised nearly £3000 in total, with approximately £1300 to date for Hands of Hope, and £1631 raised by two walkers for medical help for a child with a brain tumour. This exceeded my expectations and is a great spur to begin the preparation for next year’s event.

If you, or someone you know, would like to take part in either a 10 or a 25 mile walk next September, then look out for further details next year on this blog or at www.walkofhope.co.uk.

Trevor Hilton

November 2009: Newsletter

Dear friends and supporters,

Welcome to the Autumn Hands of Hope newsletter! It’s been some time since we wrote, so there are lots to update you on.

Hands of Hope Romania were thrilled recently when one of our Trustees, Sarah White, gained a scholarship award from Edge Hill University where she is presently studying. Sarah was presented with her award by psychologist and broadcaster, Professor Tanya Byron for the charity work she does with Hands of Hope Romania.

The first ‘Walk of Hope’ took place this September. Overall the event raised £1300 for Hands of Hope, and over and above this amount, £1620 was raised for other charities. We hope to make this an annual event in order to fund-raise for Hands of Hope. Time to start training for next year now!

Over the summer Sarah spent six weeks out in Jibou from July to September. For the first week of her stay she was accompanied by our chair of Trustees Karen and later on by a friend from Oaks church in Skelmersdale, Irene. It was Irene’s first visit to Romania and she obviously enjoyed herself as she is looking forward to going back again!

Sarah helped different people in a variety of ways while she was in Jibou, from teaching games to children, advocacy work and financial advice to practical help; she even used her professional nursing skills in administering medical help.

In early August Sarah and Rodica, one of our Romanian volunteer workers, took a young blind boy Marius to hospital to see an orthopaedic surgeon as besides his vision, he is also semi-paralysed. As well as providing financial assistance for the several journeys to and from the hospital, Sarah made sure he had all the items he need for his stay in hospital, such as pyjamas. Rodica and Sarah assisted the boy’s mother to understand what would be involved in the operation by ensuring she understood the medical procedure. Their involvement also helped to ensure the boy and his mother did not experience any discrimination due to being Roma as unfortunately there can be discrimination and prejudice within the health service.

In September Marius had his operation, which thankfully appears to have been a success. Hands of Hope are glad to have been able to support Marius and his family at this difficult time.

Sarah was able to give financial assistance to help an older woman gain medical treatment with severe pressure sores. Sarah acted as an advocate for the woman in gaining medical treatment, and Hands of Hope were able to financially assist to ensure she had medication for a month’s treatment.

While she was in Jibou Sarah was able to see first hand the success of the weekly children’s group, run by volunteers Solomon and Rodica where sometimes there are so many children it is hard to fit everyone in their home! One day Sarah and Rodica took a group of twenty children to the local football stadium where they enjoyed a game of Rounders and a picnic!

During the first week of Sarah’s visit, she met with the local social worker, along with Karen in order to build a greater working relationship between Romanian Social Services and Hands of Hope. They discussed how we could all work more effectively together to deliver aid and support in the most effective way.

Besides the activities over the summer, our other activities continue as usual such as the children’s work run by volunteers Victor and Nadia in villages outside of Jibou, which Hands of Hope supports by assisting with transport costs and costs of children’s materials. The regular food parcel support to widows and widowers continues fortnightly as it has done throughout the year.

It may not be Christmas just yet, but Hands of Hope are working hard to have all our shoeboxes packed and ready to send over to Jibou for the end of November. We hope to send five hundred this year, our most ever. A big thank you to our secretary Jean who has put in such a huge amount of work in working to achieve this target.


Thank You!

The Hands of Hope Team

Walk of Hope!

The Walk of Hope 2009 will take place on Saturday 5th September in West Lancashire, UK. It is being organised to raise money for Hands of Hope Romania.

To find out more visit walkofhope.co.uk and book yourself on it!!

May 2009: Newsletter

Hello to all our friends and supporters!

It's time once again to update you on what has been happening at Hands of Hope!

Sarah recently visited Jibou over the Easter holidays. Sarah went to Romania with a friend from university, Debra, who was keen to see what activities Hands of Hope are involved with.

Debra's trip started eventfully as she lost her suitcase on arriving at Budapest airport, but thankfully quickly recovered it again!

Sarah and Debra were involved in a variety of activities while they were in Jibou besides the usual activities undertaken. They organised a trip to Jibou's Botanical Gardens for a group of children from the Roma community, where they looked around the gardens and played games. Afterwards the girls, including Rodica, took them for a juice in the local cafe. A rare chance for a treat! On another occasion they distributed juice and sandwiches (8 loaves, 12 salami and a lot of sandwiches) to any child in the Roma community who wanted them. This resulted in several kids having a sandwich (and some adults) and then five minutes later coming back round again for another one. It's hard for us to imagine, here in the UK, that for many children we are working with in the Roma community in Jibou they live on a daily basis with hunger and deprivation of every kind.

While they were in Jibou, Sarah and Debra as two student social workers seized the opportunity to catch up with one of the local social workers in Jibou. We have always had a positive working relationship with the council in Jibou despite having some differences of opinion on some matters. We do collaborate with the authorities there both in general and on some specific cases in order to try and improve matters for children and families. There is a difficult balancing act to be had in relation to wanting to support families and child safeguarding issues. Not dissimilar from issues social workers face here in the UK.

Debra had been given some books from a Children's Centre in Bolton; the books can be used for writing and colouring, then can be wiped off. Debra gave the books to Rodica to use in the school where she can use them with the children there.

Solomon, Rodica and family are all well. David is growing and is now into everything!

Sarah and Debra were also able to catch up with Lacry while they were in Jibou. She has been supporting us now in Jibou for a number of years and continues to distribute food parcels to a number of families and pays the bills for the Hands of Hope flat.

Overall Sarah and Debra had a great trip. There are always opportunities for any brave souls to visit Jibou if you would like to see at first hand the work of Hands of Hope. Karen and Sarah are planning to visit at the end of July and then Sarah will be staying for a few weeks during her summer break from university.

So what news here in the UK? Even though it’s only May, plans are underway with regard to the Christmas shoeboxes. Jean continues to coordinate our efforts and is busy collecting items. We want to send over 500 this year so if you have connections with suppliers who could offer donations or offer any other help, please get in touch. Besides any donations we receive, there are considerable costs attached to providing and sending the Christmas shoeboxes. We do need more funds to come in to carry on our current activities and hopefully expand them, and undertake special operations like the Christmas shoeboxes. So, to all you energetic individuals out there we are holding our own 'Walk Of Hope - Lancashire Four Peaks Challenge' on the 5th September. (In case you're wondering, the peaks are Billinge Hill, the Beacon, Parbold Hill and Harrock Hill.) It should be about 25 miles. Get your walking shoes out now to start your training!

We have a request – if anyone in the Skelmersdale or Ormskirk area has some storage they would be happy for us to use, that would be extremely helpful. We need somewhere to store items we are given that will be sent out to Romania, and also goods for the shoeboxes. At the moment we are paying out for a garage for storage – the money would be better spent directly in Jibou. Thank you.

If you would like to know more about our work you can contact us at the above address. Our website is due to be updated shortly so you should soon be able to read all about us on the net.

Thank you for all your continued support and encouragement for Hands of Hope.

The Hands of Hope Romania Team.

A belated Happy New Year

A belated Happy New Year to all our friends and supporters, and welcome to our second newsletter for Hands of Hope Romania!

Before going any further can we just say a huge THANK YOU for the extremely generous donations and gifts that we received for the Romanian people, following our November newsletter. Your generosity allowed us to make Christmas a very special time for so many more people in Jibou.

The run up to Christmas was a busy time for us. Sarah, who is the project co-ordinator for HoH, had designated time and funds to redecorate the homes of two families. Rodica’s home, which consists of one room where she and her two teenage daughters live, was the first to be decorated. In Romania the only paint available is a substance called ’var’, a lime-wash resembling whitewash, to which a colour can be added. It is a tricky substance to use and we had to enlist the help of a local man to help us. Rodica is delighted with both the colour and the finished result! The second home was decorated during December – once a resident mouse had been persuaded to move out!

We have been developing the team of people to help us with administering the work of HoH: there is Mrs Simeoni, our cook; Lacry, a local girl who helps with the distribution of the food parcels, and Nadia, a Romanian national, and valued team member who assists us one day a week. In addition, we also work closely with Mona, a social worker who is an important link with the council, and we have a good relationship with the Mayor of Jibou.

This year we wanted to do something new at Christmas, so we approached the Mayor for help; he kindly allowed us to use the Town Hall to host a Party for the children of the families we work with and some of the gypsy children. Thanks to the generosity of Lancashire Police who gave us a donation to fund the party, we were able to provide Romanian party food and gifts for over forty children. It had been a real team effort to get the party off the ground and well worth all the time and hard work. During the afternoon we played English games such as Pass the Parcel, sang songs and told a story. This was simple fun and enjoyed immensely by the children, many of whom would have been given nothing for Christmas other than what they received at the party.

December was a busy month; it started with St Nicholas Day on the 6th. As many of you will know, several countries in Europe celebrate this day, when Father Christmas visits to deliver presents to the children. Traditionally children receive sweets in their shoes, which they put out in the evening having carefully cleaned and polished them. We made up packages to deliver to all the children whom we have contact with, plus some extra to deliver to the gypsy children who beg on the streets. Each child received a bar of chocolate, a bag of popped rice, Christmas sweets, and an apple. We delivered the packages to all the families the evening before which was a great privilege because of the children’s reactions; there was one family where, totally unprompted, the children got down on their knees and said a prayer of thanks.

We want to buy a vehicle in Romania; it’s no fun delivering parcels and hot food in the snow! It would also be a great asset in helping us to take people to medical appointments as well as transporting food, purchased in bulk, for the food parcels. We have already begun a car fund and have collected £1000. We are aiming to raise approximately £8000 to buy the vehicle and cover the costs of taxes and insurance. We will keep you updated over its progress!

Before we finish, everyone working in Romania and in England on the Hands of Hope team would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and thanks for your continuing provision and prayers. Your support is encouraging, and is enabling us to have a real impact on the lives of the people in Jibou.

God Bless you all,

Karen and Sarah

Website Update

The Hands of Hope Romania website has now undergone its major redesign.

It still needs a few changes, but soon the original Pig Project site will direct visitors to the new Hands of Hope Romania site.

The Hands of Hope Romania Website

And just to let you know, the Hands of Hope Romania Website is now under development.

We'll let you know when it is completed, and until then the old Pig Project Website will contain information about the work of Hands of Hope Romania.