You Tube legend Louis Cole visits Romania

Check out this awesome video from old friend and now global You Tube superstar Louis Cole. Andy and Tim show him round the villages that we have been working in...

Palinka and Town Planning

'Rose Hill' - Csekefalva 

A recent trip to Romania was another reminder of the level of need that exists... but also of the warmth and kindness of people that have so little.  

Recent studies show that up to 70% of 'Roma' children in Romania do not complete primary school. There are many reasons for this: lack of clean clothes or shoes, the cost of stationary and books. Some children work or beg in order to help provide food for families with nothing. While we were visiting 'Rose Hill' a mother returned from picking tomatoes for cash with her 10 year old son. His education is effectively over. He is likely to remain illiterate, innumerate and unable to find anything but the lowest paid, least secure employment - a life sentence. This is not a mother that does not care, simply one that can not afford to feed her family.   

But, there is progress to report. 

We were able to secure places for two young boys at the primary school in the town of Keresztur, giving them a chance to go on to the local grammar school, another boy has been enrolled in the 'second chance' class at the local technical college.

We have  started to do reparations and 'extensions' to houses in the village. Most families have only a single room with four or five children as well as parents sharing this space... often there are multiple families in a single room - with up to seventeen sharing. We have started by building additional rooms where there were multiple families in a single room. So far three homes have been extended and a fourth is being built at the moment.  

A public meeting that we organised confirmed that the priority for the community is to continue to improve homes in the village... and so that is what we will do. We are also exploring other ways that we could help... incentivising education, improving nutrition, providing sanitation... as ever the limitation is money. If you feel that you could be a regular giver please visit the website (www.heartforromania.co.uk)  where you can find direct debit instructions

Romania Youth Camps - 2012

Read here http://www.liquidconnection.co.uk/blog/romania-youth-camps-2012.html and here http://www.regenerateuk.co.uk/romania-summer-camps/to hear all about a group from Liquid Youth in Leatherhead and Regenerate in Roehampton running summer camps for some gypsy kids with support from Heart for Romania...

Amazing progress in Csekefalva

The last post described the conditions in which some of our friends among the Gypsy community are living in Csekefalva, Romania. We committed to working to make some basic but much needed improvements and there has been some great progress...

Our first priority was to make the bridge (the only access point to the community) safe, especially for the many children. The results are below:

Secondly, we wanted to give access to clean water to the village for the first time. With the support of the local Mayor this work is also progressing. Clean water has now been piped across the river, up the hill and up to each house. We are now starting to add taps and meters:

                          
 
We continue to visit Csekefalva regularly and once the taps are all in place we plan to begin to address the sanitation issues that remain.

None of this work is on the basis of a hand-out, the community are playing their part. We do not believe in something for nothing but we do believe that everyone deserves to be safe, warm and clean in their own home. Most of the residents of Csekefalva still do not enjoy those basic rights and we will continue to make every effort, in partnership, to try and make sure they do.

For more information or to support us on these and other projects please go to www.heartforromania.co.uk   

"the worst place I have ever visited..."

...was the shocked opinion of a well seasoned traveller, who had spent time in Africa, India and across the world when they visited visited Csekefalva - a gypsy village near Cristuru-Secuiesc, Romania.

With no running water or sanitation, ramshackle single-room huts accommodating large families and temperatures that drop to minus 30 in the winter it is not hard to see why. In the heart of the European Community these people are long forgotten.

HfR has decided to work with the local council to make some basic improvements to the village and to work with the villagers themselves to try and improve their lives.

The priorities, which the villagers themselves set are (i) running water, (ii) sanitation and (iii) access - to reach the village at the moment you have to cross this bridge...

The council have already committed to supplying Csekefalva with mains water - and we have agreed to fund the piping of that water into each home or plot of land.

Following community consultation we also plan to work with the villagers to build a basic toilet for each family. We are also asking a local builder to draw up plans to re-do the bridge and we have ambitions to begin work on developing the houses as well.

Not only are we working with the basic infrastructure, we are offering training in basket making and other craft - and with our links to our links with Craft Romania we have a ready made export market for their goods once they are up to standard. We are also looking into supporting  the local school, working with the women to take more control over their family planning and are helping with a number of specific health issues among the children. 

If you would like to support our work in Csekefalva, or any of our other projects please visit our website where you can make a one of donation or set up a standing order.

High School Sponsorship - can you help??

Recently, Tim, a member of the Heart for Romania team was introduced to two young boys from a remote and isolated village in rural Transylvania. These two boys wanted to attend the school in Cristuru-Secuiesc in order to continue their vocational training - however - because there village was so remote and they would have to board at the school in the week they did not have the money... they needed was about £15 a week each in order to continue with their education.
There are a lot of young people in Romania  and elsewhere that have to leave school due to lack of funds. We can not help them all but we can, and will help these two guys...

Please think about whether you have anything spare to give - visit our website where you can offer a one off donation or download a regular giving form. If 6 people are able to give a fiver a week then we will be able to fund these guys through school and give them the opportunities that all young people deserve... 

Young people take action

Young people have not got a great press this summer... rightly or wrongly many have been stigmatised as a result of the riots that began in London and spread across England.

But, in August a group of teenagers from London and Surrey gave their time and money to go to Romania and help two local gypsy villages with practical projects that will transform lives of many poor and marginalised people.

This is the second trip that has been run jointly between Heart for Romania, Regenerate and Liquid Connection and the plan is to run further trips next year - providing further practical support and also hopefully running some holiday camps for gypsy children.

Some of the lads from this years trip, having heard about one of the village schools that has no running water and no toilets have also come back inspired with a vision to raise funds for three wells.

you can learn more about the trip from the Liquid Connection blog here

and you can see the video of the first trip here