Hey

Hey, so it turns out blogging isn't just for self obsessed celebrities....as usual it took me a while but in true 'late adopter' style here i am. Life is full of lightbulb moments and i fear normal social interactions can never provide sufficient opportunity for me to discuss my meandering thoughts...... so if your up for it.... make yourselves comfortable. (oh and don't forget to add your own thoughts as well!!)

Tuesday 12 April 2011

An idea for a tea towel.......

Yesterday we went to a small village called Siria to visit a Christain Organisation called Networks who are  based there. Networks was established in 2001 and has been working with the poor in Romania for ten years. Lindon and I were given the details of this organisation by some friends in England when they found out we were planning to come to Romania. At first I just nodded and smiled......Romania is a BIG country which is notoriously difficult to travel around due to it's distinct lack of motorways i.e. one, in the whole country, somewhere near Bucharest and therefore of no use to us whatsoever. But I looked them up anyway and was surprised to find they were located in the county of Arad, next door to Tinis, which is where we are. Brilliant!!!!


So, after a few calls and emails we arranged to go for a visit so we could see what they do and discuss opportunities for us to volunteer. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes from our house to the base in Siria, so we set off about 9am and enjoyed a nice drive through arable farmland in the sun. It's incredibly flat around Timisoara, which is surprisingly hard to adjust to when your a native of the Yorkshire penines, still, at least it significantly reduces your petrol consumption :-). We arrived at 10.30 and introduced ourselves to Karen, a full-time networks volunteer of ten years, who is originally from Rochdale and whose accent became reassuringly broader and more northern sounding the longer she talked with us. She told us all about the organisation and the different works that they are doing in different communities in and around Arad. We were really impressed by the variety of their activities and the thoughtful philosophies behind their interventions in these communities.

Networks are involved in basic crisis help for the very poor, i.e, distributing food,  firewood and emergency medication for those who desperately need help to survive day by day. But they are also very concerned with addressing the more long-term issues and have many projects to help people work their way out of the poverty they find themselves in. For example, they have a full time social worker who is dedicated to helping people get the id and papers they need to be able to work and get medical help. Without an id card you cannot get a job, sign a contract, access a hospital or claim any kind of help from the government in Romania (Note to self: Get and ID card!). Many people have no papers whatsoever and are not even sure when and where they were born making it a difficult but essential task to get them registered.



Networks also place a high value on education since this will be a significant factor in helping the children break the cycle of poverty that their families are in and so they provide pre- school clubs and homework clubs in deprived communities to help encourage the children in their learning. Similarly Networks are concerned with helping to provide employment opportunities for those who are willing and able to work and have several enterprise schemes on the go. One such project is the Dece clothing company. Women with families to look after are provided with the skills, designs and materials to make high quality hats at home which are then sold internationally via the Dece website. Networks are also helping families by building giant greenhouses in their gardens enabling them to start growing fruits and vegetables and helping them negotiate contracts to sell them to the big supermarkets. We went to visit one of these newly built greenhouses and the owner was very enthusiastic about it...... his only complaint was that he could have planted earlier if only it had been finished lol.


After we'd heard all about it at the office Karen took us for a walk around two of these communities, the rural community in Siria and the inner city ghetto that is kakece (i have completely made that spelling up) in the city of Arad. Despite my enthusiasm for being involved while sitting and hearing about the work in these communities- the reality of being in them was a bit overwhelming. I wish I could say I was filled with instant love for the grubby little kids with bare feet and  (very) snotty noses who came running up to us, punching and hugging us in a bizarre show of affection and demanding to know our names. I wish I found it easy to look them in the eye and hug them back. But I'm afraid if I'm completely honest- the unknown is pretty scary and overwhelming, and these kids covered in dirt and shouting at me in Romanian were very much the unknown and I was a bit daunted. I know as I spend more time in these communities and get to know and recognise the people I will become more used to them and their ways and relax a little bit but at first, in all honesty , its going to be a challenge.

The next step for us is to fill out an application form and work out when we will be available to help out. Our hope is to be able to volunteer on a regular day once a week. Obviously my being pregnant and our limited availability will put restrictions on what we can do but Networks have so much going on that they are sure they will be able to give us something useful to do. I was so blown away by the commitment and ambition of the founders of Networks who have given so much, and achieved so much, that I came away feeling a little bit useless and mediocre .........but then I came up with a wise saying, all by myself, and it made me feel better..........I'm thinking of printing it on a tea towel.......

"Don't let your inability to do everything right undermine your potential to do something right".
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                    Ta Da!!!!!!!

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