May 2025

Meet the Team !

I’m not in this picture, as I’m behind the camera, but from left to right : Annie, Ana, Livia, Ionela, Cipi, Amalia, Alin, Marcus. Well, we’re not all exactly local, but Livia and Ionela organise things, while Cipi is the main man doing stuff “on the ground”. Ionela pitches in when work permits, and Cipi often ropes in members of his family – here he is with cousin Tudor :

All of us, whether in UK or Romania, are volunteers; no-one draws any sort of salary. In fact one of things we discussed together, was whether we could pull in more volunteers during school and university holidays, eg from the various “live” contacts with some of the young adults who had benefited so much from Hannah’s Summer Camps : there’s plenty to keep everyone busy !

At Christmas and Easter, Hannah prepare food parcels for the poorest families - this Easter they prepared 90, the number seems to go up each time they run these projects! Livia and Ariadne (remember Ariadne? Click here) are very perceptive in working out where the greatest needs are.

Once or twice a month, clothes are distributed from Hannah’s depot in Radauti – these are cleaned, sorted, packed and sent over from a charity in France who have supported Hannah for many years. Ten or so representatives will come each time, each then re-distributing the clothes to the needy in their respective villages.

After a slow start, the marvellous project at Horodnic has now been completed. You may remember Hannah came across a family living in extremely rudimentary conditions without a proper water supply, sewage, shower and toilet, the Father, Ghita, being in renal failure and the eldest son, Emi, unable to work as he's ill with cancer. Here are the latest photos, all materials (including furniture) and construction provided by Hannah.

The Mother, Doina, phoned to say they were all absolutely bowled over by what they’d received and that no-one had ever helped them like this before!

You may also remember the 3 boys, Alex, Marius and Claudiu, at Stefanesti. Stefanesti is 100 miles from Brodina, but Hannah had been asked to do something to help them as they lived in dire conditions, even by the standards of this impoverished end of Romania (very near the border with the Republic of Moldova).

Because of the distance, generally the most practical way to help is for Hannah to send a monthly remittance of £100, however we were able to visit on this trip, and take some food and clothes over. It turns out that the oldest boy, Alex, had taken himself off to Germany to find agricultural work. But we were able to speak to him – one of the many ironies of today’s world is that even if you don’t have a toilet, you do have a smartphone! His idea is to come back this Summer with enough money to sort out the structure of their house (it's in a very dicey condition, and lacks basic facilities). How practical this idea will be, is another matter.

Anyway, middle brother Marius has stepped in to his job with the bees, which left 12 year-old Claudiu in charge. Grandad, who’s not well and confused, also lives there.

Cipi continues to help Ariadne out with the after-school activities held at St Dimitriu’s Orthodox Church in Radauti. These take place roughly once a month, and you may remember we visited last time we were over.

Cipi continues with the visits he himself set up at various schools, running craft days and taking art materials as well as food with him. There’s the Deaf School at Bivolarie and a school in Sadau where there are a particularly high number of impoverished pupils.

There is another school in a very isolated area of the mountains which one of Ariadne’s fellow-teachers has highlighted, and which Cipi is organising something with. All of these schools are broadly within the Brodina area.

So often we see how poverty blights people’s potential, and yet there are so many stories of how someone who was born in the wrong time and place can absolutely thrive if they are given a break. I’m thinking of specific individuals who Misu and Livia, and others, have helped over the years, and also of a little family from Radauti, half gypsy, half Romanian, whom one of our good friends Patrick (another Frenchman!) has consistently sponsored. These are examples of individuals who have really flourished once given critical help at a critical time.

But there is still widespread structural poverty, and we would love to do more. You may remember the vision for an after-school club which I highlighted last year. That vision is still there, although the resources aren’t ! As a first step, the Hannah Centre in Radauti needs repairs, and these are essential whether or not we can proceed with the rest of the project. We have had a couple of workmen examine the building and we are awaiting quotes from them. Etienne (yet another Frenchman!) may be able to bring a team to help; we hope he will be able to visit later in the year.

Romania doesn’t really have a tradition of “giving to charity”, which is so strong in the UK, but we are going to see if certain local companies may wish to sponsor a project such as this. Romania doesn’t have GiftAid either, but there is now a scheme whereby any employee can ask the Government to give 2% of the taxes they pay, to a designated Charity – it doesn’t cost the individual anything at all. All of Livia’s girls, and wider family, do this, and that raised about £250 last year – not much, especially considering the £800 Building Tax that Hannah has to pay in the opposite direction, but the plan is to ask more friends and relations to do the same. Hannah also needs to set up its own website, and doing so would be an opportunity to advertise this option

Finally, don’t forget the Presidential elections! By the time you read this, the first round will have already taken place (4th May), but the second round is on 18th. According to all the Romanians I’ve spoken to, the choice is between the bad and the worse, but we can at least pray for better things!

Just a reminder of where we are in the world – here’s a warning sign on the main road through Brodina.

I’m sure you can guess what it means, basically that we’re near enough to Ukraine here, that we may accidentally pick up the phone signal from a Ukrainian network (which would result in expensive roaming charges of course). Luckily, we didn’t!

Prayer Points