Romania Report

Buna ziua!

I'm back from Romania and have finally found some time (and energy) to tell you all about it!

First of all, we had an amazing trip. It was so wonderful to reconnect with a number of my kids and also to see the gorgeous city of Brasov again. As you can see, it is a picturesque, medieval town. This was my first time seeing it in the autumn and I much preferred it to the sticky humidity of summertime.

Here I am in the main square (Piata Sfatului) just after it had snowed on Mount Tampa

The gorgeous staircase I used regularly in 2002 & 2006

Piata Sfatului - compare to THIS PHOTO from 2001 Pretty Park

Brasov has its own Hollywood-style sign on Mount Tampa

See why I love Brasov so much???

But enough about that. Let's talk about visiting Rebeca and my kids!

With our visit being only a week, Jed and I did not have time to evaluate the needs at Rebeca's house and then go out shopping for items, as was my original plan. Instead, we opted to deliver a gift of cash for Rebeca to use for the boys at her discretion.

One of my boys from the foundation (Vlad) who lives on his own now, was kind enough to take Jed and I on the bus ride from Brasov to Codlea to see Rebeca. When we arrived, everything looked exactly as it had during our 2006 visit...except for the boys! I couldn't believe how much they had grown up!! The youngest is 16 and the oldest is now 20. These boys (now men *cringe*) are still as sweet as ever.

Top row: Vali, Rasvan, Rebeca, Vio. Bottom row: Gigi, Kate, Alex

The younger boys are working hard in school, while the older ones are completing vocational training to become construction workers, barbers, butchers, etc. Once they have finished this training, they will have the skills to find work and will be able to live independently. If it not for Rebeca's kindess, these kids would not have finished high school, would not have received job training, and would most likely be living back on the streets.

It was so wonderful to see how happy and well-adjusted these boys are. Because they get to experience normal family life they can interact with one another as brothers and best friends. I loved seeing how close they have grown to each other.

As you can see, Gigi is a bit of a joker. He stole Jed's glasses and gave me his best impersonation
During our first summer we taught the boys a game where you try to knock your opponent off balance by slapping one another's hands. We end up playing it again each time I visit.
Jed and VioSince our last visit, the boys were given a set of drums. Vio was excited to show us his skills!

Reconnecting and playing with the boys brought back so many happy memories from that first summer. I wish we could have stayed all night! But the boys needed to go to bed, and we needed to be on our way.

At the end of our visit, we gave each of my "kids" a hug and made sure they knew how much we love and care for them. Rebeca drove us home and before we got out, we surprised her with the money we had collected for the boys. She was extremely touched and experssed her gratitude for the help and support from so many American strangers. She could think of a million worthy uses for the money and assured me it would not go to waste.

Thank you, once again, to each of you who made a donation! You have made a difference in the lives of each of these kids and I cannot express how much that means to me.

And guess what....that was just HALF the money we raised!! That's right, we were able to raise enough to make another, generous donation!! I'll tell you all about that in my next post, so stay tuned!