I first visited one of these two centres, Hand Rom Marina in Curtea De Arges, central Romania, some five years ago. The quality of love, care and education being given to the children was a world away from many of the Romanian orphanages I had visited in the 1990s, and I felt privileged to be part of it.
On my most recent trip I visited the latest Hand-Rom centre, which was established just last year by the parents of a disabled girl and which is the first of its kind in rural Romania.
I met Remos and his wife Nuti who had discovered last year that their daughter Mihillia was not being looked after properly in the state-run centre she attended.
They brought her to the Marina centre and, within just a few weeks, saw a huge transformation in their daughter. Costel, the director of Hand Rom, challenged Remos and Nuti to set up their own Hand Rom centre in the small town where they lived and so the rural centre opened this summer.
It was a joy to see such a beautiful facility with bright rooms and the best of equipment. But even more striking than that is the care, love and commitment which shouts out as soon as you enter the building! This is what it should be like. These children deserve the best.
Mixing with the children and talking with parents and therapists, I could not stop the tears. It was such a blessing to see the progress in all the children. My heart was full!
And then I came home and saw the television programme ‘Bulgaria - the forgotten children’. Words cannot describe the pain I felt as I saw the abuse and total lack of love in the institution featured. My heart, so full from visiting the Hand Rom centres, was momentarily empty.
I was reminded that there is still so much to do and it made me think again about WER and our work with disabled children in various countries.
Many of our supporters are Christians and yet when we specifically try to raise money for work with disabled children rather than, say, a feeding programme in Africa, an overwhelming majority of people are just not interested in giving their money. WHY?
