A week of giving and receiving

We have had a week of giving and receiving.

Temperatures have dropped and we have had snow over past few days, this evening it was -12C as we drove home and despite many layers my feet were chilly and we had ice building up on the inside of the car windows as the condensation froze.

We have been out most days distributing firewood, food parcels and Christmas shoe boxes.

All whom we visited were so grateful for the help. The joy & smiles of children opening shoe boxes and taking delight in the contents, was a gift in itself to us.

Tooth paste and toiletries welcomed with as much joy as toys and sweets. we know they would be the only presents the children would get this Christmas.

If you have been involved with making up a shoe box this year for anywhere in the world we can vouch for the fact that they bring so much joy.

Many of the families we visit live in remote villages and often are at the end of the line for aid. Some of these families are still living in temporary modular containers after losing their homes in the floods in June.

We are grateful to be able build on the relationships with these families and to sit with them and listen to their concerns. We know we cannot help everyone with everything they need but know that just by showing we care, helps and encorages them. We are so thankful that we have a better understanding of the Romanian language, though still also very grateful to have our friend Cornelia with us for more in depth conversations.

As well as smilies and thanks we have also received gifts ourselves this week from families we know. We always save food scraps and vegetable peelings for a friends pig and when they slaughtered the pig ready for Christmas they gave us some- it does not get much fresher than this!

Tomorrow we have a few more deliveries to do and people to visit. In the evening we will have friends from our Romanian home group round for dinner, so pleased that I found the Christmas crackers!

Saturday we plan to spend time with the children at Cobila- a variety of Christmas crafts planned and treats to give out. By the end of the day we hope to have ticked off all on our "to do" list. Then a day off on Sunday spending time with our church family and friends before we head back to the Isle of Man for Christmas with our family there.

Thanks to all who have helped and supported the work here.

Thursday-Iasi

100 mile (2.5 hour) drive to Iasi today, to celebrate the opening of the new regional centre for Star of Hope Romania-a charity we work with. We are taking some of the staff and volunteers from the local centre and will be helping to put up a display of artwork made by the children here in Dorohoi. Some of the parents and children from Dorohoi will also be attending. The parents of children who attend the Dorohoi day centre dream that one day they will have their own building here which could also provide a facility for the whole community .

A week of sadness and joy

The past week has been one of our hardest. The youngest son of one of the families we help died, we have been helping them as best we can seeing them every day, going with them when the autopsy was done and bringing them and the baby home. On Saturday we attended the funeral, walking the mile or so to the church with the open coffin on the back of a horse and cart.

we sometimes wish our Romanian language skills were better, but at times like this prayer, hugs and practical support say a lot.

A hard emotional week and also a hard physical one.

We have been out delivering Christmas shoe boxes. when you have moved 700 boxes from store and packed them into the pajero, then offloaded them at a school your muscles know about it. Boxes of different sizes and weights, I could do with bigger hands. Chris has developed an excellent technique to pack the car. Fill the top box first then fill up the car, getting the last few in through an open window.

We have also moved and delivered 2 trailer loads of fire wood (2.5cubic metres).

The parents receiving the firewood were just as happy and excited as the children receiving the shoe boxes.

Today we have been at the Star of Hope Centre to see the children in their Christmas celebration, it is such a joy to see how these children have developed over the past years. Children who a few years ago would not have stood still for a minute now taking part in a Nativity play and then joining with children from the adjacent kindergarten in a traditional dance display.

Next week will be busy as we deliver the rest of the shoe boxes, more firewood and Christmas food parcels.

Bizarre weather

How bizarre to be in Dorohoi in November and hear that on the Isle of Man roads are shut, airport & schools closed due to heavy snow and ice. Maximum was 9C here today, with fog and damp weather, so we are contending with mud rather than snow.
But we know cold weather is on the way and for many here it will not be just a point of staying in and turning the central heating up a notch. For those who can afford it maybe it just mean going outside for extra wood, but others will resort to burning anything they can find as they have been unable to afford firewood. They cannot even go into the forest and gather fallen branches without a licence.
Wednesday is a public holiday to celebrate the National day of Romania, the children will be off school and we plan to have games and Christmas craft activites for them in our resource room at Cobila.
I know the children will love using all the lovely craft materials which we were able to bring with us. Thanks to all who donated items and funds.

Back in Dorohoi

Had a smooth trip back, record journey across Romania today in the autumn sunshine. As you can see from the photos the pajero was as full as ever and we nearly picked up another passenger when we stopped to for a break on one of the Romanian mountain tops. A lovely welcome from the families in Hands of Hope houses and our friends here. The car is unloaded and Chris already plugging his computer in so he can catch up on work.

On the Road again

After a busy few weeks on the island we are on our way back to Romania. It ws lovely to spend time with family and friends and also raise awareness of the work of Hands of Hope.
The Pajero is now packed to the brim, top box loaded and bikes on the rack. Thank you to everyone who has helped with collecting and providing funds.
Must remember to take a picture before we unload!

Supplies & Supplications

Good news today, we have been able to purchase 1000's of vitamins for adults and children at a very good price. We will be taking them out to Romania in November and they will help over the winter months when fresh fruit and vegetables are unaffordable for many of the families we help. Thank you to everyone who has donated funds in recent months to make this possible.
By the way does anyone have an adult bike which they would be willing to donate. We know 2 families who could make good use of them and we can take them out on the back of the Pajero when we go back next month.

We are now on Facebook :-)

Hi everyone, another way to follow us, we are on Facebook. Just do a search for Hands of Hope and choose the correct one!
We are back in the Isle of Man catching up with friends and family as well as speaking at churches and meetings. Thankyou everyone who supports the work of the charity, it is a real encouragement.

From Marcioneta

From Marcioneta
I have only lived at Cobila since May, It was a bit of a scary ride in the back of the infamous Pajero, still they did not seem too upset about the mess they had to clear up!
I was a birthday present to Ruth and a welcome supplier of milk for the children in the Hands of Hope houses. I was sorry to leave my family and flock in Varfu, but soon settled in here and enjoyed the petting from the children and my daily treat of a slice or two of bread from Ruth.
It has been a strange summer, glorious at first with lots of activity here, a new house being built and everyone working together to farm the land. The storms and floods at the end of June were scary and I was very thankful that my barn is at the back and away from all the water. The chicks that many of the hens had at that time were not so fortunate. The families were devastated and frightened when they had to be evacuated but all worked together and helped get things dried out once the water had subsided.
The children seemed to enjoy having the bikes out on the field and spending time in the play room. Having extra activities certainly seemed to give their parents a welcome break and helped the 3 month long school holiday pass. Yesterday it was lovely to see them all with their school bags ready for school. Later Florentina & Ruth spent time sorting clothes and shoes to help kit them out with what they needed for school.
I do feel that I have been demoted rather since the arrival of THE COW which was named Speranţă (Hope). I know she can supply much more milk than me but don’t they realise how much she is going to eat! I hope she does not eat all the corn which I was glad to see being gathered from the fields on Monday. Though as the women walked past me I overheard them saying it was a much smaller harvest than last year due to the floods and long spell of wet weather.
This morning it is wet and a lot cooler, abnormally so for this time of year. When Vascilica came to feed and milk me this morning he gently told me they were sending me away today! I am off to see my family at Varfu for a couple of months and they seem hopeful that in March I will be having a kid and so able to give more milk for the children.
Oh No! that is going to mean another ride in the Pajero better cross my legs

A day in my life from Mitsubishi Pajero R310 Man

A day in my life from Mitsubishi Pajero R310 Man
Life here in Romania can be exhausting hot and dusty in the summer, freezing cold and icy in the winter with every other sort of weather thrown in between. In the summer I am choked with dust Driving in the winter sometimes my heater can only managed to keep the windscreen clear and on other internal windows, condensations turns to ice. I am thankful that the mud and snow tyres are kept on all year or I know that regular road tyres would not last on the flint tracks.
On Tuesday I was on the road before 8am. Driving out of town on the almost smooth road, it was quite pleasant a crisp bright morning and a refreshing 16C. But after 6k the road changed and we were on a stony country track, in places more like a river bed, 12.5 k over hill and dale heading towards the Ukrainian border. Ruth was driving, Chris Tomlin CD, struggled to stay playing with all the bumps. It was pleasant to have the windows open and crisp air drifting through the car, though Ruth had to put them back up quickly as soon as she saw another car coming towards us or we would have been choked by the dust as the other car went past.
We were going to collect a mum and 4 year old boy (see picture with Ruth), who are at present living (with husband and 3 year old daughter) in disused army barracks right on the border along with 15 other families who lost or had homes badly damaged in recent floods. They have such basic conditions and being so far from the main road less aid has reached them.
Gheorge needed to go to hospital in Botosani 53k away from where they live. Not an easy journey hitching and public transport with a fractious 4 year old. He was so happy to get in the car. We called at Cobila on the way as Ruth had to collect a man from the Hands of Hope houses who also needed to go to the city. He was very good at entertaining Gheorge on the journey.
First stop the children’s hospital, Gheorge was seen by the Dr and various papers stamped. We were then told to go to another office on the other side of town for more papers and then come back to the children’s hospital at 2pm. But this turned out to be the wrong place so we had to go back across town to another hospital. Gheorge was examined again. This time we were told that he would need more papers from his village mayor and family Dr to be stamped and brought back to city the next day. Thankfully Gheorge would not need to be seen again (until next year’s renewal), so his mum was able to get the bus the next day with the papers.
Ruth had Romanian worship music playing on the way home and I am thankful that little Gheorge soon fell asleep as he was exhausted and irritable after the long day. We dropped them off back at the camp stopping for a while to talk to the rest of the families living in the old barracks and promising to come back next week to spend some time balloon modelling for the children.
A peaceful drive back along the track to Dorohoi and my day was over.

Move to the Country

Past few days have been hot. We have been busy visiting familes and working on the land at Cobila. Another field of hay cut and gathered in, one more field to cut in about a weeks time so hoping will have enough to keep cow and goat going through the winter. it has been really hot so yesterday we decided to sleep in the cottage at Cobila. we were working on the land until 8pm getting hay in and watering the garden so hardly worth coming back into town anyway. Supper in the garden, wash down with a bucket of water and sleep on mattress on the floor in the cottage. I just came back to the apatment to check email and no water here anyway! not sure why it is off or how long for! another hot day and at 10am 29C in the shade.

Saturday 24th July 2010

What we did today...

The day started off at home doing admin type stuff, paying bills, bank bits n bobs and the like. Luckily a lot of this is done online nowadays unlike the employment papers which still requires us to drag round 4 different offices every month :-(

We then went to Cobila to the farm where we did some work in the garden, its all growing quickly now the castrovets (small cucumbers) seem to appear by magic overnight the tomatoes are ripening and we are on our second sow of salad. After weeks of rain we are now into the second week of high temperatures and one of the daily tasks is watering the garden and orchard! Luckily we get lots of help from the families in the village. The fruit trees were weeded around and the barrels of water for the garden filled with the pump for use in the evening. We do this to allow the water to reach air temperature before putting it on the plants and prior tothe pump it was all drawn by hand in buckets from the well.

Next stop was a quick visit to the apartment to shower and then pick up Camelia and her mum to do a medical run out to one of the small villages north of us. On the way we visited Roxanna and her mum, one of the families we meet at the Downs Syndrome Centre, they are busy trying to repair their house after the floods, they had over a metre of water and silt through the house and they now have no floors.

Next the medical surgery, this surgery was held in a tiny Pentecostal church and served about twenty people who could not make it into town nor afford the treatment. Blood pressure and sugar levels are monitored and if required an appointment with a doctor arranged. The folks in the village are so grateful for this simple service. The charity supports this work with drugs, paracetamol, aspirin, vitamins, ibuprofen etc. as well as transport and pill counting!

above: Outside the church
The church surgery
Entrance to the Container Village - Dorohoi




After we returned to Dorohoi we visited the “container village” near to the fire station where 80 families made homeless by the recent floods are being housed. The containers are fairly basic, a bit like site offices you might see in building projects. They have a toilet and shower block and an onsite medical facility. When we visited the temperature was still in the low 30’s and to say these units were hot would be an understatement. The children have no play area and many of them have had their heads crudely shaved to keep them cool, clean and free from nits adding a sinister air to the whole area. Some help is coming from the charities in the area and we are planning to go back and do some activities in about a weeks’ time. Above: Entrance to the temporary container housing - Dorohoi

That’s about it for today, time to eat and watch some English television, big thank-you to everyone who makes this happen whether it’s through donation, prayer, gifts cash whatever, noapte bună şi Dumnezeu să binecuvânteze.

Rain Rain and more Rain

The clean up after the floods continues and is hampered by further thunderstorms and heavy rain. In Dorohoi houses which were beyond repair have already been demolished as they were unsafe. People have been given emergancy accomodation in container size cabins which have been put in another area of town. Many are still in shock and coming to terms with all they have lost-family, friends, homes, outbuildings, fences, possesions, livestock, businesses & crops. Aid is being distibuted in the form of food & clothing by many different agencies. But we know the hardest times are yet to come. the knock on affect of loss of jobs from businesses which cannot recover, poor crops so less food to feed the animals or familes over the winter. All that in an ecomomy where many are already unemployed and being stretched by increases in prices, (VAT up by 5% this month) and reductions in pensions and allowances.

This afternoon the sun came out for a while and the children at Cobila came up to play at the cottage. It was lovely to spend some time with them and I know it gave the parents time to do some clearing up. One of the families had been busy all day helping their mother clear out her house which is across the road from the Cobila Hands of Hope houses.

floods

Yesterday we were out to visit families we know who had been affected by the floods. The water levels are going down and the full extent of the damage can be seen and SMELT. The silt and debris of possessions, rubbish and dead animals is devastating. Many of the houses had had flood water up to 1.7metres and these are single story dwellings. Everything wrecked and most families here do not have insurance. Everywhere in the areas we visited people were trying to salvage what they could with teams from the army and voluntary agencies helping. Aid is coming in from government, churches and charities. But this disaster has affected so many people were already living on the edge and with destruction and loss of crops the consequences will be felt for many months to come.

Floods in Dorohoi

We had a good drive back across Romania on Tuesday. As we got closer to Dorohoi we began to see the affects of the floods. Bridges damages, huge areas along side the Siret river flooded, many homes damaged and crops destroyed. On Monday night the familes at Cobila had been evacutated by boat, but as the waters subsided on tuesday they had gone home to inspect damaged and start to clean up. we stopped there on our way home as as we arrived another thunderstorm and more torrential rain. we had congregated in our old cottage behind the Hands of Hope homes, slightly elevated and not damaged. The water levels started to rise again and it was decided that the mums and children should move out and stay with us in our apartment in town and the men stayed in our cottage. We were so pleased that the power and water were back on in our apartment and we could let them all have a hot bath and find dry and clean clothes.

The flood waters had reached up to window height in some of the houses, chickens drowned and crops damaged.

Dorohoi town also had areas of devastation with 6 people drowned, one of those was the 15 year old son of a familiy we had built a home for in 2008.

On Wednesday & Thursday Chris and I were busy working along with many other charities who operate in Dorohoi to distribute food, water and dry clothes. i have also had our washing machine on the go washing clothes which were soaked by the flood waters. The clean up continues and repairs will have to be made to some of the floors and doors in the houses.

what a week

last week we had heavy rain in Dorohoi. Hands of hope homes had gardens flooded. thankfully the water levels went down and On thursday Chris and I left to spend a few days travelling across Romania then on Satuday met up with the parents and their children who attend the special needs Centre on Dorohoi. Hands of Hope had helped to fund a 6 night holiday at a thermal springs resort. An ideal time for the families use the facilities and have quality time together.
Today we heard that Dorohoi had had torrential rain. dams bursts, rivers broke banks, bridges washed away. Power down and no running water in Dorohoi tonight. the hands of Hope homes are flooded and families evacuated.
Chris and I have decided to leave early in the morning and drive back to Dorohoi. should take about 9 hours, but will be longer as we have to go in a different way than normal due to floods.
One of the families who are with us in Baile Felix for the holiday has heard that there house is flooded so they are coming wth us.
we will stop on the way to stock up with bottled water and food so we can distibute to those in need. if you can help fund this please get in touch or send a donation via the pay pal link on the web site. www.handsofhope.org.im

Bobby went to Dorohoi

last year we had our female dog spayed, but not before she managed to have a litter of puppies, we kept one but decided to help keep down the dog population of Romania we would have him neutered. So on Thursday Bobby had his first ride in the car, we decided to put him in the back and Chris sat in the boot with him and a 20kilo gas bottle that we were taking into town to get refilled for one of the Cobila families.
when we arrived the vet came out to the car, checked him over and gave a sedative injection asking us to wait for 20 minutes for it to take affect. While we waited a man came into the yard with his sick horse which the vet examined. Chris in the meantime had taken out the modelling balloons and was making animal shapes for the vets son. I think the horse was either very sick or deaf! As it did not bolt when one of the balloons popped, which was a very good job as the vet was taking its temperature at the time.
Anyway the Bobby was eventually (after a 2nd injection) drowsy enough to be taken into the operating room, and I stayed with him while they did the operation, he was then carried back out to the car and we took him home to wake up. He seems fine and we hope he enjoys his 2nd ride in the car next week to have the wires taken out!

Dorohoi Dashes

Had a great time with all the visitors here helping with the Hands of Hope house build at Cobila, amazing amount acheived in 11 days. Also the team from Parkinson who helped a family in a remote village to progress their house build. some pictures already on the Hands of Hope web site, more to follow later. Last week was also a busy week with many end of school year celebrations. Since the building team left last week we were very busy gathering in the hay, trying to get as much as possible so the cow has good feed for the winter. Not done so much in past couple of days as we both had gastroenteritus and both feeling like wrung out rags.

Loving the variety of life in Romania

No 2 days the same, yesterday we had the joy of being at the Star of Hope Centre in Dorohoi and seeing the children from the unit taking part in music and dance preformances along with children from the mainstream schools. It brought tears to my eyes to see how far these children have progressed having had the individual tutition and guidance from the centre. They would never have been able to do this a few years ago, nor would the integration have been possible.
Today we are going on the Sunday school trip to Suceava, taking with us 3 of the children from one of the HoH homes who come to church with us.
Tomorrow James and his friend David will be arriving for the start of busy 2 week house build. look at the hands of hope web site for updates on the house build progress www.handsofhope.org.im

A cut above the rest

We recently took delivery of a new piece of equipment for the farm, well I say new, its probably between 40 and 50 years old. An Allen Oxford Scythe Cutter, what an amazing machine, demonstrated above by our friend and assistant Vassi

I killed it

It has been another busy week here in Dorohoi.
it was my birthday on Thursday and lovely to have cards in the post box and even a package delivered by the post lady. We had a "No alarm clock" morning, spent the afternoon with the families at Cobila, sharing the celebration of juice, fruit and biscuits with one of the boys who was 9 on the same day.

No two days the same. it was great to see the shoots appearing in the garden and on the fields at Cobila. the families had been busy while we were away and potatoes, corn, onions and beans had been planted. The weather is warming up and we have had heavy rain and thunder storms over past few days. hoping the colarado beetles are kept at bay this year and I am already on the watch for mole crickets, which are gruesome creatures about 3 inches long. I saw one when i was weeding the other day and shrieked, Chris realised what it might be and went to get the camera. But I am afraid he was too late!

We pray we will get good crops as we know the extra produce will be needed. it is so hard here for so many people, pensions are being cut by 15% & family allowances by 35%. food & fuel prices are going up, health care more expensive and unemployment higher. Can you imagine if your child attends school but because you cannot afford the school tie (£2) they are marked as absent, which affects their end of year results.
The financial struggles put such a strain on so many relationships.

Just back in Dorohoi after 13 days away. Chris was working for a few days in Ireland and we were also able to spend a week at our Isle of Man home and attend David's passing out parade for the Isle of Man constabulory. A good journey thanks to cheap flights on Blue air and then a 7 hour train ride.

Sharing lives & Sowing seeds

Another week has flown past and each day is so different. Chris has been busy supervising the laying of the foundations for 3 charity houses, and that alone brings a new challenge each day. ?

will the delivery lorry reverse too far down the drive and get stuck in the mud AGAIN!

Apart from today we have been blessed with dry weather, one foundation finished & other 2 should be done in next couple of days.

On Sunday it was wonderful to be back with our friends at Varfu church. Mum and 3 children from one of the HoH houses asked if they could come with us and the children enjoyed Sunday school & want to come back again next week. In the afternoon we took Mum & Dad from one of the families to Botosani so they could visit their 6 month old baby in hospital. Not practical for mum with 6 other children at home to stay at the hospital-even if it was allowed. We were only able to visit for 15 minutes.

Yesterday it was a lovely sunny day so Florentina and I were busy in the garden. Lots of seeds planted and the rest of the garden prepared, I think the Romania "sapa" or Hoe is fantastic and is thinking of bringing one back for Heidi's allotment on the Isle of Man.

This morning I took the grandmother from one of our families to the Dr and then the hospital for tests, an interesting experience especially listening to the conversations of others in the waiting rooms and what they thought of the service and costs.

This afternoon we had to take some offical papers to Botosani, the road is getting worse each day, pot holes galore and driving into Botosani itself the lorry route is fractionally smoother than the main road. It is quite the norm for cars to drive on which ever side of the road is smoother, darting back to their own side if there is oncoming traffic.

Busy in Dorohoi

Amazing that we have only been back for a week. chris & I have been busy and yesterday foundations were started for 3 more homes, at least one will be completed this year. we have enjoyed unpacking and distibuting aid and catching up with friends and the families that we help.

It is lovely to have warmer weather after the hard winter. the hill at the back of the houses is a mass of beautiful wild flowers, mainly cowslips. We hope to be planting veg (tomatoes, courgette, beans, radish, onions, spinach, salad, herbs, potaoes, sweet corn, maize etc in the next few weeks). The families work together to grow the crops and then it is shared between them. Each family is also busy preparing the plots around their homes for cultivation.

It is great to have time to play with the children and on Saturday we had 16 aged from 1 to 13 in the resource room. In the afternoons the children have been riding the bikes on the field & it is lovely to see them out enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

in Dorohoi

Had a smooth drive across Europe, good weather, no hold ups and very little traffic.
8 hour drive today across Romania from Satu Mare to Dorohoi, pot holes in their 1000's but glorious scenery. Now busy unpacking:-)

Heading East & Easter greetings

Enjoyed time with my brother in law in Birkenhead and left there 18.40 Friday evening. Got to Dover in record time and on an earlier ferry, leaving Dover at 2am. Had a smooth drive today with good weather and light traffic. So after 17 hours of travelling we are relieved to be at hotel East of Frankfurt and have a good rest before we set off again tomorrow, aiming to get to the Romanian border. May the Lord Bless you this Easter.

Serene but paddling like..................

Loads to do before we leave! Thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement I know we are going to be able to ease the lives of many people and groups. I am surrounded by boxes, bags and lists of things to remember.

Today, thanks to the hard work of the Island Music group "Bree" we have been able to order some percussion instruments for use of the children at the day centre for children with special needs.

11 sleeps and counting

Just had a busy week, spoken to youth group on Monday night, 2 home groups and then at church this morning. It is such encouragement to know we have folks supporting us both in prayer and practically. It has been great to have the time at home with our family and know it is going to be hard to say good bye but know we will get a warm welcome from all our friends and the families we help back in Dorohoi.

The bags and boxes are already gathering and soon it will be time to see how much we can fit into the Pajero on this run. I think it was around 600kilos last time and that was with 3 of us in the car. Only the 2 of us this time, so lots of room for aid (clothes, stationary, toiletries, medicines, toys, pushchairs) ,and a few treats for us & fellow mission workers.

Florists apprentice

It has been a busy week, helping Heidi in the flower shop, it was so busy for "Mother's day". But it was great to be able to help with the preparation and delivery. On both Saturday & Sunday I was helping to deliver flowers all over the island with 3 other drivers. This week we are busy with talks on the work in Romania to 3 different groups. Also gearing up to the fact that we only have just over 2 more weeks before we leave.

Still Busy on the Island

Strange to think we have been back for over 2 weeks. looking at the forecast it is still cold in Dorohoi with -13C forecast for tonight. Today we had the sad news that one of the fathers (age 35) from a family we help in Romania died suddenly in his sleep. He was a lovely man, please pray for his wife and 7 children.

We are busy here, yesterday I was talking to a group of lovely ladies at the Salvation Army. They had been busy collecting things for us and also knitting some beautiful blankets and baby clothes, all will be welcome in Romania. On Thursday evening we will be attending a members meeting and updating our church (Ramsey Baptist Church). The folks there are a real Blessing, supporting us with prayer & in practical ways.

Busy on the Island

We have been back for over a week now and life here is as busy as when we are in Romania. It is also great to have time with our family & friends.
Last week we were taking part in the Manx festival of connections where around 20 charities had displays of their work. It was good to meet up with many friends and see what wonderful work is being acheived by IOM charities around the world.
We have also had various meetings and been collecting items donated for us to take to Romania. Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement.

Back in UK

We left Dorohoi on Sunday morning, the temperature was minus 25C. but despite that the roads were all clear and we had a good run across Romania getting to the Hungarian Austrian border in 14 hours. The weather warmed up as we travelled west and by the time we were in Belgium the fields alongside the motorways were green rather than white with snow. Looking forward to a few days with family before we go back to the Isle of Man on Saturday. Hoping that all our friends in Romania are keeping warm and safe we heard that the temperature in Dorohoi dropped to minus 30 on Sunday night. Hard enough to cope with if you are living in a warm and dry home with plenty of food to keep you going, but many folks we know are living in one room shacks, with low stocks of firewood, food cupboards bare and have to go outside to get use the earth closet toilet & get water from wells!

Ready to go

Its been a busy few days and a lot colder, about minus 12 now with minus 26 forecast for tomorrow. we have been out and about delivering food parcels and firewood.saying good bye to familes and friends, The Pajero is a star car and copes with all. though the condensation on the inside of the windows has been freezing as we have been driving even with air con on.

Aiming for an early start in the morning and all being well will make the Hungarian/Austrian border.

Food Parcels

Babies born with low birth weight or in very poor familes often are not thriving at home. the babies can then spend time in the baby hospital to build them up. Each year Hands of Hope supports families for up to a year after they have gone home with a monthly parcel of food and cleaning products. The parcels are not just giving extra nutrition to the very poor, but are also an opportunity to offer counselling & advice on health and parenting concerns. Some families come to collect the parcels but for others in outlying villages this is just not possible especially in the winter. Yesterday Chris and I went with 2 of the social workers to deliver parcels to 5 families. We covered 103miles and as you can see from the photos we had a lot of snow. The Pajero was brilliant and got us much closer to the homes than the car the girls normally have to use for deliveries. Each family was just living in one room and in very harsh conditions.

Snow & Frozen veg

It is chilly out this am, -9C and snowing. The local roadsweepers were out and about, but facing an uphill struggle. Chris cleared our apartment steps of about 3 inches of snow this morning but when we came back it was just as bad. Earlier this morning, Chris went down to the market to get some veg so I could make a casserole but the market was almost bare. He came back with a few hard frozen carrots, parsnips and onions. It is interesting to chop frozen onions! Casserole cooked and we took it to one of the families we help, a mum with 7 children, the youngest was born by caesarian in November 1.2kg. He is home now but very tiny and mum works hard looking after children etc. I was glad we remembered to get some water from the well while we were out. We use if for hot drinks and cooking with in the apartment as the tap water here is not good.