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.