STEPS
The team members,
comprising 7 from
Daniel Hristea, the
leader of
Just over two hours later
we arrived in Sacele and went to the centre to have a look at where we would be
working and to discuss the work plan.
Then it was on to our B&B, shortly followed by a ½ drive into
Sunday morning we went
to Church with Daniel and his family in
Monday morning Daniel
went shopping for materials with Nicola and Kevin who enjoyed their exciting
experience going to a drive through DIY store.
Meanwhile the rest of the team continued with insulating the floor. As the week went on the floor insulation was
finished and cladding was beginning to go on outside. At one point the indoor workers were waiting
for materials to be delivered and so Daniel gave us a krypton factor challenge
in putting a metal shed together with no instructions! He had been given this and wanted to use it
as a play house. After much head
scratching and practical jokes the playhouse roof team and playhouse main body
team joined forces and the result was a metal shed, hurrah!
Workmen began to lay
the concrete over the pink insulation to level the floor and piles of dry
cement were wheel barrowed in by the team.
Two layers of insulation were also put on one wall upstairs, blue
plastic was put on another wall in preparation for insulation, polystyrene was continued
on the opposite outside wall to where the cladding was being fitted and some
skimming and painting downstairs was completed.
Netting was also laid over the pink polystyrene ready for the concrete to
be laid on top and the playhouse was fixed on the wooden base which had been
made for it. Throughout the week a
couple of Daniel’s friends came to help out and an American man who was doing a
year with the Peace Core and living in
Thursday morning
Daniel took us to see the schools he had helped set up and the Roma
villages. In ZinZin we had the privilege
of being invited into one family’s home which consisted of one small room in
which the family of five cooked, ate and slept.
There was no running water to each home, only a communal water tap, and
no sanitation facilities. Visiting these
villages really brought home to the team how badly the centre we are building
and other help is needed. Hopefully by
aiming at the core of the problem, as the generations go on, the situation will
improve. Daniel is yet to form a
relationship with the Roma village which will benefit directly from the centre
and it is quite dangerous ground. The
Roma people are a community in themselves and often push away the other people
of
On the Thursday
evening as we were waiting for Daniel to pick us up from
On the Friday evening
we took Daniel and Emma out for tea and they came back to the B&B to sing
some songs, most of which we joined in which was great. Saturday morning we made the drive back down
to
The whole team agree
that Daniel is an inspirational man with a great vision, but if you told him
that, he would just say that there is a higher authority at work in their lives
and the project.
All in all a brilliant
week filled with many different emotions amongst which, the privilege that we
had the chance to help the Roma children and their families in some small way,
realisation of how lucky we are, the friendship shown from an inspirational man
and his family and the laughter and fellowship between the team.
A
very big thank you to everyone for your donations to the Charity’s work and for
your prayers.
Fiona Pearson 11/06