Volunteer work in future e.u. member country

Offering hope and a future to Romania´s "forgotten" children

David Martin. To spend three months in Nicoresti mission

Their existence denied by the Romanian Government, many thousands of disadvantaged children have been abandoned in the official "institutions"

C.M.W..Maó

Local resident David Martin felt that donating money to worthwhile causes was not enough. A confirmed Christian, David believed that he could do more towards helping the disadvantaged. His previous job in the food industry in England took him to many of the middle European and third world countries where he witnessed poverty at first hand. Now retired, David envisaged devoting more of his time and energy to those who were less fortunate. Surfing the Internet, he came across the "Tanner Romania Mission" which attracted his attention.

Set up by two Americans who had seen the early 1990´s widely-broadcast television documentary "Shame of a Nation", which showed handicapped orphans in Romania who had been abandoned in official institutions, the Mission now has five houses in which 33 children and young adults, who are either physically handicapped or have psychological problems, are housed for the rest of their lives.

The founders of the mission, Sandie and Bruce Tanner, gave up their everyday life and sold all their assets in the U.S.A. in order to be able to buy houses in a small rural village in Romania, Nicoresti, in which they could rehouse the "forgotten" children. Starting with one house in 1993, they have now increased to five plus a workshop (the latter being where handicraft items, such as wooden crosses and cross-stitch book covers, are produced to raise funds for the mission). The children are offered the opportunity to live a "normal" life in their new homes, overseen by housemothers.

David has volunteered to do a stint in the Romanian mission; three months during which he will work in one of the houses, doing whatever is necessary.

Originally, his intention was to take with him a load of clothing (T-shirts, shirts and shorts) and other items (such as soap powder) which are either in short supply or are very expensive when available, but red tape makes this almost impossible, and he will only be able to take items that he can claim are for personal use. However, there is no restriction on importing foreign currency and David´s plan now is to raise as much money as he can to take with him. To this end, he has opened a bank account with Santander Central Hispano (0049 1046 91 291 0021514) for donations which, although currently in his name, will be changed to the mission´s name once the necessary documentation has been received.

He and his wife Hazel are also holding a party at their house in June to raise more funds for David to take with him on his journey to Romania, where he will be working from September to November, bringing a little joy and hope for the future to the orphans or abandoned children in Romania whom their government ignores.