Ever since I visited Romania in the summer of 2000, I have had a strong feeling of sympathy towards the abandoned and homeless children in Romania.
Unlike most 16 year olds I know, I didn’t lounge around my home for the whole 6 weeks of my summer holiday – well not all of it anyway! I went to Romania for two and a half weeks with some people from a church near where I live.
During our time in Romania we were going to take 25 gypsy children on a camp, to have some fun, teach then some love which they don’t know, and hand out clothes and shoeboxes which we had collected before going to Romania.
While out in Romania I also visited many Orphanages, they were astonishing, I went to one Government owned Orphanage, it was frightful, there were 70 children squashed into two small rooms with no toys and no comforts with just two ordinary people who volunteer to work there.
What I saw in Romania has dramatically affected my outlook on life. It was so different to what you see on television – so real. All I can say is that we are all so lucky, with what we have, yet we want more. Why? It’s greed, those children in Romania have nothing, just 2nd hand clothes that nobody else wants anymore.
Do you want to sit back moaning because you don’t have the latest Nokia mobile phone, or do you want to help the children in Romania have just some prospects in life?
Andrea Smith, Bishop Heber Community School.
andi_chick66@hotmail.com
