This 16 year old boy is wheel chair bound and lives with just his infirm mother in a fifth floor flat in Ploiesti. He is a prisoner in the flat as there are no lifts in the building.
The joy on this girls face speaks volumes. The chair is one of about thirty that Oak Tree supplied to the disabled association. Normally children with acute physical problems will lie on a bed all day. Having a support chair like the one above allows the child to take part in family life again.
The Calu family in the village of Danes. There are seven in the family and only one pair of shoes. The family is so poor that non of the children attend school.
There is no free dental treatment offered to children in Romania. Tooth decay and other oral problems are common due to poor diets and no dental hygene
Some of the boys of Gageni School with the goal posts donated by St Thomas School, Heaton Chapel, Stockport - June 2007
(above) International Day of the Child 1st June 2007
celebrations and games at the school in Gageni. All the children are proudly wearing the T shirts that were given to them by Oak Tree and playing with skipping ropes and balls all donated from the UK.
International Day of the Child 1st June 2007
Parents with disabled children had travelled to the centre of Ploiesti to enjoy the festivities. Street theatre, bands, games and chalk drawing competitions were held. A happy day for all the children and their parents.
This old lady wanted her photograph taken with ' our Jim' ( Jim is on the left)
She lives in an old broken down house looking after her 14yrs old granddaughter whose parents have died.
There is no running water, no gas or electricity. Grandma cooks outside in all weathers on a stove.
(picture below)
June 2007
We have been told that there are another 30 families in the village of Gageni who are very poor and in desperate need of aid. There is also a similar number in the village of Danes. The two photographs above are of the children of just two of those familes. A survey trip is to take place in November 2007 to visit and assess these families with a view to proving basic aid to them early next year.
All photographs are Copyright - D R Bowden