OAK TREE FOUNDATION UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2007
Report on Humanitarian Aid Trip May/June 2007
With the long awaited success in February of finally obtaining Charity status in Romania with our sister foundation Fundatia Picature in Ocean ( Drop in the Ocean Foundation) it was all hands to the pump, or I should say box, to get a wagon load of aid over to Romania as soon as possible. After many weeks of intensive administration and shifting boxes from here to there and back again, weighing, marking and placing on the transport inventory; on Wednesday 23rd May 2007 we finally loaded the wagon that was to take 6.5 thousand kilos of humanitarian aid to Romania. It was hard work but it was with great elation when the last walking frame was loaded, the back doors closed and we realised that we were on our way trusting that the inevitable delays at the borders would be short and that we would next see our wagon in Ploiesti.
Roy & Simon flew out to Hungary a couple of days after the wagon left to pick up two hire vans and drive into Romania. The rest of the team, Kath, Pat, Sylvia, Christine, Jim and Martin flew direct to Bucharesti arriving on the Monday to blistering heat and sunshine.
At 7am the following morning the wagon arrived and as the back doors opened so did the heavens. It was with relief that we looked on the rain, as trying to unload the wagon in the heat of the previous day would have been very hard. We pressed on and managed to unload the wagon in just 4 hours as we were watched by bewildered sheltering Romanians.
Things went so well that in the afternoon we transported all the aid for the disabled association to their centre in Ploiesti. You can imagine their thoughts as the pile of special chairs, walking frames, exercise equipment, sewing machines, paper, pencils, toys and clothing got bigger and bigger. The smiles from the parents, children and staff were worth all the effort.
The next three days we spend delivering the educational supplies to the school in Gageni. One favourite unloaded from the van was a pair of football posts donated by St Thomas’ School Heaton Chapel. The team then gave each child a gift of a bag containing, a new T shirt, hat, mug, toothpaste/brush, toy, pens, pencils and exercise books.
One nine year old boy looked puzzled by a large boxed tube of Colgate toothpaste. He carefully examined the box, then opened it and looked at the tube seeing that it had a screw cap. Once opened he slowly smelled it and clearly liked what he could smell. It was only the quick action of one of the teachers that stopped him squirting the toothpaste into his mouth. He thought it was food – he had never seen toothpaste before.
We then started to deliver the family boxes to the poor families in the village that had been previously identified. We were welcomed into the poorest of homes, hugged and thanked for the clothing and blankets. It was sad to see that the conditions some of the families were living in had deteriorated since our last trip.
On the Friday it was the ‘International Day of the Child’ which is celebrated in Romania. In the morning we were invited back to the school in Gageni where we broke a specially prepared loaf of bread and drank some local wine from a special jug. We then spend a wonderful couple of hours playing with the children who were all proudly wearing their new T shirts. Games were being played thanks to the donated balls and skipping ropes. There was tug of war and a competition of drawing in chalk on the concrete paths.
In the afternoon we went back into Ploiesti for the party with the children from the disabled association. This was to take place in the park in the centre of town. Some parents had travelled 70k just to attend this special day. It was lovely to see the children so happy despite their own problems. A band was playing and there was street theatre. Five minutes into the chalk drawing competition a thunder storm brought an early end to the festivities.
It was back to our base to sort and start to load up the vans with the aid to be taken the 5 hour drive to Sighisoara and Danes in Transylvania.
On the Saturday morning there was a quick trip to the old peoples hospital in Bacoi to deliver the exercise machines for the physiotherapy department and some other specialised equipment.
Sunday morning came early bringing back the sun and the heat making the journey across the mountains hard work. As soon as we arrived in Sighisoara we started to deliver the family boxes of aid to the families close by. We were met again with warm smiles and thanks. Even some of the local Romanians thanked us for helping what they could see were the very poor and needy amongst them.
Over the next couple of days we delivered the rest of the family boxes to the village of Danes meeting up with families we had know for some years and sad to say things were no better for them either. One family had to pull down half of their home as it was about to fall down by itself. There were now ten of them sharing one room 10 feet square.
A visit to the music school in Sighisoara brought mutual joy – the staff and the children for the new keyboards, organ, drum and music we had taken and the team in listening to the children play wonderful music at their end of term concert. The head explained that the portable, battery powered keyboard was her favourite as she could take that out with her to the outlying villages and play music for the children at the village schools.
During the aid trip we were helped by four Romanian students who acted as our interpretors. Nicu, Andrea, Leah, Ioana were brilliant in the help they gave us, in getting involved in what we were doing – an eye opener for them all, and becoming good friends with all the team.
The end of the trip came too soon as always. Roy & Simon left the rest of the team in Sighisoara to make the 12 hour drive back to Hungary. The rest of the team drove back to Bucharesti to get the flight back to Manchester. As the flights arrived back within an hour of each other back at Manchester the team were reunited again to say their goodbyes to each other and set off back to their homes with mixed emotions - memories full of sad sad sights, awful smells and the good wishes and smiles of the many Romanians we touched on this aid trip. This had been the most successful aid trip I had been involved in in seventeen years as far as the planning, organisation and team work.
It was just ‘A Drop in the Ocean’ but together we did make a difference.
Roy Bowden
Co-ordinator Oak Tree Foundation- Helping Romania Children
May 2007 - loading team made up of Oak Tree members and friends. Loading of the 6.5 thousand kilos of aid into the wagon was from our base in Manchester. The Romanian driver is second on the right.
Children at Gageni School delighted with the football posts donated by St Thomas' School, Heaton Chapel, Stockport.
Children at Gageni school playing with some of the sports equipment donates by folk from the UK
Children from the disabled association Ploiesti at the International Day of the Child - June 2007
Children from one of the poor families in Gageni that received aid - June 2007
The boy on the right was the one who had never seen toothpaste at the school in Gageni.