Lovelight Romania

Hey everyone!

It's a couple of weeks or so into our trip now and we come to you with our first proper blog entry. It's a little extended and rather delayed because of a distinct absence of internet cafe's, so apologies for that.

We've spent the last few days in central Romania visiting a sanctuary called Lovelight. It cares for children and young adults, some of whom have disabilities and some who live with HIV. Far more information than we can really detail here about its projects and fundraising activities (including some great summer camps in the mountains) can be found on its website (www.lovelightromania.com) so we'll just get on with what we experienced during our visit.

After a short stop over in Budapest (where, even with the help of a map we somehow became 'misguided' on the dead straight main road) we took the nine hour train journey to Medias, arriving Saturday evening. We were met by Jo who runs the sanctuary, and a short drive into the hills later we came to the village of Ighisu Nou. With no road to speak of and served by only a single shop it was a stark contrast to the cities we had just left behind. There we found the sanctuary, and we received a very warm welcome; including somewhat of an interrogation into our favourite Disney films by Persida. What was striking was that as we were shown around by Cristi we could tell the kids were happy here and most importantly felt like a home. One, given the busy nature of it, not too far removed from our own.

The next morning we were able to join Claire, who was over from the UK to help out as a volunteer, in taking some of the kids out for a rather long and muddy walk. It was great taking Persida, Cristi, and Imre out and I think by the time we got back (only a good three hours later thanks to Claire's shortcut through the lake) we were more worn out than the kids. It would have been easy to assume that whilst not particularly modern, things were not too difficult. However any such thoughts were firmly swept away after joining Jo on one of her outreach projects near Sighisoara.

After a short drive we were working our way up a narrow dirt track through forested hills towards the small village of Jacodu. Much like Ighisu Nou had been a world away from Budapest, Jacudo was a world away from Ishisu. To provide some context, whilst Ighisu is a poor community the people are able to farm their land to provide food on the table and fairly substantial housing. Their honest work affording a reasonable standard of living. In contrast Jacudo seemed to be teetering on the verge of mere existence. The 'housing' comprised of a single room no bigger than a modest bathroom, in which an entire family lived. Such cramped and dirty conditions that were reminiscent of a third world country were truly shocking to find in an EU nation. It really brought home for us not only how fantastic the work Lovelight does is, but how absolutely vital it is for these kids.

Having both had experience with disabled siblings and seeing the support they receive in the UK, we realise that had the kids Lovelight looks after not received its help, the most certainly could not survive such conditions. If by some miracle they were able to, their quality of life would be practically non-existent. Such is the impact Lovelight has on the lives of these kids, it gives them the chance of a real and fulfilling life. And the kids really grasp it, throughout our stay they were all brilliant, always friendly, full of energy, enthusiasm, and love to give. As cliche as it sounds it really was admirable and inspiring.

How great the kids are really is testament to the fantastic effort Jo, Ron, and Rob make, especially considering the difficult circumstances they face. Lovelight battles every day with simply ignorant prejudice, due simply to the fact that they help children with HIV. Romania is a country with two sides, aesthetically it is stunning, but its attitude towards HIV is rotten to the core. The governments refusal to acknowledge that Romania has a problem with HIV and thereby receive EU help, combined with a complete lack of awareness amongst the public about it, means that HIV invokes irrational fear and those who live with it suffer great prejudice. Local, multi-million pound profit making gas companies have refused to offer support because they 'do not want to associate their image with HIV'. Such is the level of ignorance authorities are demanding Lovelight build a second sanctuary for their residents with HIV, one that would, if the authorities had their way, see them locked inside 24/7. The sanctuary has been running for the past seven years and they have never had a case of transference between residents, implementing strict measures to ensure this does not occur. However, such is the authorities ignorant attitude they are still insisting on the construction of a separate home. Not only is this a waste of precious time and money, that is currently far better spent fighting the authorities to gain anti-retroviral drugs needed for their HIV residents, but it would also force apart the family of the sanctuary.

We really can not state enough how fantastic and important the work Lovelight does, given the conditions these kids come from and the prejudice they face from their own government. We learnt a lot from our time spent at Lovelight, and would like to thank Jo, Ron, Rob, Claire, and all the staff for putting up with us, we had a brilliant time. A special mention has to go to Marius who was our guide around Tigu Mures and as Jo said 'you really could not wish to meet a nicer guy'. So thanks guys and we hope to be back soon!

That's all from our first blog posting, we hope you have found it interesting and we really hope that some of you may decide to get involved with Lovelight's fundraising activities, it truly is worthwhile. Our next post on our visit to Bulgaria should be up in the next few days as well.

All the best,

Dave & Pete