Entertainment in the hospital

For those of you who know Steffi (vice president of Firm Foundations Romania), you probably also know her daughter Beca. Beca is originally from the Roma village Budila where we host our Kid's Club and After School Program. We've known her biological family for years and have had the privilege of working with her younger brother Robert. For reasons unknown to us, Robert has been in the Children's Hospital for the past few days, but he is still in good spirits! While Robert is bringing lots of laughs for the volunteers, we are glad that there are volunteers to brighten his day and give him the attention that every child desires.

Party With A Purpose

Tis the season for eggnog, cookies and parties galore. It's also the season for family, giving and goodwill. We were blessed to be the recipient of such goodwill in Raleigh, NC where an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party was held in honor of Firm Foundations Romania.

 

The Zorzi family - Heather and Abrianna Zorzi being volunteers for FFR - threw a lovely house party, inviting all of their friends to come celebrate the season while also giving back.

 

Food and drink were flowing, neighbors chatted and played games and a good time was had by all. Halfway through the evening, Sarah Vienna, Heather Zorzi and Jennifer Peterkin were able to share about FFR and sing one of Sarah's songs, "Seeds For Destiny".

 

 

Through something as simple and fun as a house party we were able to get people together, share about Romania, raise funds and recruit new volunteers!

Part Of The Family, By Katie Greiner

Volunteering in the Brasov Children’s Hospital, we have the opportunity to care for so many precious babies and toddlers. With some of these little ones, we don’t know their names, where they come from, or anything about them. With others, we know their families well and have watched their older siblings grow up in and out of the hospital when they were small. Whatever the background, though, we are there to fill in the gap and love them for as long as they are in the hospital.

 

 One family we have all gotten to know well over the past few years, is that of Constantin and Stefan. Constantin is now about 4 ½ years old and Stefan recently turned 2. Many of our volunteers will remember these boys as they were in and out of the hospital many times over their first couple of years. Stefan still comes in now and then whenever he is sick, but not so much as when he was small. They also have a 12 year old brother, Alex, who has been in the hospital a few times, and a 17 year old brother.

One of the things that has set this family apart is how they will all come together to drop off or pick up one of the boys, and so we have been able to meet the parents, grandmother, and oldest brother at these times. We would greet them whenever we saw them, and often bring clothes, shoes, and toys for the boys. Over the past year or so, we’ve gotten to know them more and they now come to our office to see us anytime they are at the hospital. There is a small box of toy cars that we keep on hand for visits like this, and the boys know that they can choose one any time they stop by. The family is very poor, so the clothes and shoes that we are able to give them from the donations that we receive has been such a blessing to them and they are so grateful. How wonderful to be able to fill bags of clothes for them, put new shoes on their feet, and bundle them up in warm coats and hats!

Watching these boys grow up and getting to know all of their family has been one of my best experiences here. Constantin was born 1 week before I moved here in 2011, so I have been able to measure my time here by his growth. I had no idea when I first met him as a little baby that he and his family would become so special to me and that I would get to watch him grow up outside of the hospital setting. That I would someday be “Tanti Caty” to him and his brothers, and a friend to their mom. Hearing the three younger boys running towards our office and knock at the door, excitedly calling my name, and then just about getting knocked over by them throwing themselves into my arms for a hug makes my heart burst with love every time. It is such an amazing gift to be here and be an Auntie to these boys!

Thank you to all of our volunteers who have given your love and time to these precious boys and to so many other little ones in the hospital. If any of you are considering volunteering in the future, come on out! These babies and kids need your love and will change you forever. 

 

Romania Fara Orfani by Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters is one of FFR's interns. She, along with fellow intern Izzy Hathaway, manage the volunteer apartment, help organize donations, supervise shifts in the hospital and lend helping hands wherever they are needed. We are so thankful for our interns!

 

This November, Izzy, Rachel and I had the privilege of attending a conference organized by the alliance Romania Without Orphans. At the conference, we heard from Romanian politicians, a director of social services, social workers, families who have adopted, charity workers, church pastors and young adults raised in institutions, now supporting other orphaned and abandoned children.

Here discussions revolved around these views:

•  Children should not be raised by the state, but in a family.
• Adoption is not currently viewed as a priority by many in Romania, so we need to motivate a culture of adoption across Romania, to care for the children in institutional care.
•  All children have a voice, and where some children may have lost theirs, we should help them find it.
•  Children who have experienced trauma in their lives need love, support and safety - all children deserve that.
•  Supporting families so they don’t have to leave the country for work, or abandon their children, putting preventative and early intervention models in place.
•  ‘Because God cares about the orphaned and abandoned children, ‘si noua ne pasa’, we also care.

It was a wonderful opportunity for us to network with other people working in Romania with the same heart, and it was so inspiring to see so many people, especially Romanians, committing to working towards 'Romania fara orfani', Romania without orphans.

FFR At The Circus!

Orlando's Circus came to town and the FFR team made a day of it. From acrobats to clowns and everything in between, we had a blast!

The gang with Orlando of Orlando's Circus!

Anxiously waiting for the festivities to start! We had great seats :)

Costel got to pet a llama!

Our fearless leaders take on the zebras

Orlando himself performed a gravity defying finale! Take a peek...

Bonding, Building & Pizza

Having the teenagers from our Teen Mentor Program living in Brasov is a great opportunity to get to know them on a deeper level, to develop individual friendships with them and to expose them to new cultures and new people - and vice versa!

That's why, once a month, our FFR Interns plan a dinner night with the teens, inviting volunteers to join as well! On top of the relationship building aspect, it's a great way for the girls to practice their English.

September marked the first "Dinner Night" - pizza was ordered, team building games were played and fun was had! It was really neat to see our teens bond with their flatmates and our volunteers. We're already looking forward to the next one!

 

Visionary Aid

Being in the hospital, taking care of the abandoned and semi-abandoned children, is one of the most rewarding things we get to do as volunteers. But we often wonder, is it enough? The children that are left in the hospital are at high risk of underdevelopment, in several ways.

We try to combat many of these development issues through touch and love but most recently, thanks to volunteer Heather Zorzi, we are able to provide a little something more. By using mobiles and books containing certain colors and shapes we are able to give these babies some visual stimulation that will go a long way towards growth and development!

Most recently the President of FFR, Sarah Berchtold, said: "I recently did a shift and I was amazed to see how much these [visual aids] are helping the kids."

Having volunteers from all walks of life come to the hospital is such an encouraging and educating experience as we are able to welcome new ideas and perspectives into our program. Visual aids are such a small thing but they carry so many benefits in the long run!

The Interns Have Arrived!

By Rachel Titiriga, Internship Coordinator

 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

I am so very excited to introduce you all to FFR’s first ever Interns! 

Izzy Hathaway, 20, is from Fenton, Michagan, USA

Sarah Peters, 23, is from Stockton on Tees, Teesside, England

These young ladies have moved to Brasov to Intern with Firm Foundations Romania for one year.  The FFR Internship Program is a Christian Missionary and Discipleship Program.  Izzy and Sarah will be encouraged to grow in their walk with the Lord this year through Bible reading, group book and Bible studies, discipleship, accountability and prayer.  They will learn firsthand what it means to be a missionary as they serve alongside of FFR’s programs.  My hope is that by the end of this year these young ladies will have a heart for Romania and the people here, but more than just that, they will have God’s heart for the lost and hurting of this world, and that their lives will be transformed from the inside – out.

Both Sarah and Izzy arrived on Monday, August 10^th and we began our Orientation Week on Tuesday!  It was so fun watching them walk through the Intern Apartment that had been prepared for them.  Their excitement made all of the hard prep work well worth it! Thank you to the members of the Calvary Chapel Treasure Valley and Kingwood Bible Church teams for all of your help in getting the apartment ready!

 

During this past week the girls were introduced to an overview of FFR’s Programs and how they will be involved.  We went over the Internship Guidelines and House Rules, did a ton of walking to tour their new home of Brasov, and began our Romanian Language Training!   These ladies will be Brasov City and Romanian Language pros in no time at all!

There has been time for fun and fellowship too as Izzy and Sarah went on a Photo Scavenger Hunt across the city!  They did a great job finding all the places on their list!

 

We also had our first dinner and movie night together!  We had nachos and watched Peter Pan!

 

Friday night was our first Bible Study and time of prayer for Romania and each other.  We also began our Bible reading schedule with the hopes of reading through the entire Bible by the end of the year.  I am so honored to have the opportunity to be the Internship Program Manager and to be able to pour into the lives of these ladies.  I can see their desire to serve and grow in their relationship with the Lord and I’m excited to see what God has for them in the coming year!

VBS in Budila

FFR is so thankful for the team from Kingwood Bible Church in Texas. They came and put on an amazing week long VBS for the1st - 4th graders in our After School Program each morning in Budila. Then each afternoon the team split up and worked in our Hospital Project as well as helped prepare an apartment for FFR's first ever Interns! They were a tremendous help with sewing and cleaning in the apartment. 

They really poured out love on our kids in Budila, the babies in the hospital and the long term FFR volunteers and staff! Thank you Ladies! We miss you already! 

VNO - Volunteers Night Out

One of the best things about working in Romania is all of the different people we get to meet! We have volunteers from all over the world come to hold babies in the Brasov Children's Hospital and to love on our kids in Budila. Every once in awhile, though, we get to take a break from that and spend time together as a team - having fun and getting to know each other! Thursday proved to be one of those times at Cafe Mado on Republicii.

Abrianna & Andreea

Raluca, Abrianna & Andreea

Dominique, Derrick, Ashley & Lauren

Erin, Becky & Holly

Rachel, Steffi, Melanie & Mary

Sarah, Heather & Loredana

The whole crew!

Costel with his sister, Andreea