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“Network Gloria: Parents for Parents”: volunteers
working for the advancement of
education and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in Romania.
TRUSTEES’ REPORT for the Tenth ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING and
NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER
2009
This year we have continued to do our best to help our families in
Romania, despite medical problems affecting the lives of our own
volunteers. We had to postpone our summer
sponsored walk,
but had a very successful Quiz Night at the Old School in Burham (Kent)
last
spring. We also continue to raise funds from
talks and donations, but the
recession has reduced some monthly sponsorships. We were
extremely grateful to those sponsors
while they were able to continue and we appreciate the continuing
sponsorships,
when times are hard for so many.
Not all our families in Romania are able to have regular sponsors,
but
are happy to belong to Network Gloria,
which offers contact, encouragement and
the exchange of information, both with
this country and within Romania itself, including links of support
between the
families themselves. We hear that there
are still many deep-seated problems within the Romanian Health Service
and this
is causing much misery.
It is important that our trustees visit our families and report
back. This year our trustee in Romania,
Dana Stefan, has been visiting all our families. Here
below is news of the families visited so
far. This will be updated on the website
and in other newsletters to sponsors and supporters. The
photographs and video clips we have
received have been very moving and humbling.
They keep our families close to
our hearts and are a reminder of how essential it is that we continue
our work
and not give up.
Here is Dana’s report:
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Dear
Sisters and Brothers,
How are
you all? I hope you are all
fine. We are missing you a lot and we are praying for you every
evening and
thinking of you every day. We thank you so much for everything you
are
doing for me and my family and for all the members in the Network
Gloria.
Here
the weather has been very good
last week, but today became colder and started to rain.
We
managed, with God’s help, to visit
our members and now I am writing and sending you the information
report
about them.
All
of them and their families thank
you all and their sponsors for the very precious help and wish you
good
health and all the best in the world. Please pass
to their sponsors
their thanks and wishes. Thank you very much.
Thank
you very -very much for
everything you are doing, for the hard work and for all the
precious help.
You are really improving lives here in Romania and bringing the
light of
the sun in their homes. God bless you all.
INFO
VISITS REPORT:
Ploiesti
-Bebe
and his mother are fine. Bebe had a
kidney infection but he’s much better. His mother recovered fine
after the
operation. They are such kind and lovely persons. They find difficult to manage with
the small pension of the mother, but they do not complain. We took photos and Bebe said some thanking
words for
the sponsor, as we tried to make at every sponsored family.
Campina
The
family is as fine they can be.
-Bogdan
and his brother Razvan are not well. Razvan had a bad
cold and
Bogdan is hardly trying to survive, as he has severe problems with
the
lungs, because of the position of his body, changed so bad lately,
and he
can not breathe well, poor dear boy. The mother is upset as she is
worried
for Bogdan not to lose him. We tried to encourage them and we
must
pray for them. The father has chronicle problems with his kidneys,
but he
is working and he is pleased of this. (Since this
report was written we heard
the sad news that Bogdan died.)
Braila
-Georgian
and family are all fine. We visited him
even he doesn’t receive monthly sponsorship. They are very nice
persons.
The father came with us to guide us to the addresses we had to
visit in
Braila. He is using a special device for the legs and can walk for
short
distances. He ‘met’ on internet a girl with the same problems like
him,
Claudia from another county, Buzau, and they are in touch
everyday,
on-line. He
likes to
work at the computer, but unfortunatelly he must stay home all
day, as
he can not walk long distances. This is the reason they kindly ask
you, if
it is possible, in time, to find an used electric buggy for him.
-
Minodora and her family moved
in another home, a social house by the authorities of the city.
The
street is the same as the first they had. The house has with 2
small
rooms and a kitchen with not too much natural light, but nobody
will evict
them, thank God. Minodora looks happier in the new home. Her
brother Viorel
is not well, as he seems to be lost in his schizophrenia. We must
pray for
him. The
mother and father are fine.
-Marian
and Lucian, mother,
father and grandmother are fine. The boys are going to the day
centre
and they can socialize with the other teenagers with disabilities.
Thank
God the father is working, even they find difficult to cope the
daily
problems, as the majority in Romania and abroad.
Galati
-
Our beneficiary’s condition is
better, as she had some problems with a cold. Her parents and
sister are
fine. The father is working and in the very hard times we live,
this is
good.
-Alin
and his wife Ana moved for
good in Bucharest to be near the hospital where they receive
the
treatment. They are living in the very crowded apartment of Ana’s
parents.
Ana still has very bad problems because of her AIDS. We must pray
for her.
I am giving them the sponsorship money (they really need) with
receipt,
like to the other members in Bucharest. We’ll try to visit.
Tecuci
-Ionel
and
his parents are fine. As you
know, they managed to have new doors due to you. The new house is
good for them now, even it is not finished and when it is raining,
the
water comes inside on the walls. The niece and her husband helped
them a
lot and they will stay with them (when they will return from
Spain), after
they will finish the level of the house, where will live.
Zimnicea
-Camelia
Turcan is busy as
always, but she found time to come with us and visit the families.
She is a
very- very special friend of us. God bless her for all the help
and hard
work.
-Claudiu
has some very deep bed sores, (you can
see the bones through them). I think his condition is worse
than before
the stem cells surgery in China. The family is OK.
-
Ionut is fine and his
parents, sister and her husband, too. He is much better now as he
can eat
properly, due to you and your precious help. He found a job in the
state
area. The salary is very small, but he is working and this is very
important for him.
-Ovidiu
and his parents are fine. He and his
parents are happy, now, thank God, as Ovidiu can go outside with
the
electric wheelchair, they took from Melania.
-Andreea
is much-much better as I saw her last
visit. She is studying at the University in Alexandria and she is a
very
good student. Her mother is fine and also her sister who works and
study in
Sibiu, where she lives..
-Gigi
is fine, his father, mother and sister,
too. We visited the family for the first time. They are very nice
persons
and take a good care of Gigi. His grandmother is very old and she
is also
in bed all the time. Due to you and the mattress, his bed sores
are much
better.
-
Adina is the little girl with
TB. She is 10 years old and her brother Adrian (TB,
too) is 17 years old are ok
and are going to the school. They are poor and the mother, Emilia,
is
trying to manage to take care of them.
-Valentin
is fine and his
mother, too. He is working very hard in the constructions, in
order to
sustain himself and his old mother. He thanked you very much for
all the
help
- Alin
seems to be much better as our last visit
and last spring when his mother died. He loved her very much and
was very
affected. He is working for a national newspaper, at home, being
in charge
with the on-line edition. His condition is not bad, thank God.
-
Adi and his parents are ok, excepting the
problems with the spine of Adi. I met them, but we didn’t visit
them
before. They couldn’t raise the amount they need for the surgery,
which
is for the spine area ( in order to move out the ‘bag’ with
liquid
which put so much pressure on the spine, being in danger to brake
it) and
cell stem implant and cannot be make in Romania.
Rosiori
de Vede
-Haralambie,
his mother and his
wife Mariana are ok. He is better than last visit, as he can
move his hands. He is very pleased about the wheelchair you sent
him. He
can go out in the park with his wife and their friends. Unfortunately his father is very
ill, as he has cancer, recently discovered, and he must stay more
in the
hospital than home.
We will
never be able to thank you
enough for everything you are doing for us, for your help and
above all for
your precious friendship.
Dana
Stefan
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( Bucharest)
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NETWORK
GLORIA: PARENTS FOR PARENTS
Registered UK
Charity no. 1085365: volunteers working for the advancement of education and
the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in Romania. “Great oaks from little acorns grow.”
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT for the Ninth ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING ,
29th
November 2008
The
year has been yet another worthwhile one for Network Gloria, despite the fact
that many people believe that Romania’s problems must have all been solved
since joining the EU in January 2007.
Because of this it has been harder to raise funds this year, but we hear
from our families that many Romanians are worse off than before joining as
prices have gone up, nearer to British prices, and yet those in work have an
average salary of only £300 per month, while those on benefits receive under £100 per month. Quiz nights, a barn dance, talks to church
groups, the Red Cross, which will keep in touch re medical equipment, and the
WI, when a member provided us with an electric mattress, have all brought in
much valued funds and a faithful band of regular sponsors has helped us to
continue bringing help to our families and their members young and old.
We
have found, from talking with our families, that health provision in Romania
still leaves much to be desired, especially for the poor and disabled. They often have to buy medication they need,
sometimes in serious illnesses, because the supply has run out or their own quota
has come to an end. This affects the
help hospitals, doctors and chemists can provide and there is still a culture
of “paying extra”.
Apart
from medical aid, we have recently been able to pay for space on a truck with
on board six wheelchairs, the electric mattress and boxes of useful items for
families and a special needs centre.
We
have kept in touch with other groups working in Romania, such as Romania
Connect and the Biggin Hill Romania Group.
31st
January saw the launch of the first book in Romania on physiotherapy for
children with special needs, written in Romanian for therapists and parents
alike, by Gabi Petrut. It was produced
at the University of Cluj in Transylvania following a loan from Network Gloria
and copies are being provided for our own families.
Below,
as an illustration of our work this year,
are included messages from some of our members:
I want to thank
you for the wheelchair, which will allow me to go alone more than now (a young boy);
I’m trying not
to think that I have a health problem, sometimes is hard, but I hope in better
days..
married a year but now both ill in hospital
because of AIDS since they were children
We are thanking for your help….when it was
really necessary, giving us the chance to a better life and we also thanking
our sponsors..
He was very
excited..It is good when someone asks about them. The feelings are good for them. It is something new in their life and is
good.
The monthly
money helps him very much and now , during the accident, it was really helpful
to him.
He kindly asks
you again to help him in order to find a used wheelchair for him (a large man)
maybe for the next transport) as his life is entirely depending on it
His father is
so ill and they are so poor. He has
colon cancer, confirmed by the tests. He
is operated and receiving chemotherapy.
YES they are in debt cause of the bribes to the doctors and nurses,
unfortunately. They are a poor family,
as you know.
I am making
recovery exercises every day with my father.
We can’t afford [a physiotherapist] in a rehabilitation centre. When I have a bad day I’m thinking about
[Network Gloria] and my day gets brighter.
God bless you!
I want to thank
everyone from Network Gloria and all the sponsors who contributed in the past
to give me my electric wheelchair and now this electric mattress. Since I take
contact with Network Gloria for the first time my life just got a lot easier
and now, with this mattress, more comfortable.
I don’t have enough words to thank you all. (young man paralysed in an accident and with serious bedsores.)
I want to thank
you for your attention you have for me and for your help to me, too. Your NETWORK helped me more than our Health
System didn’t even do it. My health at
this moment is OK. I do not have any
complication and just I cannot walk.
Even I have this disability I have
a girlfriend who loves me and wants to be my wife. At later October or earliest November we will
have our marriage. I hope you will be
happy as I am and this will be a good news also for you. I want to thank you all from all my heart. (another young man who is paralysed)
This is the latest
news of one of our members whose house was ruined in last year’s autumn floods
in NE Romania: They received some of the construction materials from the
state, but they had to pay with their own money for labour/installation and other
materials, not provided by the State. As an emergency they have to repair 3 windows
and 1 door before the winter. The repair would cost 1700 lei (370 pounds). They
borrowed 554 pounds from their niece. Next summer when the exterior work can
begin they will need 6000 lei (1304 pounds) to finish the repair of the house.
They now have 3 beds and chairs (received from their niece) and no other
furniture. Our trustee Judith King
brought back photos before our last AGM, following her visit. The house, which seemed made of clay, was
riddled with damp and the walls were badly cracked. We managed to send some
funding to help improve the floor. What
makes this situation worse is that our member is blind and bedridden with
arthritis and living with his very elderly parents. How can they possibly repay any debt?
I want to thank you, the entire network and my sponsors for all the help
because my current health condition would not be possible without your efforts.
I’m more than grateful and I hope God blesses you for all.
My condition has stabilised and I haven’t had major problems for a while.
The system here is not working but I’m managing to get some Factor 8 from time
to time. Though is by far not enough and I have to use it wisely I have some if
a major event apears, it is helping me.
My teeth are the biggest concern at the moment because I canit affrdt
dental repairs and sooner or later I’ll end up making extractions again. I’m trying to get a job and I’m confident that I
will. My familly is supporting me 100% in all my efforts to have a normal life
as possible. Hopefully I can continue my studies starting this year if not
definitely next year. Me and my family thank you once again for your help and
please send our best to .... the entire network and to my sponsors. I have
attached a chart about my disease [haemophilia].
The
physiotherapist is coming only three times a week for 1 hour (I know that it is
not enough for him and I wish that [my son] to have every day, at least 5
times a week, but I can not afford it…. 1 hour cost me 400.000 lei, almost 10
pounds)….. in Romania it can be not changed anything…Therefore I am DISPERATE
to find a proper day centre for [my son] (cri du chat syndrome, unable to walk, feed himself or
talk, with learning difficulties and incontinent and with not sufficient
allowance for the pads.)
Now I am a
little cold because in our house for now we haven't any warm.
You have
already known what big problem I have with calcium, but now I have also
problems with anaemia.
[Our daughter]
is still in hospital - intense care therapy
Last Sunday we also bought medicines and also, I think, today….
The variety of needs
in our network are too numerous to mention here, but our band of volunteers
continue their work amongst families we know well and who are visited by our
trustees. Many thanks to our committee
and to all our supporters near and far, without whose help and energies we
could not bring the help we do.
Gloria
Ackerley (Chairman and Founder)
Tel: 01828 752723 email:
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www.networkgloria.org.uk
Romanian
Activity Report for the Network Gloria-parents for parents
November 2007
– November 2008
- Special devices
● Thank you very much for the hard work of our friends from UK, as we
we’ll deliver this month, from England, 3 special electric wheelchairs for 2
physical disabled young men and one child from our Network Gloria. We’ll
deliver them immediately to its beneficiaries, who are so happy to have an
improved quality of their grey life.
- Sponsorship deliverance
●We distributed the
sponsorship money for the beneficiaries of Network Gloria, according to the
list we received from Geoff, every month, or for 2 months in advance, by
visiting the members or by postal orders.
●We also distributed extra
sponsorship money for people in need or for Christmas and Easter events, for:
medical tests, vitamins, incontinence pads, studies, medical treatment,
purchase of special devices such as wheelchairs, special batteries for the electric
wheelchairs or special mattress.
- Meetings
●We met here in Romania
in every month and at 2 months and any time it was necessary in order to
discuss and to solve the problems of the Network (eg.the distribution of the
money).
- Donations
We provided paper,
envelopes, plastic files, paper clips etc and we sustained the running costs of
the transport, in Bucharest,
to help our members, to visit them and distribute the sponsorship money, texts
messages and calls from the mobile phone, as a humble contribution of our own
to the activities of the Network Gloria.
- Other activities
●We helped the members of
the Network Gloria to have medical tests and special devices for free and
advice, medical prescriptions, pharmaceutical problems. We visited them when
they were in the hospital in order to encourage and comfort them. We also helped
the members by putting them in touch with each other.
●We made special groups of
praying for our members in need and always the Great God listened and helped.
●We did our best to help
our dear friends from UK,
and to be useful for the Network in general.
We
are sending our special thanks, first of all to God, every day, in our prayers,
as he opened the special path of the Network Gloria. Everything is happening
due to Him and our dear GLORIA. Both made this happened. In this special path
we are acting together, like brothers and sisters, for our Romanian members, disabled
or disadvantaged.
We
would like to thank our dear, special friends
from the committee in UK and San Marino for everything they are doing for us,
for all their hard work and efforts and their brilliant ideas in order to help
the families of the Network Gloria.
We
also thank to all our friends and sponsors
who helped the members of the Network Gloria, by opening the doors of
the sunshine in our families homes and
according to our motto, ‘Great oaks from little acorns grow’ they did
all their best to develop and improve the lives of the members of the Network Gloria.
God bless you all,
Dana
Stefan
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