Stories...

Cristi (16 years)

Cristi is a great kid with a lot of potential. During my stay, he became very dear to me. He is the oldest of two and although his father works, Cristi, too, has to help his maintain his family (food, cloths, school supplies, etc.). He has only two years left of school, but he feels he might need to drop out of school in order to earn the money he needs to survive. I hope to be able to provide him with at least enough money to keep him in school and help him to become a computer engineer. Cristi's other passion is boxing. For him, boxing is an outlet, a way to get away from the struggles in life. His family has discouraged him to follow his dreams, but recently he began boxing again. In November 2008, he won the Romanian Semi-Finals for boxing in his age group. We are all very proud of him!

Angie, Andreea, Anca and Christina (17, 18, 17 and 16 years)

Angi (pictured to the left with me) is a golden girl. She surprises me every day. She was abandoned as a child when her mother died and father left. A local family with three girls of their own adopted her. Now with four girls, the father is the sole provider for the family, though he is unable to make a decent living. While I was in Romania, their mother had recently been sent home with nothing else the doctors could do for her cancer. The girls had to administer her morphine shots every 3 hours. Because of their mother's need for constant care, the girls rotated their working hours. Two would work the first half of the summer, the others the second half. Unfortunately a week after I returned to the USA, I got word that their mother passed away. Andreea was recently admitted to the Cluj University, and will be starting in the Fall of 2008. I hope to provide this amazing group of girls and their father assistance with whatever they may need for school, etc.

Teresa (Mother), Ioanna and Rares (15 and 6 years)

I got to know the Tamba family very well. Teresa is the cook for the team members of the Porolissum excavations. She is an amazing woman and we all fell in love with her. She has two children, Ioanna and Rares. Teresa is recovering from cancer. She is in remission, but she still needs to take daily medication. Her husband is an alcholic and although he is employed, his work ethics are poor and the family's income suffers. Ioanna is a wonderful girl and every mother's dream. Rares is a typical 6 year old, full of energy and life. He is one to keep up with. I hope to help Teresa pay for her medication and provide supplies for the kids' education.