Who we are
Hands of Hope was established in 2005 and drawn from a group of people working with the poor and needy in Romania. The focus on Romania has remained with a diverse range of very real needs being met as well as a regular pattern of aid, work and support for established charities already working in Romania. One of the reasons for the charities success in this field has been the way other charities in the location work with us and with one another for the common good and glory of God.
Romania is a country in South Eastern Europe. It borders Hungry and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the north east and Bulgaria to the south. It is located in the lower basin of the Danube and its capital is Bucharest.
Tourist guides promote Romania as one of the most beautiful countries of southeast Europe with majestic castles, medieval towns, great hiking and wildlife. Economists tell us that Romania’s economy is thriving with unemployment rates relatively low and productivity rising. Building and construction is booming – so well that it faces a severe labour shortage.
On the face of it one may be tempted to believe that Romania is doing very well and that not much poverty exists. This unfortunately is not true. In rural communities and small towns real suffering is experienced with people existing on a very low income threshold. Coupled with this are serious problems in the healthcare sector, education and social assistance. This is especially so in the NE region of Romania which is so far away from the capital of Bucharest.
The work we do:
Work in the Community
Helping poor & needy families in many areas of Botosani, Dorohoi and the surrounding areas. The charity aims to keep families together and help support and educate them to a better lifestyle. We help provide food, clothing and often if the family is very in need, sponsorship is provided to help the family pull through until they can provide for themselves. It is an area of high unemployment; many people exist by subsistence farming. It is an extreme climate with temperatures as high as +45C in the summer and as low as -35C in the winter. In this area many people still live in houses made of mud bricks with no sanitation or electricity or in crumbling communist apartment blocks, also with no sanitation. A single woman with one child might receive £3 a month child support with the rent on a small squalid apartment costing £5
Building Projects
Building homes for the homeless. In the last 4 years, we have built in total 5 houses in the county of Botosani. These houses are on the outskirts of Dorohoi where the charity holds them and several acres of land in trust. The tenants have a security of tenure on the basis they work the land to firstly provide for themselves and then the excess is sold at the market rate to the Centre of Hope, a family support centre in Dorohoi. We are currently building 1 to 2 houses each year and have land set aside for several future projects.
Dystrophic Baby Hospital
Hands of Hope work closely with the Dystrophic Baby Hospital in Botosani. We provide in partnership with other charities, the hospital with new baby clothes, feeding bottles, milk, toys, baby powder, creams, and uniforms for the nurses and toys for the playroom. At Christmas we gave gifts to the state paid staff at the hospital. All the nurses were very pleased with their gifts and a few cried, saying that they had never been given a present like this before.
This is one area of our work where we have seen real progress over the past 2 to 3 years and the conditions for the babies are improving each time we visit. The work with these young children does not stop in the hospital. Many of these children would not return home if their families living conditions were not improved. They would instead enter the orphanage/ foster care system. We help sponsor food and supply packages on a monthly basis, which helps support, these families with the essentials of living. Items like detergents and soap as well as food and clothing. Each family is sponsored for a period of up to 12 months after the child leaves hospital.
Important Information
All of the money raised by the charity gets spent helping the poor and needy. There are no administration costs and all individuals and teams travelling to work in Romania or other countries do so at their own personal expense. We try and spend as much as possible locally and provide local employment wherever we can. Although we are a Christian charity we do not restrict our work to Christian endeavours, in fact a major part of our work is demonstrating Gods love for all of his children, Gods Love in Action.
Please contact Ruth if you would like any more information on the work of Hands of Hope or would like Hands of Hope to give a talk/presentation about their work.
