that's a lot of washing!

I love this photo with all the washing hanging to dry, and just imagine, those of you reading this from the comfort of your modern home complete with washing machine ... all this was washed by hand with water carried from the pump several hundred metres away from the houses! These are homes to some of our Roma (Gypsy) families on the edges of Arad - people who live on the margins of society wherever they live, all over Europe.

winter ... with a vengeance!

After an early warm Spring, a very long hot Summer and an extremely pleasant warm and sunny Autumn, Winter arrived yesterday with a vengeance. The day was cold and windy with driving rain and the weather forecast said we could even have snow soon ... All who found their way to the Secret Garden were soaked through to the skin and pleading for dry clothes. We managed to give children and adults alike some warm clothes and socks, but I found myself thinking how good it would be if we could provide everyone with waterproof jackets (the cheap plastic kind that look awful but don't let any water in at all) and wellies (for the non-Brits that means rubber or plastic 'wellington boots'.

At the end of the day it was so hard seeing the street folks head back out into the wind and rain, knowing that they have no proper homes to go to. Some stay in derelict builings like the one above, others (the fortunate ones) have managed to built shelters around the hot water pipes that feed the city.

Poor families usually have home made stoves which run on sawdust, like the one below.

our first time at the n.g.o fair

Yesterday and today the annual NGO fair (for the uninitiated, non-governmental organisations)in front of the Primaria (Town hall) took place. For the first time we participated, even though we had little time to prepare and were afraid of not doing a good job of it ... imagine taking place in an event which is meant to raise the profile of your charity and making it a laughing stock instead!

... In the end after a couple of anxious weeks and a lot of hard work and stress it all went well, including my presentation of our work - in Romanian so I was very nervous! while I was away at a conference a couple of weeks ago, Kenneth and Dana attended the planning meeting for the fair and volunteered me to present our work ... how very kind of them! On both days there was quite a lot of interest from the public. Dana, our new Social Worker did a great job of talking to all the interested people, telling them about our work and outlining volunteer opportunities. We offered sweets and face painting to all the kids and Shaneka our new Peace Corps Volunteer braided hair - it was a big hit!

flying seagull again!

We were honoured by a second visit from the Flying Seagull team at the end of this summer, led by the slightly crazy Ash Perrin (sorry Ash, but you know it's true!) and many of the children and young people with whom we work again had a fantastic time. Ash brought with him Matt who we knew from last year and three others, all lovely and a pleasure to get to know. We took the team into some of the very poor commuities in and around Arad and brought a little joy into a lot of lives.

These families live in conditions of abject poverty with little to bighten their days and were over the moon to see us returning. We drove through the communities, some of the team on top of their van and Ash leading the way on his springy stilts (sorry again Ash, don't know their technical name, but they're great fun!) and the kids all running after him in hordes, sort of like the pied piper, only without the pipe and a lot taller ...

With all the kids and some parents following Ash and his team led the way to a suitable place for a performance, in this case the nearby forest. It was a fairytale setting, the sun's rays filtering thought the green of the trees and for the children what followed was equally fairytale as they watched the show and joined in with the games and clowning.

One of the days we had a performance in the Secret Garden ... of course the young folks loved it and thoroughly enjoyed themselves joining in all the fun and doing some clowning.

sometimes we fight ...

Just the other day one of the street boys (we'll call him Stefan) came to the Secret Garden very drunk. We don't turn them away if they are drunk or high (some days there'd be no-one there if we did that!) but we do insist that they don't bring alcohol or solvent onto the premises. It was one of those days when you feel the trouble simmering just under the surface and you find yourself waiting for it to erupt.

Sure enough, as the afternoon progressed, one of the other boys, Claudiu kept making wee comments and annoying Stefan. I repeatedly told him to leave Stefan alone and to keep his mouth closed before he ended up getting a beating ... but would he be quiet? Of course he wouldn't! I had to leave the room for a minute and heard what sounded like a murder being committed. Running back to the activity room I saw Stefan in the process of throwing himself at Claudiu, stool in hand. Times like this are thankfully rare, but you have to act quickly so I placed myself in front of Stefan and put my arms around him while talking to him to calm him down and leading him outside. Once away from the source of his anger, Stefan calmed down and apologised in tears. When I told him I had two young workmen inside working in the kitchen who had heard the commotion and were probably scared out of their wits, he hung his head in shame and asked me to apologise to them for him!

more clokes!

Finally, two weeks late and after a long labour baby Rafaela Alisa More honoured us with her presence! Mummy, daddy and baby are all well, though it was a stressful time, especially for daddy! No time to write more just now, but thought this photo of her wearing the bonnet her great auntie Betty knitted for her was rather sweet.

working together

One of the agencies we collaborate with is the "Anti AIDS association" in Arad. At least once a week staff from the association come to the Secret Garden and engage in informal education about sexual health and other topics. They also offer help with contraception, counselling and AIDS testing.

Staff from the association approached us some months ago, having heard about us from the young people who live on the streets in the station area. They said they had heard that we had a good facility and would like very much to use our place for counselling sessions and health checks. We were delighted as we are always happy to collaborate with others who wish to help the street community and we are especially pleased to share our Secret Garden with anyone else who appreciates it's healing qualities!

back home (in Arad) at last!

Eric, a good friend in darkest Wolverhampton took this photo of us. We hardly ever get photos taken together and never put them on blogs, so this time I thought I'd make an exception.

In July we had friends from Falkirk in Scotland visiting us, along with their two children. It was lovely to have them with us ... we hope they feel the same! They drove back with us to Falkirk, a journey of three days and the kids (Conor, Rachael and our wee Yasmina) were absolutely great.

For three and a half weeks we travelled around visiting and talking about the work here in Arad. It was good but very tiring for us and while over we received some very bad news. The son of dear friends here in Arad died from cancer - we were shocked and deeply saddened by the news. Then two weeks after that we received news that an old friend was found in the river Clyde, no-one knows exactly what happened but she was a lovely person who devoted her life to helping others and was still only in her 30's. On our way back through Europe we received the news that a colleague in the eye screening project also died, also from cancer. Then on our arrival in Arad Johanna's father-in law had finally lost his long battle with cancer. Words are inadequate at such times and we feel deeply for those left behind.

A new life in France?

One of our street families left Arad yesterday in search of a new life in France (pictured with me and Irina and Viorel at either side of them. Secret and Tatiana and their wee girl Amalia came to the Secret Garden to have showers before leaving for the bus station. Life is very hard for young people who live on the streets and it is extremely difficult for them to get a new chance at life with all the ties that bind them to street life. Several of the homeless young people we know have moved away from Arad, some to other countries in search of a new life. For a few it seems to be working and the change of scene has enabled them to leave behind old habits but sadly for others the basic problems in their lives remain and they end up on the streets elsewhere or eventually make their way back to Arad. Secret and Tatiana want a better life for their daughter, it's not going to be easy for them but we hope and pray that they succeed.

The Secret Garden ...officially open

As many of you know, we had our official day centre opening on the Saturday 6th of June. We had lots of work to do to get the place ready so we would like to thank all the various volunteers and visitors who helped us get everything together and supported us on the big day. We'll post pictures soon, but here is a presentation of the "Secret Garden" Day Centre accompanied by some lovely traditional European Roma (Gypsy) music!

"rogues gallery"

please pray

For any of you reading this blog who are able, please pray for the son of very dear friends of ours here in Arad. Claudiu is only 23 years old and newly married and has cancer which has spread. He is very seriously ill. I don't know what else to say other than please pray for him, his young wife and his parents and grandparents.

the audacity of hope?

Our good friend and fellow Scot, Tom Kennedy called round this evening for a wee chat and he showed me something on the Internet that moved me to tears. If you haven't already seen the very ordinary Scottish woman from the wee village of Blackburn an hour away from our city of Glasgow now's your chance. Susan is 47 and it's been her life long dream to be a singer ... she didn't have a chance but she dared to hope! Go on ... click on the link and prepare to be moved. Thank you Susan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Easter at the Secret Garden

Easter in Orthodox Christian countries such as Romania was a week after the western Easter this year. It varies from year to year - it can be as much as five weeks later and only occasionally coincides. The Romanian word for Easter is Pasti (pronounced Pasht) and is more strongly linked to the Jewish Passover than in the West, the same word being used for both. It is a beautiful time with some lovely and interesting traditions. Our favourite part of Easter is the "Inviere" (Resurrection) service on the Saturday night. At around 23.30 everyone gathers at the Orthodox church and waits with candles in their hands for the priest to come out of the church. When the priest appears everyone lights their candles from him and then from each other and proceeds around the church following the priest and his entourage. After three times around the church the priest then goes to the door of the church and sings the words of the Gospel about Mary and the other Mary going to the tomb of Jesus and finding it empty. This is interspersed with the congregation singing a short refrain which goes something like this "Christ has risen from the dead, with (his) death trampling on death, and to those in the graves he has given life" and at the end of the "Inviere" a pure white spotless lamb is brought into the church (thankfully not to be sacrificied!)

Another of the traditions which we love and always keep is the painting and decorating of eggs. Eggs are hard boiled and then dyed a variety of colours, the most important being red or painted with beautiful designs.

At the Secret Garden we spent the whole of Good Friday (or Great Friday as it's called in Romanian) painting eggs, followed by watching the "Jesus" film.

As children arrived with their mums we presented them all with hard boiled eggs and felt tip pens and wax crayons and explained to them that we were having an egg painting competition.

The expression of the faces of some of the mums was comical ...

"not us, we can't do that!" they said ... "Oh yes you can!" we

replied, "but women like us don't do things like that" they argued ..."Why not?" we asked, and as they thought about it, they realised that there was actually no reason why not so they picked up eggs and pens and got stuck in! As you can see from the photos, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

It was a somewhat chaotic day in some ways as not only did we have a whole room full of people all busily painting eggs but we

had others coming and going.

Some came hoping for Easter food parcels, but we'd only been able to put together 30 this year as we had no money. We would have liked to be able to give to all the families who come to the day centre, even those who only call in occasionally but we just couldn't.

... and finally, as each child left they recieved a goodie bag and the mums a bag of groceries - not a lot, but a small help for them at this time of celebration.

you get knocked down ... you get up again!

Wee Amalia was so determined to ride the "trotineta". It's not easy when you've only just turned two and you don't know how to balance yet! She was so determined to ride it and so pleased with herself when she managed to gain her balance ...




what a great picture! Mum and dad stand proudly by, watching their daughter's achievment.

Look at me, look at me ... I can do it! I can do ...


Then comes the wobble ... can she hold on?

no ... yes ... no ... and she's off! Daniela looks on sympathetically, she's had her share of falls too.


Our wee Amalia is a tough wee thing, not to be deterred by anything so minor as banging her head on a wall.
"did you bump your head?" say daddy, "come on, it's nothing, try again ..."


All that effort finally paid off ... just look at her now! Isn't she great? Imagine this darling wee girl is one of several who live on the streets with their parents, sleeping wherever they find a derelict building or making a hut alongside some hot pipes in the winter. hard to get your head round it, isn't it?

Mary and Joseph

Maria and Iosif (Mary and Joseph) are two very ordinary pensioners who have lived hard lives, through the years of communism and the latter years of the Ceausescu regime when there were ration books and food queues. They pop in to see us from time to time and when we first heard their names we joked with them, as no doubt many have done over the years. Maria and Iosif are such a sweet couple, struggling along on their far too small pensions but not complaining and not asking for anything. Maria told us sadly but without bitterness that two of her four children died and the remaining two moved abroad, trying to make a better life for themselves and their children. Their combined pensions bring in just over £100 per month - not really enough to live on but like so many of the people we know they scrimp and save and do the best they can to make ends meet.

Prices here are at the same level as the rest of Europe and in many cases higher for basic necessities but salaries and pensions in general remain pitifully small. We saw a report about milk production in Europe on the Euronews channel which stated that Romania is the second most expensive country in all of Europe for milk. Tea, coffee, breakfast cereals, rice, cheese and many other basic food products as well as utilities such as gas are all more expensive here and if you worked out prices compared to salaries then literally everything you can find in the shops is more expensive here than in the UK or elsewhere.

homeless families

These children live with their parents on the streets and they're not the only ones. We have several families who visit regularly with their children. It is always hard to see the little ones and realise that they don't have much of a future to look forward to. Of course our hope is that one day we will be able to help families such as these off the streets, but at the moment that remains a dream. A father called in today who has lived at one of Arad's homeless night shelters for more than two years. He used to live there with his children but has now placed them in a small children's home so that they at least can have a chance of a better life.
Obviously our dream for all our young (and less young) people is that one day they will leave the streets, but for the long term homeless that sadly often remains just a dream.

Looking for wives!

The boys asked me to post this photo of them and say that they are looking for wives ... of course they were only joking (I think). What a bunch of likely lads eh? These lovely young men all live on the streets and get by as best as they can. They are regulars at the Secret Garden, taking showers daily and keeping themselves clean and tidy. We hate it when people talk about "the homeless" as though they are somehow less human - they're not at all, they are simply hurting people who are loved by God and deserving of our love too. In among the hardship of their daily lives, it always amazes us that they manage to retain such a sense of fun. We who are so privileged by comparison have something to learn from them, don't we?