Hope and Homes for Children (Romania)

Country : Romania

Description:

Hope and Homes for Children in Romania will be supported by the Transylvanian Trek 2012.

“A child in an institution is one child too many and Hope and Homes for Children will not stop until every institution is closed and every child is in a loving family environment.”

Quote from the Hope & Homes for Children website.

After the fall of President Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, Romanian children institutions became notorious for their inhumane conditions, with more than 100,000 children living in them.

Now, more than 20 years on, the Romanian government has made huge changes to its child reform process and is committed to putting an end to the institutionalisation of children. There are now about 8,000 children in institutions, however four out of five of them are not true orphans. Most have been abandoned by their parents because of poverty, a lack of access to health and education services and stigma attached to disability.

Through the work of Hope & Homes for Children, these children can often be reunited with their own families. The balance will move into a Hope & Homes for Children residential home.

A large body of research has demonstrated the serious detrimental impact of institutions on children, especially for children under the age of three who suffer irreversible damage. Hope and Homes for Children has been working with the Romanian Government since 1998.

Having now closed 46 institutions, this amazing charity’s work is recognised as best practice by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Gulf for Good Project

Hope & Homes for Children are working with the government to close the St Andrei Institution in Bucharest. This institution currently houses 42 children and teenagers all of whom have special needs and some with severe disabilities. To do so, Hope & Homes for Children will build a new “Small Family Home” to house 8-12 of these orphans.

Gulf for Good will help fund the home by donating monies for furniture, specialist equipment and more, depending on sponsorship raised by our challengers.

For more information about the charity, please go to their website http://www.hopeandhomes.org/

Associated Challenges:

Transylvanian Trek 2012