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NORTH EAST OF ENGLAND DA's REPORT - JULY 2010
Rob Nightingale - Development Associate for Region 1
My report for
July really begins in late June –
Margaret and I decided to go on a
Mission Trip by driving across Europe. We arrived on Saturday, 26th
June and by coincidence, we were overtaken by Ilie driving one of The
Smiles minibuses carrying those who were travelling by the more
orthodox method of ‘plane and minibus’.
So began an
intense, but rewarding week in Romania. The usual kaleidoscope of
emotions emerged, but this time as we were just a small group, we
spent more time together – 2 of our number were on their first mission
trip and it was a privilege to work with them and see some of the
projects from a different perspective.
I always knew
that Kevin had a dedicated team working with him, however, on this
trip I realised that fact more than ever. Without naming individuals,
we could all see the time, care and love for the people and for God
which emanated from each and every team member with whom we had
contact.
We began our week with worship
in the beautiful Church at the Tileagd Complex then after lunch,
visited Gepiu then onto
Arpasel where we saw the new Farm which Smiles
had purchased. We met Zeno, the Farm Manager, his wife,
Mihaela
and daughter, Maria
– they had arrived the previous day, after a long journey. In fact,
much discussion in the evenings of our week centred around farms and
greenhouses as most of the team had expertise in these matters – it
was an insight into how thorough the Foundation is in its deliberation
before moving forward with a project.
 Family
visits helped us update the situation in the
cornerstone project of
Family Care
– in some families we saw wonderful progress, whilst in
others much was the same and there are always new families hoping to
be part of the programme. During the week we had the opportunity to
help sort the warehouse, paint the outside of a container (and
ourselves!) and do some weeding amongst the vegetable ‘garden’ at Gepiu.
 Our
long evening visit to the homeless was the most harrowing – people
living in makeshift ‘homes’, under heating pipes or in derelict
buildings with little hope. Yet,
my lasting memory will be homeless people, with Smiles staff and
mission trippers all singing praise songs to God to the accompaniment
of Marian’s guitar.
Margaret and I
spent a week weaving
through Europe before arriving home
48 hours before the arrival of the
Tileagd
Community Choir in Redcar. What a wonderful 2 days we had with them.
We visited 6 schools - 3 partnership schools and 3 ‘hopefuls’ which
will be followed-up in September. The energy of the group, especially
the younger ‘first-timers', was wonderful.
The highlight, for Stanescu
in the choir and Riverdale School in Redcar, was the chance for
sponsored child to meet sponsoring school.
The remainder of the month has been taken up in planning the next van
trip to Romania in October and preparing a section of the wish-list to
publish in our region.
The experiences of the last few weeks help me realise that things can
be changed if it is God’s Will. If you are able to help in any way,
please contact your
Regional DA. In the North East, I am still
looking for opportunities to ‘spread the word’ so please contact me –
if many people do a little, then
much can be done!!
Rob
Rob
Nightingale
Development Associate
for the Smiles Foundation
Region 1
robnightingale@thesmilesfoundation.org
Region 1 includes : Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Durham, Cleveland,
North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Humberside
Previous Reports
South East, July 2010
Southern Counties, June 2010
North West, May 2010
North Midlands, March 2010
Scotland, February 2010
South East
Counties, January 2010
Southern Counties, December 09
North East, November 09
South
West, October 09
Northern Ireland, September 09 |
