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last updated on
01/06/2010 12:41:36 PM |
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last updated on
01/06/2010 12:41:36 PM |
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As a Development Associate
and a person who has been to Romania on fourteen occasions since 2002
I am very aware that the Smiles Foundation is passionate and ambitious
in its desire for communities to know of the needs of the Romanian
people and the work Smiles is doing in addressing those needs. Those
involved with ‘Smiles’ will know that the vision is enormous. To
assist in this endeavour, The Smiles Foundation looks to involve those
individuals who, having experienced the work of Smiles first hand
through visiting Romania, possess a similar passion and vision for
increasing the awareness of Romania and Smiles in their specific
communities and are willing to act as “official” Smiles
representatives. We call them “Smiles Ambassadors”. They are
volunteers who reach their family, friends, colleagues, church and
greater community with the needs of the Romanian people and the work
of The Smiles Foundation. As a DeveIopment Associate, I may be aware
of the ‘Smiles’ vision but I am unable to help fulfil this on my own.
I do not have all the ideas and resources to enable my Region to help
fulfil the vision. So I am very privileged to work with three
Ambassadors and I asked them to contribute to this month’s news
report.
In
June 2004 I arrived at the Smiles Mission Centre with four others from
Chelmsford in Essex. From the very first day I was changed as a person
by the things that I saw and the people I met. It was like having
scales drop from my eyes so that I could really see the needs of
others. Many times since my first trip to Romania I have heard the
comment, “it is a life changing experience”. Well it is. I know,
because it has changed my life in a way that I did not think possible.
Over the past six years I have
been privileged to see how God has worked in the lives of many people,
not only from Romania, but also from America and the UK.
It has been a joy to see
“smiles” on the faces of many people who have been touched by the work
of the Smiles Foundation.’.jpg)
‘I am
blessed to be part of a church that is ‘missions conscious’, so it has
been no problem involving the church with the work of the Smiles
Foundation. We were allowed and encouraged to set up a ‘stall’ selling
cakes and blackberries, a project masterminded and
manned by our 10
year old triplet grandchildren. This raised £300 towards a container
home for Salard and a further £210 to sponsor seven Sacks of Smiles
for Christmas.
Continuing to sell on a once a month basis, I was able
to add a further £175 to the fund, £50 of which the triplets asked to
be put to the Homeless project. As a family, I have received support
from my children, one daughter regularly bakes cakes for the sale,
two
daughters and one son-in-law ran the Maldon Mud Race to raise funds
and our son and family not only ha
ve
given financially but encouraged their daughter to go to Cihei with me
in December 2009. We have had two great musical evenings where a
Romanian Christian was one of the participants, a quiz evening, a boot
sale, a ladies day and a golf tournament to raise funds, the last four
events being organised by three of the people who then came with me in
May. The church I attend is a small village fellowship, which has seen
teams going out to Romania, India, the Congo, Uganda and Mozambique in
the last few years. I have been so pleased that in 2009 three people
came with me to Cihei and this summer four people came. All of these
are practical people with big hearts for the Romanian people and we
entered into all that Smiles put our way. A final comment from the
four of them was
“this is something that everybody should do at least
once in their life.
It is so hard to believe that this is 2010 and
that Romania is in the EU”. 
evening where
children and staff took part and spectators paid to attend. This was a
huge success and of course involved the children but we wanted to find
a way in which all children could be directly involved. We decided as
a committee that we would ask children to put their pocket money
towards small items that I could take in my case to Romania and chose
a different item each week for 6 weeks– bubbles, balloons, lollipops,
toothbrushes etc. At the end of the 6 weeks I was staggered as we
managed to fill approximately 15 boxes with items which we were able
to present to the Tileagd choir when they came to visit the school.
The sense of achievement felt by our children was amazing and it was
so rewarding 
to
see the looks on their faces when I was able to bring photos into
school of Romanian children playing with some of these items. I have
recently changed schools and am now promoting similar ideas within my
new school and schools in my local trust. This work is a fantastic
opportunity for schools to develop their responsibility towards global
citizenship as well as community cohesion but most importantly of all
it changes lives.
I am privileged to have seen my
experiences touch the lives of children in our schools as well as
lives in Romania’.