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Adi Matis – Smiles
Romania Assistant Director
Project Manager for Salard Community |
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 "My dream? To become a pig caretaker..."
February 2014
Talking about
wishes and plans for the new year, sometimes we loose perspective. The
Bible says that man makes plans, but God guides his path – so we
should never forget that whatever plans we make they need to include
God ’s
Will and desire for our lives. And sometimes that means to have a look
at the more modest dreams that those around us have too… Plans and
dreams that we might be able to help with.
This is
my first of the new monthly web-reports that Mr Hoy has introduced
from the Romanian Executive Management Team. Following the success of
Maria’s monthly letter, Georgi and I have been added for 2014. I am
grateful for the opportunity to share with you all, my experiences
within The Smiles Foundation.
 There
is no shortage of those experiences – every day brings a new challenge
and new rewards and that is just the nature of our work, working with
people, hearing their stories, helping them through their difficult
times. So, I will tell you every month a story or an experience from
one of our projects – there are around 1500 people supported by Smiles
every day in various programmes across Bihor county and I’d like to
know your opinion and impression of these.
Please feel free to write back to me and share your thoughts! That
will make all of us more aware of your support and participation. For
which I am grateful and thankful. My e-mail is:
adrian.matis@thesmilesfoundation.org
The other day I went to visit Salard families. Many of you will
certainly know the challenges these people go through and perhaps have
even supported our project by donation or with visiting. So, when I
got there nothing much had changed. The same terrible mud when it
rains, the same smell, the same dogs… Being a different visit than a
regular food delivery, I got to spend some more time with people,
listening to their stories and encouraging them.
One of the younger families had a dispute in the last few days over
the "duties of man and wife in the house". To the point they had a
very… physical argument – they needed someone to listen to each one of
them and then to receive some guidance, some encouragement and I hope
my words helped them to re-gain trust and understanding in each other.
But the highlight of the day, for me, was later on when I took one of
the boys in the city. I just gave him a ride to see his sister in
Oradea. His name is Ioska, he’s 15 and his family
received a container from Smiles a long time ago. His sisters are
Eva and Gyongyi, Salard friends will know them for sure.
I’ve known him since he was a boy and all the time he
 was
amongst those who created some problems when visitors came and shared
some candies to the children. But now he’s more grown up.
Driving back, we talked. I asked him about his everyday life. I’ve got
to know more about him and his family and asked him if he’d like to go
back to school – in fact he never went to school at all – and he says
"Yes, all that would be nice!...". Then I asked him what his greatest
dream in life is, what would he want if he could get it, whatever
that might be. What is his greatest desire? The answer was "If I
could, I’d like to go to Hungary! That would be
the best thing ever!" "To do what?", I asked. "Well" he said, "I’ve
heard they have big pigs in there and I’d like to go and take care of
them!"
This shocked me! The greatest dream of this young boy was to become a
pig caretaker in Hungary! That really made me think – for some of us,
the world is too small! We dream of getting more and immediately, or
to enjoy expensive holidays, or to drive faster cars… But for some,
the biggest thing they can dream of is so little…
Can we do something about it? I’d like to believe so! What do you
think?
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Adi Matis
Salard
Community Project Manager
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