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Success
stories make us and our donors keep going. Nothing is more rewarding than
seeing real help for the ones in genuine need.
Read
stories from Heifer projects developed in Romania, including personal
experience, community work within Heifer projects and lesson
learned.
Farmers’ support allows HIV-infected
youth to have better
nutrition
Sheep help Romanian mountain family build a
better future
Goats changing life of Roma family and
community
A cow for a
house
Farmers’ support allows HIV-infected youth to
have better nutrition On
Almost
weekly, beneficiary farmers in Farmers Feed the Children Project
send milk, dairy products, veal and chicken to the ill, hospitalized
children, passing on the gift of livestock they received to the ones in
need. The day was a
Christmas celebration day. All children received presents from the
hospital’s personnel and celebrated together around the Christmas tree.
Some were too sick to attend the event and had to lie in their beds.
Six-year old Iulia Somes receiving her Christmas present
from hospital staff The hospital
hosts children and youth with different infectious diseases: HIV,
hepatitis, enterocolitis, respiratory infections, eruptive infections or
meningitis. Sixty-six youth over 17 infected with HIV are registered with
the hospital. All have been diagnosed with the disease after the fall of
communism in The
assistance offered by Heifer and the project farmers is very valuable to
the ill. One hundred hospitalized children and youth benefit daily of
fresh farm produce: milk, dairy products, veal and chicken. It is
well-known that HIV-infected people and all affected by infectious
diseases need a rich, healthy diet, and that is exactly what the farmers’
support does: helps the ones in most need get stronger and have better
chances of fighting the illnesses
away. Three-year old Mark Feherbary tries to smile to Heifer
staff Heifer is not
the only one who supports the ill youth. On World AIDS Day,
Together with
the fresh farm food they receive, we are hoping their stay in the hospital
will be a little easier to take. Anca Oprita Sheep help Romanian
mountain family build a better future
Gheorghe and Razvanela Iftimut live in Borca village, northeastern
Romania. At 35 years old, these young farmers are very poor and have six
children, ages 4 to 19. Borca is a village in Romania’s eastern Carpathian
Mountains with steep lands and unproductive soil. Most of the villagers
breed animals. In small vegetable gardens, they cultivate the few
vegetables that grow in the area – mainly potatoes, onions, cucumbers,
beans and carrots. Razvanela Iftimut is a housewife; she takes care of their household
and six children. Because of the harshness of mountain life, there is
little money and scarce job opportunities. Over the past few years,
Gheorghe has found construction work in England. This has helped the
family financially, but his absence has had a negative impact on the
family, as a whole. Last year, an unfortunate event happened. Ten-year-old Abel was hit
by a bus while returning from school. The impact affected many internal
organs, including his heart, so he underwent a complicated surgery. As the
oldest male in the family and the most hardworking of all children, Abel
used to take over his father’s responsibilities while Gheorghe was away.
Luckily, Abel’s health is good now, but he must refrain from intense
physical activities for the rest of his life. The family’s financial
resources were exhausted on Abel’s health care. His mother says, with
tears in her eyes, “The bus driver gave him a hat and a chocolate when he
was in hospital, nothing more.” Before the Iftimut family became a beneficiary of Heifer’s Sheep
Project in Borca, the family of eight had only owned two pigs and a
few poultry. There was not enough money to buy other animals. Neighbors
would often feed the children or send food and used children’s clothes to
their mother. In
the fall of 2006, the family received 10 quality Turcana sheep and a ram,
which was quite an event for all. One year later, the children are very
excited about raising sheep and especially caring for the lambs, which
have considerably increased the number of animals in the household. Abel
still loves taking care of livestock more than anyone in the family. He
has named the sheep and can even tell you their personalities. His dream
is to have a very large flock of sheep.
Abel Iftimut, the boy who loves taking care of
sheep and lambs For the whole Iftimut family, receiving 11 sheep from Heifer is
exactly the help they needed to start a new, better life and, according to
Razvanela, become a “normal” family. Most of the products from the
livestock are used at home, as it takes a lot to feed a family of eight.
The sheep cheese and lamb meat are barely enough for everybody.
A
very positive effect of the distribution of sheep was the return of
Gheorghe from England. With more opportunities at home, the father of six
now sees a future in his home village, as an animal breeder. Together with
his wife, Razvanela, Gheorghe plans to have a large herd and make a decent
living by raising quality, highly productive Turcana sheep.
Razvanela with children, nieces and
lambs Being able to buy clothes and school supplies for the children is a future dream for Razvanela, as she envisions her family without today’s struggle for basic needs. She took care of sheep as a child and knows what it takes to be a good sheep breeder.
Heifer has made
a double impact on this family. Not only have they been offered the
material resources and incentive for a new start, but the opportunity to
start anew also has influenced Gheorghe’s decision to return to his family
and start working for a better life in his village. We extend Razvanela’s
heartfelt appreciation to all who have contributed to this positive change
for her family! Anca Oprita August 2007
Goats changing life of
Roma family and community
Four years
after the Roma People’s Goat Project in Nemsa started (2004), Maria Lesca
and her family have ten goats, seven Alpine dairy goats imported from
In 2004, at
Heifer’s arrival in the 2004: Maria and son Vasile with old empty
shelter In September
2004 Maria received four goats, becoming one of the first Roma Heifer
beneficiaries in 2005: Cristian, Maria’s husband, proudly showing his Heifer
goats to an exchange group of Roma farmers from Deaj, another Roma
community The family
raised the number of goats as they increased skills in animal breeding.
The Lesca family became a model for other families in Nemsa and not only.
Heifer In 2007,
after having displayed great interest and dedication in goat breeding, the
Roma community in Nemsa was chosen to become one of the beneficiaries of a
new, interesting project, Alpine Goats for Two Poor Communities. Dairy
Alpine goats imported from One of the
beneficiaries is Maria’s family, who received seven Alpine goats. They
still have three Carpathian goats from the previous years, but are much
more excited of the Alpine goats, beautiful, gentle and with a high
production of quality milk. 2008: Cristian Lesca and son Mihai with Alpine
goats Maria and
Cristian Lesca are currently unemployed and searching for jobs in the
nearby town of The last
beneficiary of goat milk is no other than the family cat, Susanna,
patiently waiting for food leftovers on the roof of the old
house… Susanna never loses hope of a few drops of tasty
milk
Everything
Heifer has done over the last four years in the Roma community of Nemsa
has slowly changed the face of the village and the spirit of the
community. The Roma farmers have become skilled in goat breeding; they
have learned to grow vegetables (organic – they don’t use any fertilizers,
which are expensive). Probably most importantly, they have learned the
value of being a strong, united group and realized that together they can
achieve a lot more for their families and village.
In 2004, not
many believed in the outcome of a Roma project, as the Roma people have
always been regarded with suspicion and discriminated against by all other
ethnic groups. In 2008, the community of Nemsa is a true model for many
other Heifer Romania projects, no matter the ethnicity of the
beneficiaries. Anca Oprita A cow for a
house Heifer
Nadia Garleanu, 20 is a young
farmer living in Buteni village. Her 25-year old sister works as a clerk
in a grocery in Chisinau, the capital city of
The Garleanu family is among the
poorest in the village. Besides some poultry, the only animal they owned
was a cow, a most important source of protein for the whole family.
An unfortunate event happened in
the spring of 2006, when the clay house the 4 people were living in
collapsed due to an earth flow. Nadia
Garleanu and mother Nina in front of the collapsed clay house The family had to sell their only
cow in order to get the money to build a new house, this time a brick
stone house on a more solid piece of land. The construction of the new
house has started, while the family live in a temporary hut.
While happy for the new house
that is being built, Nadia and her family missed the milk, cheese and veal
the cow was providing. With no one earning a salary, the money raised from
working 2 hectares of land was not enough to pay taxes, cover living
expenses and assure quality protein for the
family. When Heifer
Nadia
Garleanu and mother Nina with Heifer cow The Garleanu family are all
hard-working people, who will not let the tragic event of the collapsed
house break their strong will. While father and son spend their day
working in the vineyard and on the field crops, mother and daughter are
busy in and around the house. They have a wonderful vegetable garden, a
sign of dedication and love of land. New house
and collapsed old house with vegetable garden The new house looks strong and
solid. It will not fall again with heavy rains or earth flows. With fresh
vegetables, some crops and especially milk, cheese and veal ensured by
Nadia’s Heifer cow, the family will be able to rebuild their lives. And
Nadia will stay in the village to help her family and take care of the
household. Along with building materials bought with the price of a cow,
there is so much more work to do, and the more helping hands, the better!
Anca
Oprita June 2006
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Contact Us • www.heifer.org • Email Newsletter
Heifer Romania
Mihai Romanul Str. nr 19
400910 Cluj Napoca, Romania
