Ministry Locations

Romania

LOCATION
Romania is located in Southeastern Europe. Its most famous border recently is with Serbia. It also borders Hungary, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Black Sea, and Moldova. The Children’s Home is located in the village of Dobrun in Southern Romania. Romania has four seasons. We are in the farming belt of Romania.

HISTORY
The vision for the Romania Children’s Home came from a national Romanian woman, Camelia Cismaru, who had spent some time in the local government orphanages. She had a burden from God to help the children in her country.

Camelia contacted her friend, Sharon Culbertson, a former missionary to Romania, and they began to pray. In 1999, the Lord directed them to Kids Alive® International. Sharon served with Kids Alive® International from 1998 – 2002. The Home received its first four babies in 1999. Present, “House of Hope” is caring for nine children.

CULTURE
In 1948, the Communist government came to power and took control of nearly all aspects of life for Romanians. The economy grew considerably during the first part of the Communist rule, but by the 1980s, it had slid into a huge recession. After the Communist government was overthrown in 1989, the Romanian economy virtually collapsed. Romania has since been open to a Democratic form of government, but has lagged behind other countries in the region. Living standards continued to fall while corruption increased. The government is trying to improve the situation of children-in-crisis by developing a foster care system instead of the large institutions that presently house the children. This new system is in the process of being developed but will take several years to become effective.

The national religion in Romania is Orthodoxy.

FACILITIES
For the first three years, Camelia’s family opened their home, taking in the four babies, so that the “House of Hope” could become a reality. In 2001, construction was started on a permanent and larger facility for the children’s home and two more children were brought into the home. In 2002, the six children moved to the new home and three more babies were brought in from the government orphanage. Two of the apartments (floors) are now finished and are home to the nine children and house parents, providing a family-style atmosphere.

PROGRAM
The plan for this home is to take babies or young children out of the government orphanages and/or keep them from ever entering these facilities. Our goal is to provide for the children’s needs: physical, emotional and spiritual. Kids Alive® Romania is committed to long-term care – to see each child grow up in the home and become an independent, responsible, well-trained citizen able to serve her own country and be a role model in Romanian society.

Children in Romania are in crisis for a variety of reasons: poverty with no provision of food or someone to care for them, illness or death in a family, abandonment, running away from horrible home situations (this applies to the older children), etc. The “House of Hope” seeks to take in children who would otherwise spend years in a government orphanage or be placed with multiple foster families, rather than those likely to be adopted.

FUTURE
Future plans include:

• In 2004, bringing seven additional children into the Home from the government orphanages.
• Completing the third floor of the Home, which will be used for various activities for all of the children combined, for administrative purposes, and a place for friends to stay while visiting the Home.
• Creating an area where the younger children can play safely, and adding a sports/athletic area for the older children.

To learn more about this site, the children served, the missionaries and national staff, and the special needs, click on the link below: