Let the Party Begin!!

The party started off with a few ice breaker games which Nicu had organised. Then the kids with great delight and pride presented their sketches and presentations. The kids had be practising for weeks and now their time had come.

The sketches ranged from drama, songs and dancing and it was great to see the talent coming out of the kids.

One of the Ice Breaker Games

At the end their was great excitement as we gave out the shoe boxes to the kids

We were delighted to have Heather Playfoot and her nephew from Horsham, UK who has for years organised Christmas Shoe boxes and without her hard work and vision and the sacrifices of the folks from Horsham a lot of this would never have happened.

Was great having Heather and James with us

As the year comes to a close we want to take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with Stupinikids a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your support.

Love from the Stupinkids

xxx

Getting ready to leave for Zizin with our shoeboxes

The first job we had to do was to purchase winter tyres which are now a legal requirement in Romania.

The minibus was registered just at the right moment as the last week it has been an amazing tool to transport people and christmas shoe boxes into various roma villages.

The first transport day was on the Sunday where we transported christmas shoe boxes and some of the stupinikids to Zizin where the shoeboxes were distributes to roma children.

Shoeboxes at Zizin

The next job was to pick up Heather Playfoot from Bucharest airport who was over with her nephew to see the Horsham showboxes distributed.

Time to upload the minibus again with the Christmas shoe boxes

The next day we went a roma school on the outskirts of Sacele to watch the pupils of the school do an amazing nativity play for us and afterwards we distributed the Horsham shoeboxes. We were deeply touched by the fantastic play these young kids and the hard work and love the teachers showed.

Loading the shoeboxes onto the horse and cart

The next day we went to a roma nursery on the outskirts of Brasov to distribute more of the Horsham shoeboxes. The area was very remote and unfortunately even with our brand new winter tyres on our RSA minibus were not enough to take us through the snow up the mountain pass so we had to unload all the shoeboxes onto a horse and cart and travel with horse and cart through the deep snow to our destination…… yes a great adventure, where we distributed the shoeboxes to very excited kids.

Heading up the mountain pass with the shoeboxes

Some grateful kids with their Christmas shoeboxes

Then we had to hurry back to Brasov for the start of the Stupinikids Christmas Party.

Tomorrow head back to drop Heather Playfoot back to Bucharest airport.

We have had an extremely but very fruitful week and we are so appreciative or RSA for donating this minibus. Without this minibus most of this week wouldn’t have happened.

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The Christmas Party is on Wednesday 21st of December and all the kids will be involved in various plays and presentations. As I write this update I can hear them laughing and dancing as they rehearse their various roles.

One exciting costume for the party

The volunteers and the workers are having a great time with the kids as we prepare for the party although it requires a lot of patience.

Dragos is a Director for one of the plays!!

The Christmas Shoe boxes arrived from Horsham last Sunday and thankfully we were well prepared with lots of volunteers to help unload the lorry.

Some of the shoe boxes will given out at the party and the rest will be given out in other areas of Brasov, but more of this in our next news letter.

Some of the Horsham Shoe Boxes...thanks for everyone who gave!!

When the kids are not getting ready for the Christmas Party they are busy completing their homework. Currently in December we have approximately 25 kids coming to the centre on a daily basis.

Some of the kids helping to unload the vans

The aid consisted of bags of disposable nappies, baby equipment, clothes, stable food products, toys and many many more items.

Some great jackets were donated

A team from the Isle of Wight  have been driving out for several years now with aid for Brasov and the last few years the team had consisted of  Dave Edwards, Steve Marsh, Tony Delannoy and Paul Cray. These guys have faithfully driven out every year with their vans loaded with practical items, and we are extremely grateful for the compassion they have shown to the people of this area.

We are also extremely grateful for the kindness many people and businesses from the Isle of Wight have shown in sacrifices time and money to support this project.

Many thanks and love from the Stupinikids

Teeing off for the Golf Day!!

Carl and his amazing wife Jackie spend months organising this event and we are blessed that this amazing couple came across the Stupinikids homework club.

The Golf Day was followed up by formal meal in the evening

We are extremely grateful for Carl and Jackie and everyone who sacrificed time and made significant donations to support this work.

Items were donated for the auction

Approximately 100 people turned up for the golf day and in the end they raised an incredible amount of money and not to mention a mini bus donated by RSA.

WOW!! Special thanks to RSA

So a special thanks to all who took part in this Golf Day, the sponsors including Bedford Insurance the title sponsor, also RSA our minibus sponsor, Mannings Heath GC and the staff for all their support, to the many volunteers from Kings Church Horsham, to the prize & raffle sponsors.

The Couple who made it all happen!!

But last and not least to Carl and Jackie Watts who made this event possible.

For more information on Carl Watts please check out his website

Carl Watts Golf Day - 1 Game of Golf can make a world of difference

On Monday as the usual custom is, the children went to the school with large bunches of flowers for their teachers…pity any teacher with hey-fever!! The headmaster and the local priest and maybe a politician would make some speeches to the kids in the play ground, then the kids would then get their timetable for the following semester.

On Tuesday this week the Stupinikids homework club started in line with the new school term, minus the flowers and the speeches.

So far approx 18 kids have enrolled with us but I’m sure this number could go up.

The new term year always starts with great excitement just wondering what this year will hold our for us. Our desire is to really see these kids perserve in their education and homework and not give up so easily.

More and more I am convinced that education can be a key in allowing these children to grow up to make informed choices and to escape the cycle of deprivation.

So our target is to see these children do well not only in this term but in the years ahead.

In other news, we keep the exciting news to last. Ana-Maria is now on maternity leave and is expecting her baby any week now. So we wish Ana-Maria and her husband Marius all the best just now and are looking forward in seeing the new baby. Ana will of course be coming back once the maternity leave is over.

Looking forward in Ana-Maria becoming a Mother!!

One Game of Golf Can Make All the Difference

Just supporting this golf day will make a significant difference in many of the kids lives and we encourage you to support this Golf Day.

Please visit Carl Watts website for more information.

Altogether there must have been about 40 of us including the team from Kings Church Horsham.

An icebreaker before one of the main meetings

The general programme of  day included a morning and evening meeting after our main meals and during the day kids were occupied with games, face painting and making crafts.

Serena & Ioana taking one of the evening sessions

On the 2nd last day of the camp  we arranged a mini Olympics for the kids (watch out London…here we come) and it must be said that Nicu Codreanu did a fantastic job organising the whole day.

The Young in Heart really got into the outdoor games!!

At the Olympics the kids were divided into teams  and competed against each other in each game.

One of the games from the Olympics

Legs Up!! another game at the Olympics

On the last night of the camp we had our traditional bonfire,  sitting round a camp fire in the pitch blackness of the night and staring at the stars above is  an experience the kids always love.

Every year I am always moved by the excitement of kids leading up to the camp and just their sheer delight in being able to get to the camp.

The Camp Fire one of the many great memories

This year the camp was fantastic with great weather, great location and great company. Also a special warm thanks to the volunteers from the Kings Church Horsham who come every year and make this camp possible.

It’s not that nothing has happened I think that we all have been so busy that the newsletter was put on the back burner.

The start of 2011 brought us significant financial challenges where we seriously wondered what how we would get through. But with an amazing donation coming through from a church in Germany which allowed us to carry on the project.

In the beginning of May Andy Robinson from Kings Church Horsham and Carl Watts from Horsham visited the centre. Carl is a professional golfer and he is planning a golf day in Horsham in October to raise funds for the Stupini kids centre. You can find more details about Carl Watts and his golf day here  http://carlwattsgolf.co.uk/golf-day/

We are always so encouraged and blessed with the interest and support we get from so many people and as always it was so encouraging having Andy & Carl here.

Although we are challenged financially we are still blessed with the amount of kids coming. Currently we have approximately 25 kids coming to the centre.

We are now preparing for the Stupinikids camp which is happening in mid June.  This is going to such great fun and especially with team from Kings Church Horsham who will be coming out to serve.

So far this term we are seeing approximately 25 to 30 kids coming on a daily basis coming for help with their homework and for meal.

On Saturday we kicked off the kids home group which saw 15 kids turning up.

Serving such a large amount of kids is a great blessing but also brings great challenges and responsibility and it’s our hearts desire to see this generation of kids being blessed.

Unloading the pasta from the van

We are also very blessed and really appreciate the support we get from overseas. This October without exception saw the Isle of Wight team driving out with 2 vans loaded with donations such as blankets, clothes, kids toys, medicine, dried stable food such as pasta and rice plus other items. The team for the last few years has consisted of Dave Edwards, Steve Marsh, Tony Delannoy and Paul Cray who have faithfully driven out every year with their vans loaded with practical items.

A Happy New Bike Owner

These journeys the team makes have their own risks and this year unfortunately Dave Edwards van on the way back broke down in a Germany and it took him, at considerable cost and time, to limp back home to the Isle of Wight.

Enjoying the Cuddly Toys

So we really want to thank these guys, the businesses and families on the Isle of Wight who make such a great sacrifice every year to donate to Brasov.

Thanks guys for your support!!

On other news Gabi and Ioana  have successfully completed their first year at university and are now in their second year. Gabi is also working part-time in administration in an office in Brasov and Ioana is currently working in the mornings in a children’s nursery situated is a gypsy village outside Brasov.

Congratulations to both girls in successfully completing their first year at university.

Dragos Testing out some of new gifts!!