A warm welcome to the new Our Lady Of Mercy in Romania blog. Our hope for this blog is to not only give you more regular updates but to offer you an insight into the day-to-day running of our organization. We shall share updates, stories and pictures to help deepen your understanding of the work we do.
As the cold winter wind is chilling us all to the bone, for our first post, we want to offer stories to warm your heart. So often we can focus on the sad stories and the tales of hardship; but it is important to remember and reflect upon the happy times: the success stories, the smiles we have encountered and the joy we have been able to share. Not only do they give us hope but they show us what a difference we can make.
Our Lady of Mercy in Romania caters for a number of families living in circumstances of extreme poverty. Many of these families would face difficult situations which add a huge strain on their day-to-day survival. We first made contact with one of these families three years ago as one of their daughters was in need of prosthesis. Our work with the family has continued since – assisting with food, fuel, clothing and transport for the children to school. A number of months ago we made it our aim to improve their living conditions:
Facing into the winter, we wished to find a more resilient abode for the family than the one they had. Thankfully, Eurobank came to our assistance and offered a container for a period of six months. The family installed a heating apparatus in the container and even added a porch to the structure! On our last visit, it was smiles all round:
They are thrilled to be in their new home, with a secure roof over their heads for the winter, and we are hoping to extend the loan of the container until we can offer them something more permanent.
A great support over the last 12 years has been the organization “Heart-to-hand” from Wexford. Their constant assistance has been quite simply a godsend. Thanks to donations such as this, we were able to spread the wonderful gift of Christmas spirit with so many of our friends in need:
Perhaps one of the most wonderful stories to emerge from our organization is the story of Lacramoiara:
We have been assisting Lacramoiara on and off over the last 12 years. Our initial contact began when we assisted her mother with medical costs as Lacraomoiara was suffering from a medical condition at the time. Once the pressure of medical costs subsided, we turned our focus to educational assistance and nurtured Lacramoiara’s wonderful musical talent. Despite the challenges life has thrown at her over the years, she has blossomed and matured into a wonderful young woman and is currently studying languages at a local university thanks to a scholarship scheme. No doubt, she has a bright future ahead of her and she freely admits that she wouldn’t be where she is now if it wasn’t for the support we were able to provide for her. Here’s a wonderful picture of her (on the right) promoting a concert she was performing in recently:
It is people like Lacramoira who exemplify one of the aims of our work: to help people to help themselves. And it simply wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support we receive.
We’ll leave you, for now, with our deepest gratitude and a beautiful reflection:
Many blessings from the team at Our Lady of Mercy in Romania.