For the whole of Thursday and Friday I was out with Pastor Vlad delivering food parcels and spending value time with 10 widows in 4 villages in the Judet (State) of Timisoara. Vlad lives in Timis (a larger city than Arad and about our hours drive away) and so to avoid excess travelling I stayed over. For me this was a time of great blessing because this ministry truly touches my heart. Most of these forgotten people are very lonely and just so appreciate a visit. We are always so warmly welcomed and they love to just sit and talk. |
| The home of Magdalena seen below |
They live in the most difficult of conditions with earth toilets, garden or street wells and homes in disrepair. We currently have 5 widows on the total project who have no pensions at all and so they are forced to take seasonal work with neighbours or local farmers to survive.The highest pension we came across was 350 Lei equivalent to around 75 pounds a month. Due to problems accessing adequate health care (due to cost and distance to nearest doctor) most have a multiple health problems. I am always touched that these poor people who have so little always want to give us something in return such as fresh grapes from the vines, pears, plums and eggs. For the ones who manage to plant their own gardens, they preserve the produce and the fruit. However, there was one lady with no pension who needed sugar and so I was able to help. I understood there was a lot of rain here in May and so the crops have not done well this here although there does seem to be an abundancy of plums. Others needed financial help with prescription costs - one lady was paying 150 lei per month - approx 30 pounds (out of her pension of 75 pounds). With God's provision I was able to help provide some financial assistance this trip.
The youngest person we have on the programme is aged 57, having lost her husband just a few months and the oldest is 90. There were widows who had such a determination to survive and there were others who were ready to die. Some had nursed their sick husbands for years. On the one hand we met a son, very poor himself, who was so devoted to his stroke victim mother that he left his village to move in to care for her 24 hours a day. He really is doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances - little money, no sanitation or running water and his mum is incontinent and losing her mind. On the other side of the scale you have widows with children who do nothing to help, some even robbing their own mums, which is so so sad. It is hard to explain the pain that these widows feel. However, some of this is a legacy of communism when people were encouraged to go out and work and not worry about their parents because the state would take care of them at large residential homes and we are all aware of what the media found after the overthrow of the communist leader in 1989.
I would add that the food baskets provided are only a supplement and not sufficient to last a widow for a month. The wood we are able to buy for them is only sufficient for around 3 months. Winters here are long and hard with temperatures dropping to around minus 20. Also I need to point out that on a monthly basis we are only able to help with medical expenses for a few of the widows and so much more financial help is needed. IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS THIS MINISTRY AND BECOME A MONTHLY SPONSOR (FROM AS LITTLE AS 5 POUNDS PER MONTH) THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME. I will be going back to Wales with a determination to raise more funds. Here are a few photos - I will attach a few more in a separate blog. I may do separate blog entries for some of the cases when I have more time.
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