The charity’s motto is: “to cure sometimes, to help often, to care always.”
Children in Distress, one of the best-known charities that appeared in Romania after the fall of communism when the world reeled in horror at televised images of thousands of starving and dying children is celebrating its 35th anniversary this month.
The roots of British-Romanian charity known as Fundatia Copii in Dificultate in Romanian began in December 1989, days after the fall of the Communist regime and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Television stations broadcast footage from Romanian “orphanages” of thousands of starving and dying children chained to beds in squalid conditions and receiving no care.
Rev Dr. John Walmsley, a Church of England priest, felt he must respond in whatever way he could. In England he organized lorries of medical supplies, food, nappies, and clothes which made the days-long journey across Europe through restricted borders and terrible roads to bring aid to these suffering children.
More and more lorries made the journey to Romania, and Children in Distress was born.
Many of these orphans were abandoned because they carried HIV/AIDS. There was no care in Romania because of the stigma and fear surrounding the disease. Dr. Walmsley and his supporters decided to build a HIV/AIDS hospital in the eastern city of Cernavoda, the first in Romania.
Because Romanian doctors and nurses did have not have HIV/AIDS training and were hesitant to care for these children, doctors and nurses came from Britain to provide medical care. Many of these children died in their early years; the Children in Distress space in the Cernavoda cemetery is filled with rows and rows buried infants and children.
The initial years were challenging, but over time Children in Distress expanded its work. In addition to the HIV/AIDS hospital, Children in Distress built and operated hospices for abandoned children with terminal and severe neurological illnesses, and established a school for children with autism.
They expanded their work in Curtea de Arges, central Romania, with the founding of St Christopher’s House, which offers after school and weekend programs for very poor children with tutoring, crafts, outdoor activities, and field trips. Through St Christopher’s House, Children in Distress hopes to help these children to feel they are valued and part of a community.
In Arges County,Children in Distress has offered scholarships to young people to support them in their education. Recently, Children in Distress set up after-school and weekend programs in the poor communities of Oesti and Corbeni, to engage children and young people in education, skill development, and building a community of support, with the aim of encouraging them to continue their education and resist the pressure to drop out to work or beg.
At the beginning of the Ukrainian war, Children in Distress worked at the Romanian/Ukrainian border to welcome children and their mothers and grandmothers, provide them with necessesities, and help them process their refugees status for staying in Romania or an onward journey to another country.
Children in Distress supported and provided volunteers for RomExpo, the largest refugee center in Romania, distributing food, clothing, and other necessities, and assisting with their legalization papers. Children in Distress also has supported a day care center for Ukrainian children in Bucharest, in order to free their mothers to find employment.
To celebrate its’ 35 years, Children in Distress will hold several events. There is a visit to Casa Maria, the hospice in Bucharest, and also a trip to Zarnesti in the Carpathians to see the land Children in Distress has purchased for the construction of a retreat center for children who otherwise do not have a holiday. Supporters will be welcomed at Elisabeta Palace, the home of Crown Princess Margareta and Radu, Prince of Romania, and attend a celebration worship service at the Church of the Resurrection.
The 35th celebration culminates with a gala dinner at Bragadiru Palace, with drinks, a sit-down dinner, speeches, and entertainment.
Children in Distress is proud to have served thousands of children and young people over the past 35 years.
As the charity celebrates and moves into the future, its’ motto remains: to cure sometimes, to help often, to care always.
In Romania, Valentina Zaharia Smith is the charity’s president and nd Rev. Steven Smith is its Missioner.
Donations can be made to: Doneaza – Fundaţia Copii în Dificultate (cid.org.ro).
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