Radio România Internațional

Tag: charity

  • The Association of Premature Babies in Romania and the EESC Civil Solidarity Prize

    The Association of Premature Babies in Romania and the EESC Civil Solidarity Prize

    The Civil Solidarity Prize of the
    European Economic and Social Committee was unveiled on 15th February
    in a virtual ceremony. The Romanian Association of Premature Babies was one of
    the 23 EU and UK recipients of the prize for their exceptional contribution to
    fighting Covid-19 and its disastrous consequences. Each winner received a prize
    of 10,000 euros.




    The project submitted by the Association
    of Premature Babies in Romania formed part of a category related to the
    production and distribution of medical equipment, which included projects on
    the production and distribution of facemasks and hygiene products, the
    transformation of buildings into hospitals, the building of new medical structures
    and the purchase and donation of medicine and technical equipment.




    Diana Gămulescu, the founder of the
    Association of Premature Babies, explains:




    It all started with a need that had
    to be addressed, namely, at the beginning of the pandemic, many medical workers
    were telling us that premature babies were having less access to hospital
    services due to the Covid restrictions and that funding for neo-natal wards
    were suspended or cut and used to turn maternity hospitals into Covid support
    hospitals. So the organisation mobilised itself and the community, with the aim
    of helping as many maternity hospitals as possible. We didn’t know at the time how
    much we would be able to raise from donations or whether we would be able to
    reach all the maternity hospitals in need of protection equipment, UV lamps and
    hygiene products. There were maternity hospitals where you couldn’t even find soap,
    but we took it one step at a time and by the end of September we managed to
    raise the necessary funds and make donations to six maternity hospitals.




    Diana Gămulescu told us more about
    the work of the Association of Premature Babies before the pandemic:




    The equipping of maternity
    hospitals in general is a priority, because there are 22 such hospitals with special
    neonatology wards and 64 general maternity hospitals around the country and
    each and every one of them needs something at all times. Apart from raising
    money, we also carried out projects aimed at the medical staff, such as continuous
    learning, we held workshops in hospitals and helped prepare families with
    new-born babies for the moment when they take their babies home, we ran
    webinars and projects to prevent premature births and travelled around the
    country to less privileged communities. We also provide financial support to
    disadvantaged families with premature babies who need long-term care. So, we’ve
    got a lot to do!




    The European Economic and Social
    Committee launched its civil solidarity contest in July 2020 on the theme of civil
    society against Covid-19 as a one-off event to replace its traditional prize. Its
    aim was to pay a tribute to civil society in Europe, which became actively and
    selflessly involved in solidarity projects from the very early days of the
    pandemic. Other Romanian projects that ran for the EESC prize include a social
    solidarity project ran by the Adi Hădean Association. A chef who saw his
    restaurant closed because of the pandemic, Hădean made sure his staff together with
    volunteers prepared and distributed warm meals to doctors, other medical
    workers, families in isolation and the elderly. Diana Gămulescu from the
    Association of Premature Babies in Romania told us how her association decided
    to run for the civil solidarity prize:




    When we found out about the contest
    we realised it would be a solution for us to be able to continue the donation
    raising campaign we began. We saw it as an opportunity in this respect, but we didn’t
    think we would win. One of the most important things when you’re trying to do good
    is finding solutions to ensure funding. It’s complicated to find businesses and
    convince people to make donations and for us the contest was simply a chance to
    continue our work.




    Winning was a big surprise and Diana
    Gămulescu is still overwhelmed:




    I still can’t believe that miracles
    happen, that there’s a Santa Claus in February. I’d like the prize to help raise
    awareness about premature births in general. I’d like to thank our supporters,
    individuals and businesses, and my team for their involvement and dedication. I
    would like it very much to be able to increase the impact of charitable actions
    nationwide.




    In the near future, the Association
    of Premature Babies will continue to raise money to provide maternity hospitals
    with the needed equipment, hoping to reach as many hospitals as possible, and to
    carry out information and support programmes for parents.

  • Charity projects adjust to the pandemic

    Charity projects adjust to the pandemic

    Apart from inevitable healthcare problems, the 2020 pandemic has deepened and sometimes even created social dramas—mostly affecting the elderly, the homeless, and people with various chronic conditions and addictions. Some of them have been helped, ever since 2011, by Carusel Association, whose volunteers provide social and medical services to extremely vulnerable categories. Carusels executive director Marian Ursan told us what the year 2020 was like for the association and for its beneficiaries.



    Marian Ursan: “It was a terrible year. People faced more severe deprivation. And this includes people who had managed to survive in big cities precisely thanks to the many restaurants and shops that were open and where they would get help. But in addition, people also felt abandoned. On the one hand, because hospitals closed, and many of these people suffer from chronic conditions, such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, HIV. Because access to hospitals was restricted, they were unable to get treatment. Healthcare services focused on the pandemic and all other activities were, not entirely abandoned, but relegated to second place. On the other hand, we continued our work. From the first stages of the pandemic, we all decided that we must not close our doors, and we went down in the streets all this time. Together with our volunteers, we offered hot drinks, food, disinfectants, pharmaceuticals, sleeping bags and blankets, everything we could think of to make it easier for these people.



    But some of the Carusel Associations projects could not be continued during this period, including the Mobile Shower and the “Odessa Night Shelter. The Mobile Shower, a van that went around Bucharest to provide elementary hygiene services to homeless people, was shut down, on grounds that the steam forming within it helped spread the coronavirus. And the shelter was closed down because social distancing could not be guaranteed. Still, Carusel Association helped local authorities find a solution to accommodate homeless people at night-time, in rented rooms.



    Another problem was, obviously, the spread of the COVID 19 among the associations beneficiaries, a problem that Marian Ursan discussed in the following terms.



    Marian Ursan “But who cares about this category of people? Of course there are Covid-19 cases among them, we have our guesses but I think its just the tip of the iceberg. As for the authorities, do you know who asks questions about their lives—and who asks for their documents to fine these people? The police. This is the only public authority that is a constant presence in the lives of these people.



    And yet, in 2020 many NGOs tried to give a helping hand to those who needed it. One of them is Seneca Association, which has been delivering food and other basic necessities to elder people isolated at home, under a project called “Our Grandparents, which started in March when the state of emergency was declared. The number of beneficiaries has grown over time, and currently their volunteers cover 50 towns and villages across the country. In December alone, they delivered 600 parcels of food and hygiene products, as Anastasia Staicu told us:



    Anastasia Staicu “We first tried to help the elderly who were not allowed to leave their homes. But we found a lot of people who simply have nobody around, and people who, even if they were allowed to go out, could not afford the shopping. So we focused on places that were harder to reach, and we adopted these grandparents without families. Our volunteers have been helping them ever since March.



    But, as Anastasia Staicu told us, what these grandparents need is not always something material:



    Anastasia Staicu “Their emotional needs are the same as ours. Our biggest fear is perhaps the fear of being alone, and the pandemic deepened this fear. I dont believe there is anybody who has not suffered from the lack of human contact and warmth. So in 2021 we will bring something new to the project. The National Museum of Contemporary Art runs various workshops for children, and some of these children do not have grandparents and would love to adopt some. So these elderly people will find letters from children in their parcels as of next year, in addition to the food and hygiene products.



    Both Carusel Association and the “Our Grandparents project will continue to make life easier for the most vulnerable among us in 2021 as well. (tr. A. M. Popescu)

  • September 19, 2020

    September 19, 2020

    COVID-19 Romanian authorities have reported another 1,527 coronavirus infections out of over 25,000 tests, as well as 48 new deaths. The number of patients in intensive care has dropped to 447. Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of cases in Romania is 110,217. Of them, 88,235 have recovered, and 4,360 died. The European Commission recommends extensive testing to identify COVID-19 cases as quickly as possible, and suggests a common strategy across the EU. Brussels has included Romania in a list of 6 countries where testing is based on a priority system because of inadequate testing capabilities. 18 member states use a compulsory testing system, whereas other countries encourage voluntary testing.



    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau has made a number of decisions to be implemented in next Sundays local elections in Romania. Among other things, a ballot will be considered valid even if the stamp exceeds the margins of a specific rubric in the form, provided that the voters choice is clear. Also, a person may vote even if the electronic monitoring system warns that the person in question has already voted. However, the person must sign a form acknowledging that if found guilty of voting fraud, the sentence is prison or a fine. In the September 27th ballot, Romania will elect 41 county council presidents, some 3,200 mayors, over 1,300 county councilors and over 40,000 local councillors. The local election, originally scheduled for June, was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic, and local elected officials had their terms extended by half a year. Special voting rules in be in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The next election in Romania is the parliamentary election scheduled for December 6.



    CLIMATE Romanian farmers must adapt quickly to the effects of climate change. A new farming season has started this month, following a long drought, and weather experts warn that such periods will be increasingly frequent. In a statement for Radio Romania, the head of the National Meteorology Agency, Elena Mateescu, said farmers should replace sowing technologies, focus on plant species that are resistant to higher temperatures and have shorter growth periods. Also, Elena Mateescu argues, the farming calendar should be delayed. According to official data, around 1 million hectares of crops have been destroyed by drought this year.



    MARATHON Around 1,500 people, both children and adults, are taking part in the 5th edition of a marathon entitled Black Sea 24-hours Autism, held in Romania this weekend. The race started at the same time in around 100 locations in the country. The competing teams are running for a humanitarian cause in their local community. The routes—beachers, forests, parks—are monitored by judges and the data are centralized by the organizer of the competition, the Black Sea Psychology Centre in Constanţa (south-eastern Romania). The minimum requirement is to complete 100 km, with each km rewarded with a specific amount of money. This year the money will go not only to children with autism spectrum disorders, but also to other causes, such as building a home for a single mother of 6, supporting day care centres and buying school books for children with disabilities.



    TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, plays today in the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament in Rome against the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (30 WTA). Also today, in the semi-finals of the doubles tournament, Raluca Olaru (Romania) and Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) are facing the Japanese Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara. The tournament in Rome is held without a live audience, and competitors have to observe strict rules to prevent coronavirus infections. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 30 Days Smoke Free Challenge

    30 Days Smoke Free Challenge

    Galantom.ro — a fund-raising platform we already mentioned in one of our shows last year — starts off on the right foot this year with a two-in-one campaign: 30 days in which you should give up smoking, at the same time offering support and raising funds for charity.



    Galantom was born out of the initiative of young people with a passion for social programmes and IT, who chose to get involved and develop non-profit programmes with a positive impact on Romanian society. In the following minutes, Andrei Chirtoc, cofounder of the Galantom platform is telling us more about this project.



    Andrei Chirtoc: “We want to make a point there is more to life than cigarettes. People who don’t smoke are in better physical shape and in better spirit too. Our idea, which we are trying to implement together with the counselling centre for giving up smoking with the Marius Nasta institute, is to launch a challenge for smokers. Of course everybody knows the reasons why one should give up this bad habit, but we’d like to offer them an extra reason, namely participation in a charitable act. We have devoted a site to this campaign, which is called galantom.rosmokefreechallenge. If you visit the site first you have to choose one of the causes you want to support, then you make your own fund-raising page and for 30 days you’ve got to try to donate the money you’d otherwise spend on cigarettes. You support the cause, but you’ll also benefit support and that’s motivating, because you can invite all your friends and relatives to make donations and support you. After 30 days without a smoke, there are five times more chances for a person to give up smoking altogether. If you want to break this bad habit it’s OK, because there are lots of benefits and if you don’t, it’s also a good thing because you have proven yourself, proved that you can give up any time and besides, you have supported charity, with positive effects on the community.”



    The most frequent diseases smoking is causing in Romania are heart-related, such as heart attacks and strokes, which do not necessarily kill but can cripple one. Experts believe that giving up smoking only after a year can cut the risks of such illnesses to half.



    Even if hardened smokers already know what smoking is doing to them and the risks posed by such a habit, Galantom.ro is offering them an extra reason to renounce smoking — joining charity with visible benefits for community life. We’ve asked Andrei Chirtoc if this commitment in front of the others works as a better motivation.



    Andrei Chirtoc: “Of course it offers a better motivation. And I’ve seen that in people who are involved in various fund-raising campaigns and run the first marathon of their lives; they are very motivated because the others support them and that doesn’t let them give up. We hope that the same principle will hold true for 30 Day Smoke Free Challenge. Somehow, we also count on the promises we made to our friends or relatives because ultimately, the conflict with smoking occurs between relatives, whether they are your brother, sister, mother, father or lover, who keep pestering you to give up smoking because it does you no good. The promises made and the public campaign are likely to make the person joining the campaign give up smoking”.



    The fund-raising webpage is customized, allowing users to make a photo album, choose a motivation and directing them to an online donations site for the cause they support. The participant in the campaign donates the money he or she would have spent on cigarettes on his or her page or at the end of 30 days. The respective person also promotes his cause online and offline and encourages the people in his or her social circle to also make donations supporting his or her charitable cause and effort. We asked Andrei Chirtoc whether there were many people daring to join the marathon of giving up smoking.



    Andrei Chirtoc: “We launched the campaign last week and we have four applicants whom we keep in touch with and who will hopefully turn their intentions into deed. We think that this new and creative campaign or idea might get people’s attention and make them rise up to the challenge”.



    One can safely make donations online, on the fund-raising page of Galantom.ro. Since August 2013, Galantom.ro has succeeded in bringing together over 50 organizations, 738 volunteer fund raisers and over 5,000 donors who have raised more than 760,000 lei for projects with an impact on the community, in the field of healthcare, education, the environment, community development, social inclusion and sports.

  • A different type of charity

    A different type of charity

    Many young people in Romania
    who want things to improve and who cannot wait for the state to get involved
    have started to create their own charities. One such example is the Beard
    Brothers of Cluj, a group of bearded and tattooed bikers who wanted to turn
    their atypical image into a brand name. Cornel Hoza, a member of the group,
    told us what that has achieved:




    We set up the group in
    November 2013. We have grand plans, we want to be involved in society and help
    as many people as possible. So far we’ve organised seven large scale charity
    campaigns, and a lot of other events and satellite campaigns. We get involved
    in any kind of action, we don’t have a pattern. If we feel that we have to get
    involved in something, we do it. So far we put a few pennies aside for a kid
    with cancer and got a hold of a minibus for a special needs kindergarten.




    The Beard Brothers have run
    more campaigns, such as cleaning up party places and collecting waste, as well
    as gathering donations for a few needy families. We asked Cornel Hoza if their
    non-conformity helped them:




    It definitely counted. When
    you see a huge guy with a beard and tattoos selling cookies in the central park
    in Cluj… that has an impact. In addition, we had campaigns for which we shaved
    our heads in the centre of the town to raise funds. We are trying to do all
    this in a different way. It all started with a group of nine friends, but as we
    developed we drew in all kinds of people, from all walks of life. However, we
    share a wish to help others. We don’t have any personal benefits, this is
    exclusively voluntary work.




    The beards, the tattoos, the
    bikes, but mostly their empathy, brought in the largest number of members into
    the Beard Brothers group. The association now has 29 male members and 30 female
    in the group’s so-called sisterhood division. The passion for travelling also
    worked in favour of charitable causes, especially combined with their
    non-conformity. Iulian Angheluta, one of the members, told us about the
    beginnings of the organisation, in 2012:




    We started cleaning up
    beaches and gathering clothing and shoes for the needy. Our biggest achievement
    was the trip we took to Mongolia, with an old school Dacia car, in the summer
    of 2012. This was a humanitarian rally. The challenge was to take the car all
    the way over there, and then donate it to a Mongolian NGO, which auctioned it out
    alongside all the other cars in the rally. The project was meant to bring
    computers to Mongolia, where the population is mostly nomadic. The idea was to
    supply people with tablets or other digital platforms to provide education in
    spite of their nomadic lifestyle.




    When they came back from
    Mongolia, where they donated their car, Iulian Angheluta and the other
    volunteers started focusing on bringing electricity to villages in Romania that
    have none. Having no electric power affects people in ways you may not have
    thought of:




    According to data from the
    2011 census, Romania has 248,000 homes without electricity. This is the
    official figure. Of these homes, maybe 100,000 are not inhabited, but what
    matters is the number of people living there. These are impoverished people,
    one home without electricity can house as many as five to ten people.




    The campaign to bring
    electricity to villages started in Ursici, a village in Hunedoara county, and
    continued in four other counties. Volunteers brought in solar panels bought
    from donations. Slowly but surely, these isolated communities started feeling
    the benefits of electric power generated by solar panels. Here is Iulian
    Angheluta with details:




    This is in line with our
    organisation’s environmental purpose. Costs are lowers, we haven’t cut down a
    single tree and have not drawn a single wire from the grid. The sun is free of
    charge. The equipment entails some costs, but that is ok. Until this spring, we
    have brought electricity to four schools the Ministry of Education didn’t even
    know they had no electricity. We continued our field research to see how many
    people are deprived of electricity. We had sponsors to persuade, but the
    hardest thing is to convince the public authorities. The state has made
    commitments towards the European Union, and they also have a moral commitment
    towards the citizens. In my estimation, tens of thousands of people live in the
    dark, using candles and gas lamps. Thousands of families are cut off from
    information for lack of power. There are health issues too, given that kids do
    their homework by candlelight, and their sight is affected.




    The problems are compounded by
    poverty, because usually families who live in homes without power could not
    afford a monthly electricity bill to begin with. The good news is that Iulian
    Angheluta and his peers do not expect anything in return for their efforts, all
    it takes is their continued commitment.

  • Offer Life

    Offer Life

    We often find ourselves receiving e-mails signalling a social case or a health problem. We hit the Like button of various posts on social networks telling us we can thus help a case and that every Like matters. But how is it like to start from a case that moves you and end up setting up an association that helps people, and then offer your help again and again, striving to find legal ways to support those in need and create a functional volunteer and donation system? This is the story that we will learn about today. A story of our time, with two main characters. One of them is Carmen Uscatu, president of the “Daruieste Viata /Offer Life” association, and its vice president, Oana Gheorghiu. The latter told us about how this association was set up:



    “The Offer Life Association was initially set up without a clear purpose, out of the need to help a child suffering from leukaemia. We had learnt about the case via an e-mail, but we did not know the child in person. It all happened in 2009. I don’t know why this case made such a great impression on us, but I remember that 150 thousand euros were needed for the child to be treated abroad. We realized it was impossible to gather so much money in such a short time, so that the child could be offered the treatment he needed. We found out about a legal provision allowing for those suffering from this disease to go abroad for transplant. It was a long battle. We later got to meet the child and his family and we managed to get financing for him and for another seven people who had submitted their files to the Health Ministry for approval. After the child went abroad for transplant we expected to be very happy for having tried to save a life. We did not feel like this at all, because we continued to receive hundreds of emails from people who had heard about us and were seeking our help. We did not have the association back then, we were just two crazy women that people heard about. We realized we did not have the right to stop. So we set up the association.”



    The Offer Life president, Carmen Uscatu, tells us more about the activities carried out by the association.



    “Our projects address mainly patients suffering from cancer. In this respect, we have so far managed to invest over 3 million euros in state hospitals and thus triple the country’s transplant capacity. We built 18 sterile wards and we modernized and equipped two molecular biology labs for an accurate diagnosis of blood cancers. We also provided counselling to over one thousand patients who asked for information in order to get a second medical opinion or other type of information. We work with volunteers who assist patients, and help us raise funds. An important thing that we have managed to do is push for a government decision, which has been adopted recently, allowing for the drawing up of a program under which the cost of tests to detect cancer is covered by the state. We have also succeeded in raising 4 million euros, money which in our opinion brought the Romanian medical system, at least in terms of cancer diagnosis and treatment, close to the level of 2014.”



    Subsequently, an online fund raising platform was created, named the Happiness Stock Exchange, starting from our belief that doing good or donating makes donors themselves happy. Anyone interested in making donations can access this website to see where the money goes and support us if he or she likes our projects, our interlocutors have also told us. Carmen Uscatu:



    “We created this online platform, the Happiness Stock Exchange, for those willing to donate money, donations which we consider more like an investment. That is because we want donors to know that when they decide to support a certain cause, they must know where their money goes. They must see for themselves that their donations go to the case they chose to support. So we count on transparency, giving donors the possibility to track their donation on the website, attributed to the project they chose to support, with the long-term results that we are trying to get. It’s not always easy. There are times when we reach our goals and times when we need to be patient, because from our experience we learnt that with a lot of perseverance, things can be changed in Romania as well.”



    And because no association of this kind can survive without the work of volunteers, the Offer Life association has its own number of volunteers who manage the website, keep a database and support patients. Oana Gheorghiu:



    “There are many NGOs in Romania and that’s a positive thing. People will understand, little by little, that getting involved in the community life is something we all get rewarded for. The harder we try to improve the health system, the more our children and we will benefit from it in the future. I believe we must get rid of individualism and understand it only harms us. Unless we get involved, we will see no results. I think that each of us can show solidarity with a cause and get involved at least once a year.”



    The lesson that the Offer Life association teaches us is that volunteering is very important both at the level of individuals and companies. If all companies considered sponsoring a certain project, and the money went into the healthcare system, education and environment, our lives would be different.