Where there’s a need for change, there is a cry for help. In 1990, we heard 600 of them, all belonging to the orphaned children of Siret. Some cries were so strong that once they got a grip on you, they would not let go. Some were faint, carrying just a thin trace of life or pain – the two seemed to be indistinguishable. And others were meant only for the eyes because the voice had disappeared somewhere deep within. Different as they came, the cries all shared a common starvation – for love, food, security, gentle touch. Finally, for parents or, in their absence, for people who could provide decent care and human assistance.
We accepted that mission. The volunteers who found in themselves the courage and the strong will to face the grim barred world of the NeuroPsychiatric Hospital in Siret started placing one brick of hope upon another.
First, we renovated the old building. We painted the walls, but we could not whitewash the memory of 600 children being lined up against them, endlessly rocking back and forth, seeking relief as if from a bad dream.
We fixed the plumbing, but we could not forget the terrible smell of the one single toilet that served the tens of children locked in the basement.
We repaired the electrical wiring, but could not shed light or any human logic on the systematic abuse, beating, raping, and torture by malnutrition or neglect that saw 1500 children die within those walls, supposedly under adult care and supervision.
It was surreal, but it was the only reality available to those children. Or so we were told. However, realities can change, no?
Over a span of three decades, volunteers, donors, and people of goodwill worked side by side to change that revolting reality from hopeless to balanced. Everyone chipped in with a lending hand, a project idea, a fundraising event and, more importantly, their time. Recovery takes time.
We crossed the borders of the frontier town of Siret in answer to a humanitarian crisis. We stayed here as a family of many.
The mission of the New Life Foundation is to transform the lives of people with disabilities, helping them to develop their skills and abilities so that they can become active members of the community. By assuming responsibly and decisively our mission, we want to bring in the souls of young people hope, the chance to benefit from a new life, education, a job.
We want to promote models of education and good practices through quality experience, as a strategy for sustainable development of society, the result of the activity being changing the destiny of people with disabilities, promoting the concept of independent living and unrestricted participation in social life.
We believe that everyone, child or adult, has the right to be nurtured, cared for, emotionally supported, well fed and well dressed, treated with respect and given proper medical assistance and developmental aid.
As caregivers, we believe in teaching the fundamentals of love and nurture as a blueprint for self-healing and enhancing life-skills of children under difficult circumstances.
We believe that children grow from having their needs recognized. Love and human bonding establish the foundations for empathy, trust, and understanding relationships.
We strive to create a climate of trust and long-term cooperation to ease the transition from segregated institutional care into community life.
We provide suitable homes and jobs for the desinstitutionalised adults, together with access to trained psychologists and social workers in order to improve their ability to communicate and survive outside institution life.
