Over the past six months we’ve been working hard to become a registered charity in Romania (at the moment we are a charity in the UK), and after much paperwork we’re now almost ready. However, Romania is much more bureaucratic than the UK. Last week the trustees visited a lawyer in Romania and we signed legal papers, witnessed by the lawyer, to go before a judge so Open Hands could be approved as an official charity in Romania.
All went well and we are close, within a few weeks, to becoming an official NGO – Fundatia Open Hands – in Romania. We are hugely excited!
We managed to organise a lot when we were in Romania. We have an office now and are planning to buy a car for our work there too. Then we will employ our two workers Ionut and Olga. They are both very experienced and skilled in the work they do for Open Hands and it is an amazing blessing to have found such wonderful team members.
As usual we also visited many poor communities looking for families who might be eligible for our family support program. These children live in extreme poverty. Once again we felt compelled and heartbroken by the way so many families live, struggling to just survive in a deeply broken and hopeless environment.
We also visited the children we already support of course; this is always my favourite part because you can see the difference our support has made in their lives! We have also begun working together with the local majors, schools and social workers, once we are accepted as a Romanian charity we want to make official partnerships with them because together we will have a greater impact.
We are very thankful for the opportunity and privilege to offer children a better future. Some of these families have known nothing but hardship in their lives and working with Open Hands is bringing hope, a healing process for many.
As Open Hands continues to grow and expand, we rely more and more on your support. None of our work would be possible without your continued donations and prayers, so please take a moment to consider us! Thank you.
