In August many expatriate Romanians return home, to visit their wider families and perhaps to continue building that dream home that they might retire to some day. This is a season when there are plenty of opportunities for casual employment, both in construction and in the agricultural sector where another bumper crop is forecast. Ironically, the commercial crops are not intended for consumption in Romania – cereals are exported to the far east whilst vegetables and soft fruits make their way to western consumers. As a result, retail food prices are rising rapidly as traders in the domestic supply chain endeavour to complete against the higher returns from the export markets.
Our land at the warehouse has produced a large crop of sunflowers which will be harvested and pressed to produce fresh oil for donation to our families. The by-product from the pressing process is used for animal feed so little goes to waste. In addition, the polytunnel at Casa Neemia has provided us with a good crop of vegetables; some have been bottled for use by the residents during the winter and the rest is being distributed among our registered families.
Once again we have received some special boxes designated for named recipients. These boxes are sent by sponsors in the UK who take an interest in particular individuals or families; AN manages the distribution of these boxes and provides feedback to the donors.
Camp update: We have received more photos from the camp and have updated our camp website page. The page also contains links to a video report of the camp. Once again it has been a successful camp where the children found out more about God’s love and made new friendships while they had a lot of fun. Many thanks to those who helped make it happen.
Reminder – the Horley packing team will be taking its annual August break this month. The packing activities will begin again on 6th September. The Billingshurst warehouse will be closed for deliveries during August except by special appointment. Our teams in south and west Wales will be making their own arrangements and should be contacted directly.
Another reminder – It may be the middle of summer and the temperatures are abnormally high but it is not too soon to think about Christmas! If your decorating is done and you are bored by the beach you could start to prepare your Christmas gift boxes. Each year, RoAF collects several thousand gift boxes for distribution to needy households in north-east Romania. Due to impending Brexit uncertainty we need to send the boxes earlier this year so please try to have your gifts ready by mid-October.
This month’s featured photos
- Harvest home, Sunflowers, Polytunnel at Casa Neemia
- Preserving vegetables at Casa Neemia
- Designated gift boxes
Last month’s performance statistics
These statistics give a snapshot of our aid-related activities last month.
[table id=<17> /]
Stats notes:
– Joiners are new registrants this month, Leavers are are those whose latest recorded donation was 12 months ago.
– Some households may receive more than one donation during a month (eg, repeat donations of food).
– Items shown as 0 or as “…” are awaiting final returns for the month.
