Muff Scouts make a difference in Romania orphans
An enterprising group of Venture Scouts from Muff has been working hard throughout the last year to improve the lives of children at an orphanage in Romania.
Although the troop is based in Muff, members come from all over Inishowen and Derry. The dedicated volunteers include: Graham Buchanan (Burt), Eoin Gillespie (Bridgend), Greta McTague (Muff), Hannah Anderson (Eglinton) and sisters Blaithin and Catherine Lynch (Muff), Emma Gee (Waterside), Lindsay McCorkell (Waterside), brothers Andrew and Peter Browne (Muff), Dara Harvey (Ballyarnett) and Andrew Smith (Iskaheen), Caroline Gilliland (Culmore), Eoghan Hepburn (Muff), and Gearoid Harvey (Ballyarnett).
Scout leader Hazel Browne told me about their experience, and how they ended up travelling over to Romania to build a playground for an orphanage and school in Fagaras.
“We had the idea of doing some voluntary work in Romania in June of last year. So we chatted with John McMonagle, as he’s been involved in that kind of thing for the past eleven years, through the Rotary Club and the North West Romanian Charity in Derry. We knew he’d just finished overseeing the building of a dining area for the new orphanage in Fagaras, and so it was at his suggestion that we decided to build a playground for them.”
Support
The Scouts sprang into action straight away, aware that they would have to raise at least 10,000 euro. They received tremendous support from local businesses, the local community, parents and friends, and send out a big thank you to all those who helped them achieve their target.
In July of last year, the Scouts kicked off their fundraising campaign with a bang, hosting a Fashion Show by Debenhams in the City Hotel. The Venture Scouts and some of their ever so slightly older friends,volunteered to model, under the watchful eye of Joanna and Heidi, Personal Shoppers with Debenhams. This event raised over 3,000.
Other events were: Bag Packing in Sainsbury’s, Coffee Mornings, Sponsored Boxing Day Swim, 50th Birthday Party and approaches to local businesses. The Scouts also received considerable financial help from the Rotary and John McMonagle’s firm Omega Mechanical.
By March of this year, they had raised more than 13,000 euro for the project. Quotes were obtained and a firm in Bucharest was chosen to provide five pieces of playground equipment, with delivery planned for Good Friday. The playground cost 10,500 euro in total, with an additional 400 euro spent on transport and 650 euro used to purchase nappies for the baby hospital and toys for the orphanages. The remainder, 1,500 euro will be used to buy goal posts for the orphanage and mobiles for the cots at the baby hospital.
The group travelled to Romania April 11 to 15 to help get the new playground ready for the children.
‘Felt good!’
Hazel describes the experience: “Once the equipment was installed, we removed the covers of the equipment and spread the sand in the play area.
“Then, every day, for two to three hours, we spent time playing with the children from the orphanage and the Special Care School. It was fantastic to see all our hard work become reality. We had provided a playground for approximately 60 children in total. It felt good!”
During their stay in Romania, the group also visited two other orphanages in Dacia and Rupea, two very poor areas.
Hazel says: “Many people are still using horses to farm their small strips of land.
“Thankfully there has now been a huge improvement in the care of the young people in the orphanages. The staff are striving to educate and assist parents so that they take on the responsibility of their children themselves.
“Our most distressing visit was to a baby hospital, where babies had been abandoned by their mothers. There still needs to be a lot of work done to improve this facility.”
On behalf of the Scouts, Hazel says: “We want to thank John McMonagle and Nigel Sproule for doing all the driving and looking after us throughout the trip.
“It really was a special trip for each and every one of us.”
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Weather for Derry
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
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Wind direction: East
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