To all our friends and supporters:
We first want to thank God for the help and love you have directed at us.
Even as the entire world is wreaked by a period of crisis and turmoil, our daily lives prove that even at such hard times, God allows people to maintain hope and to create bridges among each other, spreading love, light and compassion, and to support our needy children.
We have to say that, even in Romania, in the spirit of Christmas, more and more people have opened their hearts to us, and started to pay more attention to the work we do. As a result, our children have had a safe and joyous time, and have received not only a lot of love, but also much needed presents, such as food, clothing, books,: they also went to a skating rink for the first time, and to see a first-run movie. The photos attached will show you how much happiness and joy our children experienced on each occasion during the last three months.
This fall has been fruitful for us. To begin with, we have about 20 children who started school, Gabriele and Mihaela for the first time. We want to send special thanks to Miriam Gianasso from Switzerland and to her school, as well as to the ING Foundation and to the Rotary Club, for sending us much-needed help in proving books and school supplies for all the children. It was great to see all the children being ready for school!
We also want to thank Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation, who sponsors five of our kindergarten kids and some of the adolescents from the Vocational Highschool.
Dana Moldovan also deserves special thanks for sponsoring another two children as does Olivia Casscadden.
It is a great joy for us to see how young men such as Bogdan, Costi and Marius have entered college, while also working part-time; Mihaela, Tabita, Marinela and Marian also try to work while continuing their studies. Bigo and Gigi started to work, and are now self-sufficient, and able to help their needy families.
This fall also saw the opening of the movie “Money Exchange”, featuring Gabriela. Her spontaneity and expressiveness impressed everyone. She has become a symbol of what can be accomplished through our work, as well as to the power of all those who support Mia’s Children to change a life. This is a living example of how we live our motto,”Invest in a child today, rather than in a prison tomorrow.”
Another fruit of our work has been the admission of four of our children to the Choir of the Romanian Radio, for a total of eight participants to the best ensemble in the country, which is also famous throughout the world.
Among others, we mention our participation in the painting exhibit at the Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation; our participation to the Intergeneration Meeting of this foundation, during which our children sang and danced for the elders, and presented them with hand-made gifts; we presented a singing and dancing show for the First Lady of Senegal.
Among many other activities, the children completed 130 paintings for the Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation; besides the happiness of putting their creativity to use, the children learned an important lesson about the virtues of honest work and of helping others.
Many friends of Mia’s Children from the Rotary Club and others have spoken about our kids, thus bringing us visibility and further help. Although these friends are too numerous to mention, we extend our deepest thanks to them.
Our biggest help has been our mother Foundation, from which we derive the largest portion of our spiritual support, love and encouragement and most of our funding. We could never express enough our gratitude!
Our thanks and prayers go to Ariadna , Mihai, and their children, who have so generously put a roof over our heads.
Prayer requests:
*for the current world crisis to end
*for the new leaders of the US and of Romania to exercise wisdom and respect for God and humankind
*to continue praying for a stable home for our children
*for sponsors and new opportunities
*for good health for our children, ourselves and our supporters
May God bless you all this Christmas and in the coming year! We love you and thank you all!
Mia’s Children Association