Initially this work was started by one lady 10 years ago. She opened up her flat, bringing in local kids to cook for them and help them with their homework. Since then and with significant support from Kings Church, Horsham, they are now in a rented building in Brasov, are part of the social outreach of the local church and a legally recognised charity in Brasov. She saw a need with really poor children who were trapped in a cycle of poverty, didn’t get help at home to do their homework, which was a significant factor to them failing at school and not getting an education. This cycle continually led to poor employment prospects. For many of the girls this led to pregnancy at young age and the whole cycle repeated again. She now has 20-30 children and is looking for their own building to further expand the work in the deprived area of Stupini.
The main areas of ministry cover:
- Homework club: helping the kids with their homework and giving them a hot meal; this includes supporting bus fares for the kids to get there.
- Creche: a small creche for some of the mothers from Stupini (ex kids who used to go to the homework club)
- Food bank: food is donated or bought and given out to needy families once a month.
Now, most of the children are integrated into the church and attend the different youth groups in the church, with some of the older ones now serving in the church. One of the biggest visions is to see these kids integrating into the church, serving in the church and being able to make wise choices as they grow up.
One of the more practical visions is to secure a building in the Stupini area where many of these kids come from. Just now the centre is in the city which is quite far from Stupini and having a building in Stupini will allow them to get involved in some many other things. The Mayor of Brasov has or is speaking about donating some land in Stupini for them to build something.
The Tricordant Foundation is one of many supporting this project.