Hope and homes for families

Hope and homes for families

5 September 2012

TWO young charity workers have spoken of their efforts to improve the housing of impoverished families in Romania.

Eighteen year-old Callum Bowsie, from Crossgar, and 17 year-old Sarah Gill, from Killough, have just returned from a two-week trip with Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for families in need of decent and affordable housing.

Callum and Sarah were among eight local volunteers on the trip who joined a team of 31 participants from the Youth Initiatives project — a Northern Ireland-based Christian youth organisation.

Divided up into two teams, the boys worked in a town the size of Downpatrick called Beius while the girls worked outside a large city called Oradea.

Callum said he knew his two weeks would be challenging after stepping off the plane into 40 degree heat.

“The thought of returning on the same plane knowing that I will have helped families out of property stricken shacks and into quality built houses that would not only give them proper shelter, but hope, gave me motivation,” he said.

“The property situation in Romania is underplayed by the government, yet it was still easy to see that many families here struggled to make ends meet. Although Romania is long out of the communist regime the affects are still noticeable.”

Callum explained that as a result of poor quality government built houses, families were left living in houses and flats they could not afford to maintain.

“After seeing the state of the housing in the local town, working on the local building site along with the families that would be living in the houses was very rewarding,” said Callum. “Building with the 13 hardworking lads was a pleasure and making special friendships with each of them made the trip worthwhile in its self.

“Over the course of the trip we visited several orphanages; some private and some state run. It was brilliant playing games with them and taking them out for dinner, but at the same time it was hard knowing some of the stories of why they were here.

“As I gave a small bag of sweets to one wee girl, the joy and gratitude in her face taught me a lot about gratefulness. If I had given that same bag to a child in the UK, they might have told me it wasn’t the right flavour.”

Callum said the highlight of the trip for him was handing over the keys of a house they had finished to the new family who had lived in a dirty hut for 65 years.

“There was a short ceremony by the local orthodox priest who blessed the new house, the new tenants and gave thanks to the Northern Irish volunteers,” he said. “As the key was handed over, every member of the family broke down in tears. They knew that they no longer had to live in miserable conditions, but could now live in a good quality house where their family could thrive.”

Speaking of her experiences in Oradea, Sarah confessed to initially having doubts as to whether or not she should go on the trip.

“Having never hammered a nail or painted a wall in my life I was quite anxious that I would be of no use to the team but rather a hindrance,” she said. “With reassurance and support from others that I could do it, with the help of professional builders onsite and my friends there to support me all the way I decided to sign up.

“As we travelled about the city I noticed how vast the poverty was and this made me want to give all the help I could while I was there.

“We worked on several houses doing every job imaginable from foundations to final coats of paint. The work was strenuous but very rewarding; remembering that in the end a family was going to have a better house to live in than before.”

Sarah said they also visited a local orphanage on several occasions.

“Despite the language barrier and cultural differences we built up many strong friendships with the children,” she said. “This part of the trip was hardest for me. All the time we were in this poverty stricken country we all had loving families back home waiting for us to come home to with open arms, while these children where all left unwanted by their parents and victims of abuse.

“As a team we felt our trip to Romania helped to humble us, build and strengthen relationships and carry out great work for God.”