Fifteen students from the Lausanne Heidelberg and Florence international programs spent Dec. 9–16 volunteering their time at orphanages in Bucharest Romania. The students organized the trip in cooperation with International Programs and Pepperdine Law Professor Andrei Duta a native of Romania.
Sophomore Ally Doyle who is currently attending the Lausanne program spearheaded the organizational effort.
“Last year I contacted Angela Martins in IP about having an Europe IP mission trip in December and she connected me with Dr. Andrei Duta she wrote in an e-mail. Dr. Duta is the founder of a non-profit called His Little Ones, which, according to its website, supports government run orphanages financially in the Bucharest area as well as provides love for the children there.” The primary goals of His Little Ones are to help orphans with all aspects of their everyday life providing them education and facilitating their adoption. The organization is currently sponsoring more than 200 children from four different orphanages in Bucharest.
The volunteers worked primarily in two Bucharest orphanages spending their time doing arts and crafts and eating meals with the children. They also accompanied them on field trips exploring various historical sights including Bran Castle most famously known as the home of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Volunteers began each day with early breakfast at their hotel. They then met up with their driver and two translators ready to begin their missionary work. Each day was unique but usually it consisted of playing games and doing crafts with the orphaned children.
“There was one time when we were able to take a handful of the kids with us on a day trip to see different parts of Romania said Nicholas Law, a sophomore currently in Lausanne.
The best part of each day was to be able to see the orphans happy.” Students would finish volunteering work by 6 p.m. returning to their hotels to plan the next day’s activities. On the weekends students attended services in two different Romanian churches.
“The people that I met in Romanian orphanages left the biggest impression on me said Anna Tiner, a sophomore studying in Florence. It was as if you were a family member or a long time friend. Immediately without even really knowing our names the kids were just so apt to be your best friend and wanted to know everything about you. You could really see Christ’s love through them.”
The volunteers also had the opportunity to connect with local university students.
“It really helped that we had translators during our trip. Two students of the University of Bucharest Oala and Cosmir volunteered to be our guides. They showed us the city and told many interesting fact[s] about life in Romania said Doyle. Professor Duta’s parents helped us a lot too. They are very hospitable and friendly people and they often invited us to amazing dinners she added. The Lausanne students managed to raise $500, donating it to one of the babies’ orphanages in Bucharest. Law gave some details about the fundraising: We did a coin drive in the Lausanne house to raise money for medicine that some of the babies need. We made it a competition for house points to help encourage students to donate. It lasted around a month leading up to the trip. For personal travel expenses to get to Romania I sent out letters to friends and family.”
The people of Romania have since the time of the Soviet Union struggled to care for thousands of orphaned children. Under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu contraception and abortion became illegal. Though Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989 his legacy is present today. It is estimated that up to 200000 children lived in state institutions in 1989. Though the number remaining in orphanages is down to 190 the need for people to care for the orphans is great. The students helped to provide much-needed love for the children and were positively impacted themselves through the love that the children and guides showed them.