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Seventeen-year-old Gillian Larmour and her 15-year-old sister Ashleigh from Beechway, members of our Parish, travelled out to Sighisoara in Transylvania, Romania for 3 weeks in August with Project Romania. Project Romania is a Christian charity based in Northern Ireland, which does a lot of work in Sighisoara. The girl's Uncle, the Reverend Norman Patterson and his wife Linda are involved in the Project, and even live out there for a good bit of the year. The sisters were part of an eight-strong team from Northern Ireland who went with the aim of bringing a smile to the children's faces. For Gillian it was a return visit, but for sister Ashleigh the experience was new;
"Our adventure began almost immediately on the 21st July…even getting to the airport was a task, our car broke down! But God stayed with us and we arrived in Sighisoara 23 hours after we left Northern Ireland safe and well, but very tired and glad to get there.
We arrived to some distressing news, baby Jonni, who Gillian had worked with last year in the baby unit, had died, just 10 hours before we arrived. Even though we were so excited to be in Romania there was a silence during the car journey to the house, it was clear everyone was praying and thinking about little Jonni. Jonni was 2 years and 2 months old; he was in the hospital since he was 3 weeks old with fluid in the brain. Last summer Jonni was blind, deaf, having fits and although he was hanging on, no one ever dreamt that he would last a whole year. Jonni needed a shunt put in when he was first born, but didn’t get it because he was a gypsy child and was almost like the scum of the earth in everyone else’s eyes. It was hard, Jonni was in a bad way, and although we never saw him this summer, we can only imagine what he looked like, he was 5Lbs weight when he died and his massive swollen head was the size of a football. Jonni touched so many lives, even those who he didn’t meet and even though there is still many tears shed over Jonni, we really thank God he is now in a better place. There was also another death in one of the villages on the same day; a wee boy called Addi who was 12 years old died of aids. The first week was a hard one…trying to come to terms with the deaths of 2 children…both of which had had no reason to suffer, was tough."
Part of the girl's remit was to visit villages, wash the young orphans and read Bible stories to them. During the three week visit they fed around 1,000 kids. They also showed the Jesus video which was received well by the locals, especially adults upon whom the Christian message really made an impact. However, during the three weeks in the eastern European country, the pair were shocked by the basic conditions the Romanians have to endure. "The hospital in particular was very basic and it was very hard to leave the kids at the end of the trip. "You couldn't leave any toys in their cots because the next day they would be gone, and it was sad to see this happen," said Gillian.
"After we got the first week over us, and we got our test results back (so we could get to work in the hospital) then we got stuck in and the hard work really began! Each day we were allowed a shift each of 2 hours in the baby unit. The baby unit is actually a hospital for sick children but because of the high number of mothers abandoning their children, it has a lot of healthy children in it. We worked with 6 children in total each day ageing from 2- 3 years. It was a true joy to be able to go in and just spend a little time with them, giving them the love and attention they yearn for. We, depending on the time of our shift, got to change the babies, feed them a terrible meal that the nurses supplied…of bread mashed up with tea, and then take them to a play room. We then spent about an hour and a half playing with them, often the only interaction they get with other people during the day.
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Also each day we went into a village, we worked in 4 villages all together so we got to go to them all at least twice. The village work is so much fun to do, the feeling is indescribable, you get filled with so much joy and love just seeing these little kids who have nothing run to you for a hug and a kiss. Some of them picked us flowers and give us fruit, it was amazing. The village work we did was, we firstly washed all the kids hairs with a strong tea-tree shampoo, which is great for getting rid of nits! After they got their hands and faced washed…as they were filthy! Once they were washed, they were rewarded- by getting their face painted…none of us knew we could face paint, but at the end of it all we were experts at doing tigers, dogs and lots of other pictures! We played some games like accident and ratza ratza gooska (duck duck goose!) Then came the important part, the kids all sang some songs in Romanian and then we taught them "God is so good" in English, which they loved! They then listened to a Bible story, normally told by David Maguire, who is a man from England who has been living and working in Romania for 7 years now, and does a lot of work for Project Romania.
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With the help of a translator, the kids and some adults were told the word of God through our work. Then we prayed with them all and at last…it was food time! We brought out pots of pasta and vegetables with us and all the kids got pasta…which they loved! It was probable that it would be their only meal of the day! We reckon we fed around 1000 kids in the 2 weeks we worked in the villages, which we think is a huge achievement!
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During our stay, we also tried our hand at some building work! We spent 3 days mixing cement, carrying and laying bricks, mixing more cement and even a bit of plastering! We built a store for Project Romania in which to keep aid that is generously sent by container from Northern Ireland. It was fun, even though we always ended up plastered ourselves…we maybe weren’t the best builders but it looked well and done the job (even if we do say so ourselves!)
Our trip really was a trip of a lifetime…we done so much more than I have talked about but it’s impossible to mention it all! We both personally got a lot out of spending time out there. The sights, sounds, and the wonderful people will always stick in our minds and we shall never ever forget it. To anyone thinking of taking part in any sort of missionary work, we’d definitely recommend it; there’s no feeling like it."
The girls were overwhelmed at the help and support they received during their fundraising. Without it their trip would not have been possible. They raised a staggering £1,858.05 which helped fund their trip, and will put roofs on houses built by Project Romania for village children.
It is impossible to thank everyone individually but the girls would like to take this opportunity to thank local businesses for their help including - the Royal British Legion, Domestic Appliance Centre, Supervalu, Oldtown Inn, Rooms Etc, McGlaughlin's Bakery, A Cut Above, Derek's Den, Morgan's School of Music, Pukka Interiors and Cookstown District Council.
"We’d finally just like to thank everyone who supported us financially and especially though prayer, thanks!"
Gillian and Ashleigh Larmour.
