In 1990 the world was stunned by the pictures of the starving and freezing children in Romanian orphanages. Some were orphaned but the vast majority were abandoned by families who could not afford to care for them or too ashamed if their children were handicapped or disabled. Even though some have been adopted, the number of abandoned children has in fact increased. In addition, the older orphans are released from the orphanage at the age of 18 and have to fend for themselves without the benefit of any training, life skills, a place to live nor work.  As part of our overall involvement in working with the children in Romania we have cooperated with several orphanages to supply much needed clothes, toys, educational supplies in addition to hygiene and medical needs. We started a sponsorship program in which we placed the adult orphans in safe environments and initiated a scholarship program for impoverished children in rural areas who had no access to schools and have had to abandon their education after eighth grade. The work at these orphanages is ongoing.

Medical Supplies and Equipment 
    
Hospitals in Romania are in need of a vast array of supplies. Many lack basics such as anesthetics, bandages,
and syringes. We have received donated hospital equipment including hospital beds and wheelchairs, supplies such as bandages, scalpels, iodine, anesthetics, and ancillary.  We have also received dental chairs and supplies. We shipped the donated materials by sea containers to various hospitals in rural areas and have helped to upgrade several hospitals and enabled one to stay open after it was scheduled for closure. On occasion we
have conducted medical educational clinics in rural and remote areas.

New Hospital Beds
Thanks to the donations of a number of groups and individuals, we were able to provide 110 new mattresses to half of the patients of the psychiatric section of the hospital at Ti­rnaveni in central Transylvania. They certainly were needed. When we arrived at the gracious old buildings in late May, 2005, we found the conditions on the wards very bleak to our eyes. Rows of beds, each representing the home of one patient were arranged in otherwise bare rooms with communal bathrooms off to one side of each ward. On the iron bedsteads the mattresses were thin and torn or non-existent. The new mattresses were ordered from a workshop in Romania, foam pads with brown vinyl covering.

In the spring of 2003 an elementary/middle school in a remote mountain village in Romania school lacked sanitary facilities, adequate heating system, and functional doors and windows. During the harsh winter months teachers and students were forced to remain fully clothed wearing coats, hats, and gloves and had to get up every 15 minutes to walk around to prevent them from freezing. The object of the reconstruction was to upgrade the quality of the school by installing thermal windows and doors, replace the old ceramic tile heaters with a central heating system, and build indoor bathroom facilities. In addition to the structural changes done to the school we negotiated as part of the contract the equipping of the computer lab with twenty new computers.  In May, 2005, we returned to Scarisoara to build a playground for the elementary school children.  Click on the photos below to see the captions for the pictures.

On April 17, 2004, S.T.A.R. Children Relief organized a one-day symposium titled “Uniting Romania, Uniting the Hemophilia World.” The event, sponsored by Bayer Corporation and represented by Leslie Hall and Inter-Hospital, brought together visitors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Austria, Moldavia and approximately 200 patients and physicians from all corners of Romania. This was the first such celebration in Romania. The objective of this event was to bring together the hemophilia community in Romania. Patients felt united, learned to become involved, and became motivated to work harder. The event took place at the  Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest and started with a men’s church choir who performed traditional Romanian Easter music. It was followed by presentations made by Prof. Dr. Margit Serban, President of the Romanian
Hemophilia Association, and doctors Daniel Lighezan and Valentina Uscatescu, both Vice Presidents of the Romanian Hemophilia Association. Speakers also
included Dr. Luminita Rusen, humanitarian aid worker Bill Boughton from the United Kingdom, Director of L.I.G.H.T. Laurie Kelley from the United States, and
special guest Dr. Hubert Hartl, President of the Austrian Hemophilia Society.  Adriana Henderson of S.T.A.R. Children Relief, USA, was the master of ceremony.
 
   The second part of the event was highlighted by children reciting poems, heart wrenching personal testimonies by men with hemophilia, and a violin
performance by two young brothers with hemophilia who played Ciprian Porumbescu’s “The Lark” and a medley of Romanian folk songs. The event was
followed by a site assessment by S.T.A.R. Children Relief President, Adriana Henderson, and Director of L.I.G.H.T., Laurie Kelley. The trip by car took seven
days and included driving from Bucharest to Iasi, Cimpulung Moldovenesc, Timisoara, Tirgu Jiu and back to Bucharest. Visits were made to patients at home, hospitals, and hemophilia treatment centers.