Day 2, 3, & 4: Can We Really Make A Difference?

Well, we’re here in Cluj and a lot has happened since our last blog.  We had originally planned on posting a new blog every night, but long drives, Internet issues, and late nights have impacted our updates.  Let’s catch up!

On Friday, the 12th, we visited a rather large Gypsy Camp.  We got off the bus and all of the children flocked around us.  It was mind blowing!  Children of all ages jumping with excitement just because we are there!  We passed out candy, Glycobears, and gave tons of hugs.  Many of us were approached by desperate parents begging us to take their children, pleading for us to buy them.  This kind of reality is devastating.  It really hit some of the team members hard and made us recognize how fortunate we really are.  Life is never fair, but we can help make it better.  We delivered over 600 Glycobears to supply the Gypsy Camp with nutrition that is designed to help promote a better quality of life.  We believe by doing this, we can give them hope to a more fruitful life.  After educating the caretakers about the nutritional products we left with a promise that we would return to see them again.  It is our passion to supply these children with the nutritional support they need, and we’ll stop at nothing.

On Saturday, the 13th, we had a day of travel and stopped to visit Bran-Dracula’s Castle on our way to Cluj.

Today, the team attended a church service that included an incredible message.  After the service, we headed to our next Gypsy Camp.  First, we all sang songs inside with the children.  Once we were done singing we all headed outside to the open fields to do puppet shows, dance, and we even played Duck, Duck, Goose!  There were so many kids that the circle was almost as wide as a football field!  It was so much fun and everyone was laughing so hard!  Then, all the boys started playing a game of Soccer, or Futbol.  The team was able to spend a lot of time with the children here and get to know each and every one of them.

We unpacked and stacked up over 1,200 Glycobears and 25 tubs of Ambrotose for this Gypsy Camp, after creating the biggest mountain of Glycobears ever, of course! The caretakers informed us that the winters are very hard for the children since they do not get any nutritional foods, can’t receive medical help, or parents simply can’t afford to feed them.  We were assured that the nutritional supplements that we provided would help get the children through the rough winter and keep them nourished to help promote a strong immune system.  That being said, another mission was accomplished!

Can we really make a difference?  Yes, we really can. Tomorrow, the team will head back to Bucharest, delivering more nutrition to two more orphanages on the way.  We are expecting a long and successful day!