Day 5

Yesterday we visited Livada Orphan Care to deliver 200 Glycobears and 4 tubs of Ambrotose that will provide nutritional support for 33 kids.  The majority of the kids were teens, which was pretty cool since the Global Rebirth team ranges from ages 14 – 22.  We got into an intense game of soccer, which was a very cool experience for everyone.  After soccer, we did a few skits, puppet shows, and songs with the guitar.  Livada Orphan Care considers themselves more of a family rather than an orphanage.  They take in new children only when someone graduates or moves out, because they don’t want the children they currently have to feel replaced.  The kids stay until they turn 18, but even then they are told they are more than welcome to stay.  Livada helps the kids find jobs, learn financial responsibility, counseling care, and prepare the kids for adult life. The kids attend public schools regularly.  Livada runs entirely on donations and every donation comes from the United States.  They are currently remodeling and today was the first day they were able to move back into one of their buildings.  The kids were so excited to show off their new rooms and were busy unpacking their things and putting them away.  If you would like to donate to Livada Orphan Care so they can continue their excellent work here in Romania, you can visit their website at www.livada.org.

After we left Livada, we met the caretaker at another orphanage to drop of more nutritional supplements.  Sometimes we can’t always visit with the kids for various reasons, but even then we still want to provide them with the nutritional support they need in order to care for the orphans and children that need it most.

Next, we went to Bread of Life orphanage that cares for 90 children of all ages.  We delivered 600 Glycobears and 40 tubs of Ambrotose. The older boys and some of our team got into a serious basketball game which drew a pretty good crowd.  It was so awesome and we really love the chance we get to interact with these kids.  After Basketball we went inside and did some puppet shows, songs, danced, face-painted, made balloon animals and even origami. The kids even sang a couple of songs for us in Romanian! The caretakers were so grateful for our team and showed their appreciation by cooking the entire team dinner.  It was so good!  We had some Romanian coffee and we were quick to learn that Romanian coffee is five times stronger than coffee in the U.S. Each of the kids drew a picture of their orphanage for us and colored them.  Each team member got to choose a picture to keep that would remind them of their visit.

Then we got back on the road and made our way to Bucharest.

Check out some of the photos we have taken!