Meet Flavia and the Cumpata family...

Flavia

Flavia's story...
During one of the trips I took to Romania in 2009, Doina told me a very interesting story about a blind girl in a small village named Patars (pa-tersh), which is a good drive from Arad. We visited that village and met the girl. Her name is Flavia.  She was born with physical and visual impairments that lead her parents to neglect her. They literally left her inside every day, sometimes restrained and barely gave her anything to eat. She was emaciated.

Flavia and her 'Mom'

A older Christian man in her village found out about her, and he asked her parents if he could care for her during the day when they were gone-- either working or looking for work. They said no to him, but he did not give up. When her parents left the village, he figured out a way to get around the chain type lock on their front door and took opportunity to slip Flavia sugar water and bits of food through the opening,  just so she could survive. This went on for a while until her parents discovered what he had been doing. They were not happy. They forbid him from coming to visit. But that didn't stop him. He continued to secretly support Flavia in any way he could. It wasn't long before the family broke up and Flavia was left behind. The old man took her into his home and treated her as if she were his own daughter.

The man's efforts came to RCE's attention when someone Doina knew from the village told her the story.  He asked if RCE could help the old man and his new special needs 'daughter'. Doina made contact with the man and RCE began to provide occasional food and diapers for the girl. Whenever the man ventured into Arad from his village he would stop by to see Doina.  They heard from him every few months or so.  Then came a long period of time when there was no contact. They worried and tried to get in touch with the man through their mutual friend. They found out the old man was in the hospital and had left the girl with one of his neighbors. It wasn't long before they found out he had died.  Doina got in contact with someone in the village to make sure Flavia was ok. It was then that she found out the incredible ending to this story.

Church in village of Patars

She found out that the neighbor of the old  man, the woman he had asked to care for Flavia while he was in the hospital had taken her in. She told Doina that the man had asked her to care for Flavia while he was gone and that if he died, take her into her home as her daughter. He asked her to  provide for her and love her as he had.  He wanted to make sure Flavia didn't end up in the terrible state orphanage system. The woman agreed to do all of this without hesitation. She took this blind physically impaired little girl who had no means of communication available to her, into her home and still loves her and cares for her to this very day. Flavia is now 15 years old.

Flavia's chickens

I was able to visit Flavia and her family during this trip, for a second time. She continues to be well cared for and with help from some medicines she's been taking recently, has begun to make some sounds. Her 'Mom' hopes she can some day say a few words. Until then, she is happy, healthy and so glad to be part of a family.

Mr. Cumpata

The Cumpata (coom-pata) family of the village of Livada (liv-ada) is a hard working, industrious family that is poor yet thriving. A couple years back, RCE went into partnership with the family and, as it turns out, gave them just the 'push' they needed to start work on their new home. A large family with 12 children (including 2 sets of twins) and a severely impaired young son with Down's Syndrome (and likely some form of Autism in addition), they needed more space for their family and their farm.

'Some' of the Cumpata children

The family lives off their land by raising many vegetables and animals. RCE helped repair the family's tractor and now Mr. Cumpata can make money by helping to transport things for the families in his neighborhood. The family also has a greenhouse, so they can grow some vegetables year round.

Initially, they didn't see the value in keeping their children in school beyond tenth grade-- "for what, they asked?" RCE required that they keep the kids in school in order to maintain the partnership..well aware of the many opportunities that would be available to them if they graduated from high school. The family finally agreed and now their oldest son who finished school has a job, was able to buy his own car and is a huge help to the family. The other children will follow him.

The family is building a new house on their property with the help of RCE. They are so proud of their hard work and plan to finish the house this summer. In their current home, all the boys sleep in one room, all of the girls in another. The parents sleep in the living room. The house has 2 bedrooms, a living room and a very small kitchen. So all the rooms are more than used. In the new house, there will be 4 bedrooms, a large kitchen, a pantry, a living room and another room in the back of the house. The parents told us that their boys are especially excited about having more space when the new house is done.

Romanian Word of the Day:

Type of cheese filled pastry= langos (lan-goshe)

Langos is for sale everywhere in Romania. There are stands in the market, along the roadside and even in stores. Langos is a salty pastry that is topped with cheese/dill; chocolate or many other toppings. It's then folded up and eaten very quickly because it's so delicious!

When I was taking these pictures, I didn't tell the ladies in the langos stand before I took them and my flash went off. They kept laughing because they thought it was lightning.


Note: there will be 2 blog postings today, so be on the lookout..