Romania is a country that is still hindered by the legacy of institutionalised
orphans and abandoned children that arose under the 25 year Communist rule
of Nicolae Ceausescu. Following the revolution that resulted in Ceausescu’s
execution in 1989, it was discovered that up to 150,000+ orphans and abandoned
children were housed in orphanages across the country, many in very poor
and substandard conditions. Over the past 20+ years successive governments
have worked on solving this massive problem, and in conjunction with the
European Union and various non-profit charitable institutions the situation
has improved greatly, but there still remains an alarming number of of
children in these facilities in Romania (some estimates put it at around
25,000+).
In the early 2000’s we visited Romania on many different occasions
and saw first hand a lot of the poverty, disadvantage, and need amongst
orphans and abandoned children … especially the difficulty they have in
obtaining further education or finding employment once they leave the state
run orphanages at the age of 18-20+ years old.
We also visited a handful
of privately run institutions that provide vocational programs teaching
carpentry skills, car mechanics, tailoring/sewing, etc to orphans and abandoned
children, but there are not that many of these facilities in Romania and
a lot of the orphans struggle to gain further education or find employment
once they leave the orphanage.
We are a team of Australians and New Zealanders that felt compelled to make a difference in the lives of these disadvantaged
young Romanian people by providing opportunities for them to receive valuable
life skills, vocational training and accommodation as they transition from
life in an orphanage into the community.
Growth for Tomorrow was established
in early 2006 and was registered in New Zealand as a Charitable Organisation
in May 2007.
100% of all funds raised in New Zealand and Australia are
sent to Romania and used to assist the orphaned and abandoned children
as they leave the state run institutions (where many of them have spent
the majority of their lives), and to help struggling families in an attempt
to stop the children and youth being put at risk of disadvantage or abandonment.