When "Civilised" People Should Take the Example of Animals

Dogs look after their puppies at any cost. They do anything to feed them, to care for them. Cats do the same, and birds, bears, lions, monkeys - likewise. As long as they have puppies, they have no other business, than looking after them. People leave their children. They neglect them. They abandon them. They buy themselves food, cigarettes, drinks. They dress themselves, but show up with naked children, asking for help. If you do not provide this help, some of them just bump their kids wherever they can, and then threaten: "I am leaving them to you to look after them!"

When you end up in the care of others than your parents, things get even more complicated. Others have no "moral" task, maybe just an administrative one. So the children become even more vulnerable, more overlooked. They are at the hand of others, who couldn"t care less.

Let us come back to animals: the more vulnerable puppies they have, more helpless - the more protective they are with them. When it comes to humans, things get upside down again: the more vulnerable, more helpless children they have (look at the disabled children) - more do they let them down and neglect them. They take their hands off them and, in many cases, these children end up being the most disadvantaged. Often, in old style institutions, behind closed doors and windows, so that nobody hears and listens to whatever goes on inside. And even if they hear, what happens? We make noise and scandal for three days, we argue and say "unbelievable!", and that"s it. As we would have done whatever we needed to do.

Yes. We still have a lot to learn from animals. And I do not think there are any more ferocious animals than humans themselves.

Alexandru Tomescu - the Violin Master, Stradivarius Tour and HHC Romania

True, the three names are linked by children and vulnerable families. Because Alexandru Tomescu, HHC Romania Ambassador, wants to help them. He wants to make a change in their lives, through the bow of the violin he plays with so much genius. Tonight, in the Roman-Catholic Church in Baia Mare, by Stefan"s Tower, he concerts for HHC Romania. I think it is a phenomenal artistic effort. To play parts of such difficulty must be a very rare performance. And the link created between the Stradivarius Tour and the programmes of HHC Romania is very strong: in a way, the intensity of Alexandru Tomescu"s artistic performance is counterbalanced by the organisational performance of the people in HHC Romania. Alexandru confessed to me how the preparation process for these concerts required his escape from the every-day life, a seclusion in which, for weeks, he communicated with his violin. In the same way, many of the projects done by the people who are in HHC Romania, require focus, ambition and a very special dedication.

Half of the Children in Romania Live in Poverty

Poverty is a state of normality for the children in our country: half of them live on the verge of poverty and social exclusion. Officially, a quarter of them survive in sheer poverty. With parents unable to find jobs, living in awful dwellings, we have some of the poorest children in Europe. The social services are thus even more important, especially in terms of interventions for families in need and their children. We should therefore take them into consideration together, as one, and not separately, if we intend to grow hundreds of thousands of children in families, not institutions.

Creating jobs and the capacity to have socially active citizens should be top priorities for any state caring about its future. Because the future of any state is the children it has. Social assistance and social allocations are flawed systems, if the fuel of social services is not there for the families as a whole. Here, the Romanian state has a lot to work on. And the capacity to create jobs, or to maintain jobs, should be strategically related to bringing unemployed parents to work. Otherwise, we keep unsustainable allowances and social payments which would dry up, due to the lack of resources. And more and more children will become poor, the number of those who can hardly live from one day to the other - increasing year by year.

Natalie Pinkham Inspires People to Fight for Children"s Rights

Rarely have I seen such an exclusive gathering of royalty, celebrities, politicians and elite business people, as Tuesday, April 30, in the Houses of Parliament, at the Mirela Fund Event, organised by Natalie Pinkham and Hope and Homes for Children. Truly the heart and soul behind this event, hosted by Caroline Nokes, MP, Natalie managed to put childcare on the spotlight in a very special evening. Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York, but also the prestigious Mezzo-Soprano, Katherine Jenkins are but a few of the highly exclusive participants to this event. The cordiality of the discussions, the authenticity of the dialogues, the warmth of the environment - are elements telling me the event will prove to have been a success.

Natalie Pinkham proves very special dedication and comittment to bringing child institutionalisation to an end. I am sure that her enthusiasm and drive will inspire more people to do the same. Because every child should grow up in a family.

Thank you, Natalie, for being such an amazing ally!

When Emotions Instigates Action

Natalie Pinkham visited Slatina some time ago. She met a few youngsters in institutions and Mirela"s story impressed her so much that she came back, she contacted us and started raising the funds for a house in which Mirela could live a new life with her siblings. But the emotion stirred by Mirela leads the change for the better in the lives of many youngsters with special needs: 11 more of them are going to live with Mirela, in the house to be built by the year end.

I think that Natalie Pinkham"s initiative is going to lead to the closure of the institutions in Slativa. This is just the beginning.

Tomorrow, Natalie is organising an event in the House of Commons, and 130 personalities are expected to participate. I shall be with her and I do hope she is going to raise the resourced needed for such a special project. So that Mirela"s life is changed for ever, and she and her siblings and friends can enjoy a family-like existence.