EDUCATE disabled Romanian orphans DENIED EDUCATION

Dear Friends,

How lucky we were to spend nearly two weeks with our amazing children at Delia's Center for Special Needs Kids. At the end of September, I traveled with our CEO, Laura Larkin and new U.S. Board Member Kyle Arney to Barlad. We were fortunate to have a new volunteer join us - -our longtime supporter Luisa came for a few days to be with the kids and get to know everyone. The kids were so thrilled as Luisa speaks some Romanian!  Everyone had a wonderful time listening to her read books, playing games, and singing and dancing!    

While Laura had already been in our new location, helping the team to move in June, it was the first time for me and Kyle. How proud we were to see the friendly, welcoming environment that has been created for the children! We are also so proud of our children for attending school despite the struggles they face each day. It still always surprises us how these kids can be in regular classrooms with no suppport - no special education teacher, no support aide. Every day it is so tough for them to keep up or even sit in the class. Our team works diligently with them to provide educational support according to their needs!    The one thing that truly was heartbreaking to us was learning how so many of our kids are bullied in school by their peers - for their differences, level of poverty, lack of clothing, etc. Plus there is usually no intervention by teachers and even the teachers often don't give a break to a child who is unable to have proper school supplies. This leads us to consider what we can do and while our staff does provide emotional support, we would like to develop a support program for the children and for parents.

Below are some photos to share with you!  It is a peak into the fun we had visiting and our special kids!

As always,  please reach out with any questions; lauren@deliafoundation.org

Thank you for caring!

Best,

Lauren