Weekly update 48/24 Engels.

The trip that I made with Gerrit Beetsma to Romania went well and was also useful. On Monday at the end of the afternoon we were in Debrecen where Attila from Marghita picked us up. Csaba from Breaza had also arrived at the farm in the meantime.

On Tuesday 26 November we discussed the current affairs on the farm with Attila and Ference, they were useful and good conversations. In the meantime the machines were cleaned and made ready for winter. The potato sorting went well with the renewed sorting machine. The sale of vegetables and potatoes from the stall at the farm is going well, there is still a nice range of products for sale. There is still harvest from the tunnel greenhouses and cabbage from the land. This is winter-hardy cabbage that can withstand up to -\- 10 C.

It has been a difficult season due to the weather conditions. There was a very wet period as well as a very warm and dry period. With damage from hailstones and storms. In other parts of Romania the damage from the drought was much greater. In Marghita, the harvest was not a top one this year, but it was reasonable. The price of a number of products was disappointing, especially wheat, which is low. Other products, especially vegetable cultivation, were higher than normal. The risks of farms are increasing due to climate change, this is the case worldwide.

It is and remains a beautiful farm with motivated employees who have again achieved a more average performance. The fact that part of the harvest goes to poor people is of course also great.

This year marks the twentyth anniversary of the start of this project. Partly for that reason, we organised a lunch with almost all the staff and afterwards everyone received a present. It was a wonderful experience for everyone present, something different and a token of appreciation. Who doesn't need that from time to time?

The truck with Christmas packages arrived at the farm on Wednesday afternoon to unload and then went through Reghina in Ticau.

Here is the link to our travel photos.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gerrit, Csaba and I set off for our second location, Breaza. It is a good place for any traveler. We made a stopover in the second most important city of Romania, Cluj Napoca.

It is interesting to read this Wikipedia page about this city.

On Thursday 28 November we visited Marin in Band. It is not easy for him to do his job either. He had a lot of trouble bringing the body of the man who died in Hungary to his wife and children in Band. Eventually he succeeded and he was buried in Band on Wednesday. Not an easy time for his wife and children.

Here is the link to photos.

We talked about daily life in his village and recent events. On top of the already considerable problems that these people have, a relatively new phenomenon is taking out loans from loan sharks. This is of course not new, but the collateral is, which can now be child benefit (!). For a number of children, this then disappears into the pockets of the loan sharks. Marin told a story about someone who had bought a horse and a cart this way and now illegally goes to collect wood in the forest and sell it to the people in the village. The penalties for this are high, think: losing the horse, losing the cart, a fine and a few years in prison. Buying pigs this way is often too expensive. People who do earn money by working abroad or in Romania itself often do not spend it wisely, even Marin is surprised about that.

Another event that was experienced as shocking was: in a neighborhood with gypsies in Band, a number of children had been noticed to have lice at school. Something that I think still sometimes happens in the Netherlands, I think. The headmaster of this school had decided to bring in a TV station, specialized in TV broadcasts about accidents and disasters, only disasters and then exaggerated, as spectacular as possible. Children were no longer allowed to go to school, women who went to the hospital for treatment or to give birth were treated very humiliatingly. There is still a lot of anger and disappointment about this discriminatory treatment of this vulnerable group of people.

Here is the link to the photos.

In Breaza we unloaded the truck with Christmas packages on Thursday afternoon, this went in record time. My contribution was limited to taking photos, the regular team tackled it energetically. They really enjoyed this job. Daniel from Gabrovo near Alba Iulia called me and asked if there were any packages for him too, he received forty on Thursday afternoon and cookies. When he starts talking about his work and his experiences, he can't be stopped.

On Friday we met Ilja Witte from Phoneo and had a chat. The last truck with Christmas parcels came to unload in Breaza and then in Reghin at Phoneo. Henk Muller came to pick up 250 immediately and in the afternoon we brought a batch to Elena in Urmenis. We had a cup of coffee there, there is always something to tell about how that goes. We also met Tony, Tony lived with Csaba and Imola for a long time, he now lives with his mother in a house diagonally opposite Elena. He works in a factory where they make cables. He is doing well, his sister Carmen has just given birth to her first child. Carmen lives with her boyfriend in Bistrita.

Last Saturday, November 30, the return journey went smoothly, we look back on a nice and useful trip.

Henk Muller sent photos with an explanation of his activities.

Here is the link to the photos.

Reghina from Ticau also shared photos of her activities. She received the parcels together with cookies and a batch of potatoes. The Opel Combo is in the garage with a technical problem.

Here is the link to the photos.

Viorel and Elena from Deja have also worked hard again, renovating houses, making bread, delivering food, good work. The time when many pigs are slaughtered has arrived, under the heading of cultural heritage this is still allowed. Viorel sent a photo of him slaughtering a cow.

Here is the link to the photos.

Joszi from Tirgu Mures is happy and grateful that we support him. When you see the photos every week and also know how children, adults and old people live there, this support is well spent in my opinion.

Here is the link to the photos.

The activities of the Promotie foundation in Broek op Langedijk are far from redundant.

I saw in the shed last week when we picked up Gerrit's car on Saturday that there were collection jobs.

On Monday afternoon there is a collection job in Amsterdam and on Tuesday a trailer with relief supplies will be unloaded in Broek op Langedijk.

Next Wednesday a trailer will be loaded that will be destined for Breaza.