Weekly update 31/25 Engels

The 29 tons of potatoes we received from an arable farmer in Biddinghuizen made it a special week.

Jac. Smit of St. Manna arranged this, including the transport from Biddinghuizen to the Gebr. Beetsma Wieringerwerf. This took place on Monday morning, July 28th. Immediately upon arrival, we began packing these potatoes from the crates into 20-kilo bags. They were excellent potatoes, but they went into the crates as field crops. The remaining foliage and soil still had to be removed; the machine does a lot, but there's still some manual work to be done. A big job, but the batch was ready Tuesday morning!

On Wednesday, Nico and Kees picked up the portion that couldn't be shipped directly to Romania and brought in some light "stuff" that could be reloaded. Thursday afternoon, a Romanian truck with a refrigerated trailer arrived to load the batch at the Gebr. Beetsma. It contained 17,500 kilos of potatoes and another 3,500 kilos of other goodies. The trailer is expected to unload in Breaza next Monday or Tuesday.

Here's the link to a photo album.

Wim Bos came to unload the shipment I wrote about last time on Tuesday afternoon, and Nico also had a pickup job on Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday was for pickup and a lot of repacking. We were also able to continue with the pasta project. The current daily record is two big bags of 600 kg in cookie tins.

Here's the link to a photo album.

Cristi sent photos of the unloading of the trailer in Botosani. He was surprised by the contents and very happy to be able to distribute them. Just like everywhere in Romania, living costs are rising more than average. Many people simply can't make ends meet. There's not enough employment in that region; many people are unemployed. The elderly are vulnerable because they have little or no pension.

Here's the link to photos of the unloading.

Here's the link to photos with an explanation of the distribution.

In Suceava and Neamt, a river overflowed its banks due to excessive rainfall. Three people died and extensive damage to houses, etc., was caused. It is 150 kilometers from Botosani.

Here is the link to photos of this disaster.

Henk Muller distributed items from Breaza to people in need in a large area. See the photo report below.

Here is the link to the photos.

In Breaza, the local carpenter's house was largely burned down. His workshop, with its machinery and supplies, was spared. In the Netherlands, almost everyone is insured against fire damage. This is less common in Romania, and this man was not either.

Here is the link to some photos.

Reghina from Ticau also helped people in and around her village.

Here is the link to a photo album.

Marin and Enico from Band have been busy. They have renovated a house and started building a new one, both very necessary. Food has been cooked for the children again, a very important service in this community.

Marin told me a story about workers who could no longer work in Germany for the employment agency she had hired. They were wandering the streets, sleeping in the train station or the park. The mayor of Band sent a van to pick them up. So instead of earning money, they incurred more debt.

Here's the link to a photo album.

Viorel and Elena have done a mountain of work, just like every week. It's all very special, and it's wonderful that we can help make this possible.

Here's the link to a photo album.

Joszi and his team from Tirgu Mures have completed their weekly program again, very necessary and very useful work.

Here's the link to a photo album.

It's wonderful that we can contribute to making this possible. Unfortunately, it's far from unnecessary.

Next Wednesday we'll be loading another trailer with potatoes. The remainder that was packaged in Wieringerwerf, along with the batch they prepared for us at Manna in Alkmaar. There are also pickup and cleanup jobs.