Foundation Promotie / Aid Transports to Romania

Transport by train to Romania takes some getting used to. With road transport you can follow the truck well, but with the train it is different. The first trailer that went to Romania by train has been delayed, according to the latest reports it will be unloaded in Breaza on Monday. Last Wednesday, February 21, we loaded a trailer with destination Marghita. We were able to put together a nice load including food and a lot of tasty things. Furthermore, mainly used clothing and some furniture. This trailer also went on the train, so we had to secure the load extra well. It takes a little more time but prevents problems. Here is the link to photos. In Weesp we were able to buy a batch of preserves from Esther Veenstra (Frenze BV) at a reasonable price that will be included in the Easter packages. Nico and Abe picked this up there, and there were also collection jobs in Amsterdam, Schagen and Den Helder. We were also supposed to load for Jan Pilkes from St. Caritas, but this did not happe...

Last week we shipped a trailer that will cover part of the route to Breaza by train. This concerns the stretch from Cologne to Arad, the trailer went on the train in Cologne and in Arad another tractor picks it up again for the last stretch to Breaza. We want to gain experience with this and thus avoid the crowds and controls at the Hungary/Romania border. On Wednesday, February 14, the loading of this trailer went well, there was quite a bit of repacking work and we were able to load a beautifully varied trailer with relief goods. The driver had to wait a little longer for his papers, Mission & Relief from Zevenhuizen produced additional documents. At 1:30 PM the driver headed to the terminal in Cologne. I don't know (yet) where the trailer is, we'll hear more about this early next week. Here is the link to photos. There were still some collection jobs, this was also the case on Monday just like last Friday. The warehouse is therefore still well filled. Next week we will l...

We have had another fruitful week in which many things have happened. Two trucks with very valuable relief supplies have been sent. The first truck arrived to be loaded on Wednesday, February 7 and was destined for Breaza. It was the first time that Mission and Relief from Zevenhuizen had arranged this. We still had to prepare the load, but as always, many hands make light work. It turned out to be a nice load and at 1:00 PM the driver started his journey to Breaza. There were pick-up jobs, everyone was busy. Here is the link to photos. On Friday, February 9, he crossed the border without any problems, only the back door had to be opened. The driver had to answer the question whether the entire load consisted of similar goods, this was the case. He then received a statement that customs had broken the seal and he could continue. The weight of the cargo was 20.000 kilos. The unloading on Saturday morning went smoothly, Csaba is happy with the team of people from the village who came to ...

This week we were able to send another trailer with valuable relief supplies to Romania. We also continued to replenish our stock so that we still don't have to say no to the people we care about in Romania. It is of course great that volunteers, sponsors, institutions and companies make this possible. We have sometimes considered taking things a bit easier. In short, the responses from our contacts from Romania were: please don't do this. Your help is extremely important to many people. What touches me are sometimes the relatively small things. Csaba from Breaza came to deliver a food package to Mr. Piu in Filpisu Mic and noticed that this old man was sitting in the cold. There was no more firewood and he couldn't arrange anything himself, he sat there like a pitiful pile of people in the cold. Csaba went back home and got some firewood with which he got the stove on fire again. The next day he came by again and told me: Maarten, what a difference it makes, a warm house. M...

This is the first blog I'm writing on my new computer so it takes some getting used to. The photo albums are not working perfectly yet, placing text between the photos is not (yet) possible. It has been another fruitful week, we have been able to do a lot. The first collection job was on Tuesday. We had a nice stock to load some of the next day. Right on time, a truck was at our door on Wednesday, January 24, which could be loaded for destination Botosani. In addition to loading, there were collection jobs to be done, as well as cleaning up and sorting. About lunchtime the trailer was completely full with a valuable load of relief supplies. Also a batch of garden seeds, for example, useful and also reminiscent of spring. Here is the link to photos of the loading. In Breaza they stood in line to pick up the goods that we had loaded the week before in Broek op Langedijk. It was cold and then the lack of food and warmth became even more apparent. Csaba from Breaza was able to buy thre...

After a hesitant start in 2024, we are now gaining momentum. On Tuesday, January 16, we loaded a nice load for St. Caritas Ukraine-Holland de Rijp in Broek op Langedijk. Jan Pilkes, the chairman of this foundation, came to load with his own team. Due to the snowfall we had a late start, but otherwise everything went fine. 20.000 kilos of beautiful, usable relief goods have been loaded. The truck is now in Ukraine and will soon be unloaded in Nova Odessa. We will receive a report on how it all goes. Here is the link to photos of the loading. On Wednesday, January 17, we were able to load a trailer bound for our depot in Breaza. Loading went without any problems, a so-called box trailer works easily. This has also become a nice load. Here is the link to photos of the loading. Rabu the driver, ended up in bad weather in Germany. Fortunately, he was not involved in any accidents. On Friday evening at 11 p.m. he crossed the border between Hungary and Romania without any problems. Saturday a...

A truck came to load on Monday January 8th. We started with a small group at 1:00 PM. First loaded Henk Muller's Ford Transit and then a nice load of usable goods. This with destination Breaza, an important distribution point in the middle of Romania. Here is the link to photos. The driver was seriously delayed due to protests by German farmers. His compatriots at the border also caused delays. Customs officials and their colleagues from the service that monitors public health and the environment now extensively check every truck carrying relief goods as standard. This equates to a long wait and a lot of whining. The truck will be in Breaza on Monday. We hoped that another truck would come and load in Broek op Langedijk, but unfortunately this did not work out. On Wednesday we were able to clean up and sort. Just like collecting goods from various places. There was another collection campaign on Thursday, our warehouse is quite full again. As I wrote last time, we will be loading a...