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TWENTY YEARS IN ROMANIA has seen Health Action Overseas progress from emergency work with
severely malnourished children living in appalling conditions in Romania’s orphanages, to
supporting young people leave the institutions, live in their own apartments and find
employment.

In 1990 the plight of Romanian orphans shocked the world following the publicity received
in post-Ceausescu’s Romania. The images of twisted limbs, malnutrition and little faces
without hope remain imprinted on our minds.   In response, Health Action Overseas took
responsibility for the care of children and young people with disability in Constanta, a
town on the Black Sea and in Galati, a city close to the Danube Delta.

The results over those 20 years has been amazing; in addition to the many children’s
lives saved, a large number of immobile and non-verbal children of all ages are now
walking and talking thanks to the work of HAO therapists and volunteers who over the
years travelled to Romania to work in the orphanages.

Adrian was one of those children; he was 9 years old, unable to walk or talk when James
Dillon first found him in one of Romania’s orphanages. Abandoned at the age of 3, he
spent the next 6 years of his life in a baby’s cot.  Adrian had been labelled
‘irrecuperable’; in Romania this means someone who cannot progress or learn.  Now in his
20s he is in full time paid employment and with the support of HAO in March 2011, Adrian
moved into his own studio apartment, a dream he would otherwise not have realised.

Today HAO’s main focus is on young people with disability who on reaching the age of 18
are no longer eligible for child services. The options for these young people are limited
and are usually either placement in Adult Neuropsychiatric institutions or a life on the
streets. HAO are currently supporting 19 young people; 8 living in a group home, 9 in
semi independent living apartments and 2 living in their own apartments.

HAO work in 5 areas of social development:

Social inclusion: bringing young people with a disability out of institutional care to
live in the community in group homes and independent living apartments
.
Social & Advocacy Network: providing opportunities for young people with a disability to
develop a network of friends and gain the skills to advocate for their rights.

Parent/Carer Network: supporting parents and carers of children and young people with
disability to provide support to each other and lobby for better services.

Employment: providing training and support to young people with a disability to gain paid
employment.

Training: providing competency based training in good practice models to staff working
with people with a disability.

HAO are currently recruiting volunteers for the following positions:

1)HAO Events Co-ordinator.
2)HAO Events team.

For full information relating to these opportunities, please email
Brendan Collins (Ireland) brendancollinswexford@gmail.com or Kathleen Biggs(Romania)
hao@iol.ie

For more information on the charity, check out their website
http://www.hao.ie/healthactionoverseas/Main/1024Mission.htm or follow them on Facebook!

After two wonderful years, I am finishing up with Comber at the end of August to travel. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to help develop the EEAD Network and was privileged to meet so many amazing people and find out so much about the work that is being done by thousands of Irish people all around central and eastern Europe – long may it continue!

As you know, a new Steering Group was elected in May. Mairie Cregan of Aurelia Trust in Cork was elected Chairperson and Brian O’Sullivan from Burren Chernobyl Project is taking over the role of Network Co-ordinator. Brian will do news updates on the website and by email and can be reached at info@easterneurope.ie/ 087-7874609. Please do stay in touch with Brian and send him on any news items or updates from your organisation. 

At our last meeting, the Steering Group began preparations for our third annual conference – planned for February 2012 in Cork.

There are also plans underway to host an informal workshop for charities working in disability services in Autumn this year.

Brian will be in touch with updates on these events as they are finalised over the coming months.

Remember if you’re not yet officially a member of the Network, you can sign up at http://www.easterneurope.ie/get-involved  – it’s free! and your organisation gets listed on our online directory.

The 2010-11 Progress Report for the Network and accounts for the project over the last two years are now available at www.easterneurope.ie/about 

I wish the Network every success in the future, and strongly believe that we all have a lot to gain by learning and sharing with each other – I know I have personally benefitted a huge amount. I hope the spirit of co-operation, trust and partnership between the Network members continues for many years.

Best wishes to you all in your own work & many thanks for everything, 

Frances 

Frances Haworth

Eastern Europe Aid & Development Network

www.easterneurope.ie

1. Civil Society Funding 2011

A maximum budget of €2 million is being distributed in the next Irish Aid Civil Society Funding round for 2011. Last year there were c. 70 applications, of which 20 were successful (total funds distributed c. €7 million). Since the Partnership Programme for Europe and Central Asia was dissolved, and the Micro-Projects Scheme ceased; this is currently the main funding stream for which Irish NGOs working in Central and Eastern Europe are eligible to apply. Irish Friends of Albania is currently the only Network member group who is in receipt of project funding through CSF.

Timeframe for applications: It is planned Irish Aid will make a call for proposals in mid-late July on their website (see link below). The closing date will be in early September. After the call for proposals is made, there will be an information session held for NGOs/ charities interested in applying.

Eligibility: Irish Aid utilises the OECD DAC list of countries eligible for development assistance – please see list here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/40/43540882.pdf  

For more information on CSF please see www.irishaid.gov.ie/grants_civil.asp.

2. Simon Cumbers Media Fund

In 2005 Irish Aid established the Simon Cumbers Media Fund to assist and promote more and better quality media coverage of development issues in the Irish media. The next funding round will be announced in early August and the closing date for applications will be early September. Funding is available up to a maximum of €10,000 to media organisations, media professionals or media students to cover the costs of a project relating to development issues abroad. For more information, please visit: www.simoncumbersmediafund.ie  

To date, the Simon Cumbers fund has supported several projects in Central and Eastern Europe; including the following examples:

•           Dancing with Two Left Legs: Bosnia and Herzegovina – Claire Cunningham

(http://www.simoncumbersmediafund.ie/index.php/project-showcase/dancing-with-two-left-legs-bosnia-and-herzegovina-claire-cunningham/)

•           Inside Belarus: Belarus – Catherine Reilly

(http://www.simoncumbersmediafund.ie/index.php/project-showcase/inside-belarus-belarus-catherine-reilly/)

•           Birth of a new nation: Kosovo – Conor Creighton & Steve Ryan

(http://www.simoncumbersmediafund.ie/index.php/project-showcase/birth-of-a-new-nation-kosovo-conor-creighton-steve-ryan/)

Very best wishes,

Frances

Frances Haworth,

Co-ordinator

Eastern Europe Aid & Development Network

www.easterneurope.ie

Title: “An Insight into the Current Situation in Belarus”

Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), 8 North Great Georges Street, Dublin 1

Date: 22 Jun 2011 @ 3pm

Participation Fee: €50 for non-IIEA members. 

Further information available by contacting the IIEA, T: 01 8746756, E: reception@iiea.com, W: www.iiea.com.

See http://www.iiea.com/events/an-insight-into-the-current-situation-in-belarus

About the Speaker:

Ms. Kristina Vaiciunaite is the Director of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) in Lithuania. She has been running the EESC since 2006 and specialises in Eastern Europe’s regional political processes, including the situation in Belarus. She has been working at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University since 1997.

About the Speech:

In her address to the Institute, the Director of the EESC will discuss the current situation in Belarus. The EESC monitors and researches political, economic, and social developments in Eastern Europe, with a current special focus on Belarus.

See www.dtalk.ie/courses-scheduled.aspx for more details.