Projects Abroad Volunteers in Romania Take Orphans on Trip to Dracula’s Birth Place

Romania Country Director - Gabriela Badea-Gheracostea tells us about some extra activities that our Care & Community volunteers have recently been involved in.

‘Sighisoara is a picturesque town in central Romania, best known for its beautiful churches and being the birth place of Dracula. Early on a Saturday morning, courtesy of McLain Finlan Advertising who funded the trip, six Teaching & Projects Abroad volunteers and twelve children from a Brasov orphanage began a day trip to Sighisoara.

Sighisoara is about 2½ hours away by train. During the journey we played games and got to know the children better. When we arrived in Sighisoara, it became apparent why this location was so highly regarded. There were many traditional Romanian homes situated on the small hills with extravagantly decorated churches dotted around. We first went to see the museums and the churches. After the cultural visits we had lunch in a restaurant in town and in the afternoon we went to the park and played games like football and volleyball. In the late afternoon we went back to the train station and caught our train back to Brasov. We arrived back in the evening tired but a good time was had by all.

On this first trip the children were a bit shy and reluctant to put their names forward for the excursion. After the stories of the children who did come with us, for the next trip to Rasnov, there were many more children wanting to join us!

Two weeks later, we took our next trip with the children. The original plan was to stay in a cabin overnight but due to the cold weather we decided that that this was not sensible and took a day trip instead. When we arrived in Rasnov we went on a 45 minute hike to the top of the mountain where the town fortress is situated. The fortress dates back to the fourteenth century when it was built to protect the town’s people from invasion. We took some pictures and then proceeded down the mountain to begin the barbeque we had planned. We had our barbeque at the local tennis club. The barbeque took a while to prepare, so in the meantime we played some games and had a sing-song, with a guitar that a volunteer had brought along. After this we sat down and enjoyed the food prepared by the sports instructor and a couple of the children before catching the bus back to Brasov.

We now have a few more trips planned for the future, and I hope that they will be as fulfilling and enjoyable as our days in Sighisoara and Rasnov.’

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