Shelter of Care Children's Program Page - Shelter of Care is a Christian organization helping orphaned and abandoned Romanian children make the transition to independent living. Based in Romania, in the city of Iasi (pronounced Yash), the charity runs childrens' clubs in orphanages, provides homes for young people leaving the orphanage, runs an annual summer camp for orphan girls, and is aiming to open a counseling and resource center. Shelter of Care is supported by American and British sponsors and is run in Romania by Genuta and Sorin Erhan. Copyright Becky White.

Projects at Bucium Placement Center

For children who grow up in a loving home, the chance to take part in clubs and activities outside of school can easily be taken for granted.

For children who grow up in orphanages, these opportunities are often simply not available. There is nobody to find out what activities are available, or to buy the equipment needed or even to transport the children where they need to go.

Shelter of Care brings these opportunities directly to young people at Bucium through providing the Children's Club and the Computer Suite.

Through these programs, Shelter of Care benefits every young person at Bucium, giving them the opportunity to take advantage of some of the same experiences as their classmates at school.

Importantly, these programs also enable the staff and volunteers at Shelter of Care to initiate and develop relationships with the young people. Through these relationships, we are able to identify children with particular needs (e.g. medical, dental) and put measures in place to ensure that future needs (e.g. accommodation, employment) are also addressed.

on this page

sidebar_graphic

Children's Club

Upto 20 young girls and boys attend the Children's Activity Club held each Friday afternoon at Bucium, which is staffed by workers and volunteers from Shelter of Care.

Each week, children are offered a range of activities, including arts and crafts, sports and cookery. They also receive a short teaching based on a Bible message.

Life at Bucium is very unstructured for the children. During evenings, weekends and school holidays, the children are usually left to entertain themselves, without the benefit of a family to provide activities, or day-trips, or even to sit down to eat meals with. The structured activity time provided by the Children's Club is important becasue it gives children a more constructive way to spend their time.

Through working together at the club, children develop their interpersonal skills as well as more practical skills. Importantly, this is also an opportunity for the children to relate to adults in a different way as they build up relationships with the volunteers and workers. Knowing that the same adults will visit every week brings an element of security into lives which can otherwise be very unstable.

The relationships established between children and the Shelter of Care staff can lead to more focused support for individuals when needed, for example targeting children for dental/opthalmic treatment, or providing careers advice or transitional support. Many of the children who have attended the Children's Club have also benefitted from Shelter of Care's summer camp program.

Return to top

Children's Club Gallery

Unfortunately, we can't use photographs of the children who attend our children's programs on the website. However, below are some examples of the craft work that our young people have completed at the children's club at Bucium.

Return to top

Computer Suite

Unlike in the USA or UK, Romanian schools and libraries are not equipped with computer suites for the use of young people. In order for Romanian children to take advantage of information technology and the internet, they have to have a computer at home.

Of course, for children living in an orphanage, this is an impossibility. The only place these kids can use computers is at the internet café, where it is often quite costly, and an unsuitable environment for children.

With the help of partners in England, Shelter of Care has been able to donate 20 computers to Bucium for the use of the children there. These computers are available for use at any time, and have internet access so children can use them to help with homework and college assignments, and gain invaluable basic IT skills.

In an unexpected bonus, many of the older children are now able to use the internet to keep in contact with some of the overseas volunteers that they have met over the years, which proves to be excellent English language practice!

Computer Classes

Now that the computers are available, the authorities have been able to employ a qualified instructor to provide computer classes five afternoons a week. Here, the young people are taught the basics of computer use, as well as being introduced to a range of software and applications, and helped to locate information needed for school and college assignments.

This project would not have been possible without the computers and internet access provided by Shelter of Care.

Return to top