Projects
Warmth for the children in a small school
COUNTRY | Romania
PLACE/ CITY | Borleasa
YEAR |
Warmth for the children in a small school
Borleasa is a small village in Romania and is isolated from civilization in the hills of the province of Bistrita-Nassaud.
A small school is located in this village. This is part of a number of schools in the region. The aid group Romania from the Achterhoek has been going to Romania for years to do something about the living and learning conditions of children. The school has 40 students.
Last year, this group, together with the local population, placed toilets in the school, installed water and built a septic tank outside. For some of the children, seeing the toilet bowls so normal for us was a revelation. When these facilities were put into use, lessons were first given in their use.
Below a picture of the "schoolyard":
In the red building on the right the old toilets. Wooden planks with a hole in the middle.
The school is heated by means of so-called terracottas. these are ceramic tile stoves that are fired with wood. Heating is really necessary in Romania. There is no insulation and in winter it can freeze up to 30 degrees.
Every room has such a stove. The children who are close to the stove are very hot. The children who are further away are cold.
This is a photo of one of the classrooms. On the left you can see the "terracotta". A large wood-burning stove. Some of these heaters start to "leak" due to frequent firing. The stoves have to be repaired every time, after which they have to dry for a few weeks before they can be fired up again.
Photo of the other classroom.
Now that water has been brought into the building from the Achterhoek group by the HelpRomania group, they also want to take care of the little ones from the village in kindergarten in an empty room, a so-called Gradinita (kradinitsa).
A photo of the local transport company.
Thanks to the EU, infrastructure has improved by leaps and bounds. But our help remains urgently needed and as a local resident told us: “We used to have no electricity. Now we have no lamps. ”
The Warmte voor de Kinder foundation will place a wood-fired central heating boiler in this school, which will be connected with the help of Romania. Together with the air heaters and radiators, which are brought from the Netherlands to Borleasa, we are going to heat this school. The realization of this project will take place at the end of September 2018 and is the result of the cooperation of Help Romania (initiation, implementation and supervision) with the Warmte voor de Kinder foundation (advice, materials) and can be realized, among other things, through the benevolent cooperation of some ( especially) Achterhoek companies such as Winterwarm and Rabelink transport.
Cees Westera
Help Romania group Achterhoek