Six men were “reduced to tears” when they had to leave the Romanian children they were helping and return to Dundee.
Niall Nicolson (28), Blair Strachan (22), Gavin Brown (22), Stuart Milne (22), Lee Mason (39) and Lee Craigie (29) had volunteered to run a sports programme at a holiday camp in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains.
They were assisting Dundee charity Carpathian Aid, which has been caring for the disadvantaged and disabled in the country for two decades since the fall of the communist regime.
Romania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe and struggles to provide adequate social services.
Foreign volunteers can make a big difference, as Niall and his friends found out.
He said, “Carpathian Aid relies on people to sponsor the camps and to fund-raise to fund the camp.
“Five thousand pounds was the amount needed and with a year to do this we took the challenge on.”
He added, “Myself and five others got together to find out how we could do this and with the fantastic support of many people attending our ceilidh, race nights and sponsoring us for our Ben Nevis challenge, we finally made it.”‘Difficult to describe’The volunteers first went to the city of Hunedoara, which is about half the size of Dundee and has been struggling economically since the downturn of its steel industry.
Niall said it was “a high poverty area” and he and his friends saw some grim sights.
He said, “It was late at night and there were children all over the place running around, as young as five with no parents in sight.
“The place was something I find it very difficult to describe.”
He added, “We were put up by a local Christian organisation at the Bethlehem Centre for the night to prepare us for our trip up the Carpathian mountains to Casa Harului in the morning to prepare for the children to arrive.”
Casa Harului, which translates as House of Grace, was set up by Benny and Maria Medrea as a holiday centre for poor and disabled children.
Carpathian Aid is assisting in its development.
Niall said, “Benny and Maria have committed their lives to help others less fortunate and were undoubtedly the most inspirational people that I have ever met.”Unforgettable feel-good factorThe camp gives children a chance to spend a week away from their run-down homes in a healthy environment, with good food and plenty of fun and games.
Niall said, “Seventy children arrived early on the Monday and once again it was evident that these kids had nothing and a very strange feeling hit us all then.
“The feel-good factor that we had funded this trip for them was a feeling I will never forget.”
The volunteers’ role at the camp was to run daily sports activities for the children, including football and athletics but the most popular was Highland games.
Niall said, “In the middle of our week we were taken off camp to visit families and see for ourselves the extreme poverty that these children live in and it was heartbreaking.
“We returned to the camp and the feelings towards the children had grown even further.”
He added, “Leaving the kids to come home to Dundee was so difficult and reduced six grown men to tears as the children were so desperate for us to stay.”