Marginalized Rroma families near Sacele, Romania
FAST charity is based in Sacele, near Brasov in southeastern Transylvania, and is home to one of the highest concentrations of Rroma people in Romania
FAST supports underprivileged children and families in Brasov County, and works towards a vision of an integrated, socially accepting Romanian society by helping the marginalized and impoverished achieve their full potential
Monkey is working with Mission to Eastern Europe to support the FAST charity projects (see below) that seek to address the key issues (see opposite) that will improve the lives of the children in these communities
The “Better Homes” project aims to improve the lives of the poorest members of local Rroma communities by providing them safe and reliable shelter in which their families can live in dignity and their children can grow in good health
- Uses a team of local Rroma construction workers, as well as FAST staff and visiting volunteers, simple, prefabricated homes are built in the community with pieces constructed in our local workshop
- Since 2007, nine new homes and a workshop have been built, and several other families helped to obtain either the materials, labor, or financial support needed to build or add necessary improvements to their own homes
- Another workshop, located in the yard of a local school, is currently being constructed, and will allow the school to teach valuable construction skills to its students and put those skills to use making elements for homes in the community
The “Education Defeats Poverty” project aims to help underprivileged children build fundamental educational abilities for school and social inclusion, and to help local Rroma schools improve the quality of education, be more independent, and assume a more active role in the process of social change
- At the FAST Educational Centre “Ziurel”, about 100 young children each week are helped to improve their basic knowledge, social behaviour, and practical skills
- At local schools, children are helped by providing materials, renovating rooms, and building additions for extracurricular activity
The “Music School” project aims to provide an outlet for talented Rroma youth to fight against discrimination through performance by showcasing their musical ability to the community
- Children that show musical abilities are given lessons in singing and playing simple instruments, such as the recorder and piano, before possibly moving on to more complicated traditional instruments like the guitar
- For a sample lesson from Gabi Craciun, the guitar teacher view the video below
- The aim is to become a traveling choir that can represent the Rroma school through local performances
Sample music lesson
Currently under discussion are plans to open a very large “Children and Youth Centre” in Sacele, with the capability to serve about 300 children and youth each year
Please visit the FAST charity website for details of this exciting opportunity
Just some of the other activities that FAST charity provides are:
- Distribution of material donations to local, needy families. In the last year, such materials included school equipment, clothing, and even computers and bicycles for local schools and families
- “Child Sponsorship Programme” that supports the cost of one child attending activities
- Holding dance classes for children at the “Ziurel Centre”. Currently, up to 70 children attend
- Running a small shop on the ground floor of the “Ziurel Centre” selling toys, gifts, and clothing at low prices to anyone who visits our centre