The young people with the new yard and equipment, Aug 08

Humanity at Heart, is a small charity based in Sussex, England and has been working in Romania for about 20 years, starting out as an aid charity and progressing to developing long term projects. At the moment we have a very good project in Petrosani. We have set up a community centre in a very poor area with a Romanian partner organsiation. We have moved away from working in state run institutions and decided to start grass root projects where local people could get involved.

What has been interesting about our work and partnership is that we are supporting and training staff and volunteers as well as helping the people who are considered the beneficiaries. We encourage local involvement as much as possible.

More information is to be found on the website, www.humantiyatheart.org.uk and we are always happy to receive any emails or phone calls from interested people.

There have been many changes for the good in Romania but there is still a lot to do and a long way to go. We hope that more and more Romanian people will become involved in their own communities in an organised way and that volunteering will be understood and promoted. It is in this area that organisations from other countries can have a great impact.

Michelle Ellel