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One woman’s mission to save the orphans
 ALMOST
20 years ago the fall of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu unveiled
a horror which had been kept from the world up to then.
Part of the legacy of his brutal reign was some 100,000 handicapped
and orphaned children abandoned in horrific conditions in huge decaying
orphanages throughout the country.
Watching those pictures unfold on her TV screen was Derry-born Monica
McDaid who had moved to Birmingham with her family in 1954 and was now
a teacher at the St. Thomas Aquinas School in the Kings Norton area of
the city.
The plight of children at one orphanage in particular in the town
of Siret proved horrific viewing children tied to beds and lying in their
own urine.
There and then Monica decided something had to be done to try to help
those orphans.
She travelled to Siret to see for herself — and sure enough the
sights which met her eyes was even worse than that portrayed on the TV
screens.
The first priority was to clean the orphanage up, install electricity
and water and get the children out of those horrific conditions.
But the only way Monica could focus on this work was by giving up her
teaching career in Birmingham.
So she enlisted the support of a whole group of friends including family
members.
Christmas 1990 was drawing near and Monica was determined that the orphans
of Siret would have the best festive season ever. TV star Anneka Rice
came on-board and so did local business in the Midlands.
Severn Trent, Royal Mail, West Midlands Fire Service and numerous
other firms and individuals offered their help and sure enough the children
of Siret did enjoy their first ever Christmas — with a Derry-born
Santa Monica’s brother Brian taking on the role.
Now all these years later Monica has returned to Birmingham for a short
business break — and lots of changes have taken place in
Siret.
Thanks to the help and support of Monica’s many friends including
Daniel O’Donnell the Romanian Challenge project in Siret has six
houses where many of the original orphans not only live but are educated
and learn to fend for themselves.
Work is progressing on building two further single-storey apartment blocks
— each unit having five self-contained bedsits.
And there’s much more still to do.
Monica said: “We have to find at least £100,000 per year to
run the project.
“All the income comes from knocking on doors and depending on the
many volunteers who help out work.
“When the project first started the Irish community in the Midlands
and beyond were fantastic.
“They raised thousands of pounds. Perhaps we need to remind them
that we are still badly in need of their support.
“Getting the children out of that horrific orphanage was only part
of the problem. Right now we could not exist without the help and support
of the volunteers.
“These people undertake a three day overland trip from Britain to
Siret taking building materials and lorry loads of other vital equipment.
“And Daniel O’Donnell and his wife Majella have just spent
several days with us. Daniel has been fantastic — two of the houses
in the project which house 12 vulnerable girls were built with his
support.”
So what keeps Monica going?
She said: “Often at night some of the young boys and girls will
come up to me and the look in their eyes says it all — in those
eyes is the gratitude of a person once condemned to a life in hell and
now been given a chance for a bright new future in life.” |
