By Lauren Fishbach | U.S. Board President
Buna!
I am thrilled to be writing this report from Barlad, Romania where CEO Laura Larkin and I have been visiting with the kids and staff at our Delia's Learning Center. It's been just six months since our previous visit but, as always, there is so much growth -- growth in our kids, growth in our programs and growth in the community need for our services.
One of our biggest challenges is in educating children who are in their teens and who have never been to school because of a disability. We worry so about what will happen to them when they become of age and are no longer part of the child protection system - will they be placed in an insitution because they have no skills and a disability? Will they be turned out to the streets and be unable to support themselves because they cannot read, write or do basic math? Will they be destined to a life of poverty or homelessness?
Our new teen program seeks to address these concerns and we are hoping that soon our funding for this program will grow and the part-time social worker who runs it will be able to be with us full time! One of the kids who is always on our mind is Mario. Mario is nearly 15 years old and has a problem with his jaw that prevents him from speaking clearly. It is very difficult to understand him. When he became school age, Mario enrolled along with the other kids. But he was bullied immediately and after a few days, gave up and never went back! This summer, we were able to have volunteer middle school teachers work with Mario to begin teaching him to read. (Mario happens to be a self-taught math whiz!) We are working with Child Protection Officials to try to get Mario to a specialist to evaluate his jaw and see what can be done medically as the jaw problem also affects his chewing properly.
For Mario and our other kids, providing educational support, according to their needs, is one of our primary goals. With your continued support, we have been able to provide early childhood education to the little ones and develop specific plans to assist those who are in their teens.
This summer, we also launched a new website in English and the Romanian version is being completed: www.deliascenter.org. Please take a look and learn more about our work!
Sharing new photos but continual updates are on our Facebook page (the delia foundation) and on Instagram (the_delia_foundation).
Many thanks for continuing to support us in changing the lives of these very special kids!
With Gratitude,
Lauren
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