07.12.2012

       Every year, on the 1St of December, we celebrate the National day! It is a big thing as everybody gets a day off from work so people can go party.
This year, for the first time we decided to go out and celebrate like everyone else does.                
       Therefore, we all got in to the minibus and stoped just outside the Amara City Hall where we listen music and watch people dancing romanian traditional music.

     
    

    It was a great day with a lot of fun especially when we start waving our flags!
    Happy birthday, Romania! 

     03.10.2012

     Between september, the 28th to october, the 20th, we enjoyed the visit of Peter Newell, long time friend of FNL since the early days of it's existance. As he faithfuly does it every summer, he came over to the house to spend a week with our boys. Everyone  - staff & boys - were very happy to have a friend with them.
    I would like to give the opportunity to Peter to share a few thoughts about his time at the house.

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     Dear supporter of Fundatia New Life,

     Having spent the last few days visiting fundatia New Life in Amara I can happily say that the visit has fulled my soul with sunshine and a lot of hope. As we all know times have been tough for everyone with the world in a state of financial instability, However despite some recent uncertainty the house and its staff have stood fast ensuring the boys do not suffer. Far from it in fact, I can clearly see changes since my last visit almost a year and a half ago. Codreanu is now much more relaxed and even sits and eats his own food with a spoon. 
         
   
      This goes even further with him simply given tablets / medication to take which he does by himself. In addition the fact that the local county council is willing to support New Life is testament to the quality of its care and work that it achieves on a daily basis. Despite some financial contraints and thanks to some home grown produce along with a dedicated staff team the food the boy eat is still at amazing. Having eaten what the same food as the have I can say the menu is healthy, creative and rather scrummy. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how Fundatia New Life has fitted into the local village of Amara. We went for a short walk around the village and it was amazing to see how many people said hello or who the boys knew, some even by name. This mixed with the youngsters of Amara coming and playing table tennis and football at the Fundatia house makes it a very special kind of place indeed. The sense of community spirit and friendship that surrounds Fundatia New Life and the village of Amara is something that we seem to have lost in the uk. 
        

     In Amara it simply seems to be the way of life. The sunshine only adds something extra to the healthy and happy place that is Fundatia New Life. They may not be wealthy with money but it is one of the richest places I have ever had the privelage to visit. I cannot wait to see what has changed on my next visit. If my visit achieves nothing else I hope that I can at least help in raising the profile of New Life and prove to anyone reading this that supporting Fundatia New Life is both worthwhile and important. I believe strongly that many people and organisations have a lot to learn from what has been achieved at the Amara house. The simplicity of providing a stable family environment has worked and continues to work wonders on the boys at New Life, thanks mainly to a such a warm and generous family of staff.

                                                                                                               Peter Newell October 3rd 2012
   

06.08.2012

    Trough the great generosity of our supporters, this year we were able to send our boys in to a camp in the mountains for a few days.
    As the summer has been extremely hot so far (up to 42 Celsius today) we choosed to drive far out in to the mountains, hoping for cooler weather.
    We ended up in Sibiu, a town in the centre of Romania, full of history and tradition. 
    For the time we will be here, we will try to keep you update with news and photos.

    We left Amara on Monday, August, the 6Th, early in the morning as we had a very long trip ahead. After 7 hours we arrived at "Casa Elena", in the village of Sibiel, in Sibiu county.

       On our arrival, we had a big "Welcome" from the owner of the place. After we stretched our legs for 5 minutes, we all went in to see the house and choose our bedrooms. When we got inside, we were all amazed. Each room looked like a piece of heaven and we had a very difficult time choosing who goes in witch room!

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    Day 1 - Tuesday, 07.08.2012

     For the first day we decided to go to Paltinis, a village up on the mountain, at 1430 m hight!

     We were all excited by the beauty of the place and even everyone was still very tired after the long trip from Amara, we didn't miss the chance to go for a walk and take some pictures.

     This afternoon we all had a very interesting experience. We were all very surprised when a rider on his horse showed up at the gate of our place. Now, living in Amara we have seen riders and horses before but those ones were different. The rider was wearing an old traditional costume and the horse had many flowers around his neck.

     The big surprise came when the owner of the place told us that we are invited to go for a ride in a cart. Five minutes later we were all in a cart admiring the surroundings and the beauty of the place.

      It was a great first day with moments we will always remember!

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      Day 2 - Wednesday, 08.08.2012

      Our goal for today was to explore the surroundings of Sibiu. Therefore we went to visit the ZOO and the VILLAGE MUSEUM.

      Even we have seen animals in a ZOO before, this time we had the chance to see new animals like camel and deer. Our boys were fascinated by all animals and they wanned to get closer and, where possible, to touch them.

       As the village museum was attached to the ZOO and the weather was wonderful, we used the opportunity to see some more interesting places.

       The Village Museum is very large and has many old houses from different parts of the country.

      In the evening we choose to go and visit a church nearby. Once we got there we have welcomed by a group of nuns. They were impressed by our boys and they offered them gifts.

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    Day 3 - Thursday, 09.08.2012

    Our destination for today was the old centre of Sibiu, a place full of history. We were impressed by the old buildings and streets that made it look like we went back into history by hundreds years.

    As Sibiu has got many beautiful churches, we managed to visit a couple of them.

     After a long day we went back to our location and, after a late lunch we heard from the owner of the place that in the village of Sibiel we can find a small museum with glass icons from different parts of the country. As the museum was only 10 min walking distance we couldn't miss the chance to visit it.

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    Day 4 - Friday, 10.08.2012

    As today was the last day we started early in the morning. After a quick breakfast, we all jumped in the minibus and went to Ocna Sibiului, a village not far from our place, very well know because of his lake with salty water. As a matter of fact, the water is so salty that we can float and you don't have to know how to swim.

     26.04.2012

     We are very pleased to announce that a JustGiving account for Fundatia New Life has now been opened.

     If you want to fundraise for Fundatia New Life or if you just want to make a single donation, go to JustGiving, search for Fundatia New Life and follow the steps there or click the link bellow:

https://www.justgiving.com/FNL/donate

26.02.2012

    After two months of everyday work, 200 Easter cards are now ready to be posted to all our supporters from around the world. It is our way to say "Thank you" for their support.

                          

    Even none of our boys can writte, they put a lot of love into each single card that will get to our supporters.

22.02.2012

    Today we were surprised by a very large donation made to FNL. Here is the story:
A young lady with a big heart, selling second-hand clothes in the local bazar, heard about the charity and the work we do. As I was walking to the Bazar today, together with Dima Valentina, (member of the bord of directors) we have been aproched by this young lady who just said that she will like to donate some clothes to the charity. She even offered  to bring all the clothes at the house herself. "I will pay someone to transport everything at the house"  - she said. Considering that our minibus is big enough we said that is no need for her  to do that.
    All this beeing said, we got in the minibus and drove to her house. When we got there we couldn't believe the amount of clothes she was offering to the charity. We just couldn't fit everything in one transport!

   

   
    

20.02.2012

In Romania we can say we are use to harsh winters. Even so, this year we have experienced one of the hardest winters ever. Just 50 km away from Amara House, houses were completely berried in snow.  Army forces were sent to rescue people from their houses.
   At the house things were not too bad! The road to Amara was closed for 3 days and no one was able to get in or out of the city.  A thing that worries us is electricity that cuts off in times like this and leaves the house with no heating. A generator can be the answer for situations like this but is something that the charity can not afford to buy at the moment. Hopefully, we will get one this year if the money will be found!

19.02.2012

At the beginning of February a new volunteer has come at the house. For the first time someone from Germany was interested in our work. We welcomed her just as we welcome anybody who comes at the house: with lots of love! Now I will like to offer her the opportunity to say a few words about her experience at the house.
                       
                                                                                                                                        Marius Istrate


      Hello everyone,

      My name is Stefanie Kade and I am from Germany.
Last summer, together with a group of friends, I have traveled to Rumania for the first time. I only went to Constanta and Bucharest for a few days but I immediately felt in love with this country. Durring my short time in Rumania I met Marius who told me everything about The Amara House and the boys there. Then I  promised  myself that one day, soon, I will come back to Rumania and visit The House. 
     On February, the 6th, I was flying to Bucharest, and I couldn't wait to meet the boys. Unfortunately, due to the extreme winter with heavy snow, I was only able to get to Amara 3 days later. 
      When I arrived at The House everything was new for me - the country, the people, the food.
      First I greeted the boys. Afterwards the staff showed me the house and my room for the next six days.
      I was really impressed by the warm atmosphere. The rooms are designed with so much love, and the activity room is very impresive. Everywhere, crafts and artworks made by the boys and dedicated staff!
     Since the first day all residents of Amara House seemed to be a big family. And now I was a part of the family. I really enjoyed it.
    


      I spent a lot of time with the boys playing games, doing crafts or just sitting together and watching a film. Fanel even tried to teach me how to use the sewing machine.  
     Durring my time at the house I was really impressed by the boys and how they cared for each other. 
     Not to be forgotten: Amara has the best cook of Rumania. So I learned about the Rumanien food and got to love it.

     I  want to thank all for the wonderful time at Amara House. As the Charity struggles financialy, I hope that the money will be found so the good work continues! 
     As about me, I will deffinately return to Amara one day!

Dear supporters of Fundatia New Life,
Due to some tehnical problems we were not able to update our site with news on the boys in the last couple of months. We know how important it is to keep all our supportes updated with the life at the house. Therefore, in the next few days,  we will do our best to provide you with news about what happened at the house in all this time! And, a lot has happened!