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last updated on
22/03/2010 03:05:39 PM |
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I
told them about life in the gypsy community and realised that their
perception of anything outside their country was somewhat vague. One
little girl said that she knew where Romania was because they had just
had a big wave (the tsunami)! The assembly for Key Stage 2 (7 – 11
year olds) was more straightforward and now the challenge is to
support them through lessons and to encourage them to raise the money
needed to support their designated child. 
A bag-pack in our local
Morrisons Supermarket on October 10th with 18 pupils and two
members of staff from Rye Hills School, ably assisted by my
wife, Margaret, proved to be very successful. £1056 ($1,700)
was raised in a 7 hour period - a long time for the adults involved,
but it must have been ‘back-breaking’ for the ten youngsters who
completed the full day. Many of the pupils have already volunteered
for our next bag-pack in late November. 
Two
presentations during the following week, in Middlesbrough and Marske,
raised awareness of Smiles and produced contacts for future talks. A
Harvest Festival with a difference at Pennyman School in
Middlesbrough was extremely successful. The children looked at the
traditional harvest products, but their gifts were all items on the
Smiles wish list. After a visit by a photographer from the local
newspaper, the goods were packed for transportation to my garage. 
boxing and labeling everything so that on arrival in Cihei (Romania)
they could be easily sorted. Last weekend John Chrystal, the
owner of the 3.5 tonne van, loaded the goods donated together with
some essential items from Leeds. On Monday we began the 1500 mile
journey from Redcar to Cihei, but before telling you about the
trip and subsequent days in Romania, I must return to Leeds.
One of the many topics covered
was ‘working in a barren area’ – when we in Britain see vast
areas where Smiles is unknown we need to spare a thought for Greg, our
DA for America, who has such a barren area to explore. We have all
gone away to try to enhance the network of support for all the Smiles
Clubs and Capital Projects. 
ding is a credit to them and the hardworking
teaching staff, ably led by the Director, Clara. 
We all can
only step out in faith and ask for God’s strength and guidance to
ensure that His will continues to be done for the people under the
care of Smiles. 