And last Christmas, thousands of people donated money to Mustard Seed Jersey, a charity which aims to ease suffering in Eastern Europe, to help a family in Romania after images of their squalid living conditions shocked the Island.
The Benedek family – a man, his wife and brother – were living in a small outbuilding with a pile of bricks for the only bed after a lorry crashed into their home and reduced it to rubble.
The appeal raised enough to rehouse the family of three in portable cabin accommodation in the town of Cihei in the city of Oradea.
Find out more about the charity here
Romanian social worker Nelu Radu, who has worked closely with the charity for more than ten years, recently visited the Island to express his appreciation to the Jersey community for their generosity.
‘All the people who I have been in contact with have been kind and the ones that come to Romania are very touched by what they see.
Mr Radu is part of a Romanian trust, Fundatia Increderea.
Several years ago he donated the land on which the families are now housed to the trust to prevent developers from building on it.
Mr Radu has supported the poorest and most needy for many years by undertaking a variety of different projects.
One of those projects included distributing bread to Romanian families who cannot afford to buy food.
He reached out to Mustard Seed Jersey in 2011 to ask for money to help fund the Bread Appeal, and he has been able to continue his work every winter since with the help of volunteers from the charity.
Mustard Seed volunteers travelled to Romania in 2011 to help with the distribution of the bread and witnessed a crowd of people who had gathered up to two hours before the bread was due to arrive on a freezing day in December.
The area in Oradea has now developed into a small community of ten people, who are beginning to grow their own food and become self-sufficient, and the Benedek family have now taken in another homeless man – who has learning disabilities – to live with them, saying that because they have been helped, they now want to help another person.
Mustard Seed volunteers learned of the family’s plight when they were in Romania in December handing out Christmas shoeboxes and food parcels.
On the first day of their trip they also came across the family-of-three – Lotti Benedeck, his brother Andreas and Andreas’ wife Eva – whose home was destroyed after being hit by a vehicle, leaving them living in a tiny shed and sharing a single bed made out of bricks.
The team wanted to raise £3,000 to place lorry containers on a site and turn them into suitable accommodation.
Within days of the appeal being launched an Islander donated the money to buy the family a wood-burning stove.
Speaking after the donation of the stove, Lotti said: ‘It’s incredible, a miracle. ‘I didn’t think God could help us in this way. I am very proud that so many people have a heart. Thank you Jersey, thank you so very much.’
‘In the future we know it will be a bigger community. The Jersey people have really made a difference because somebody offered them a chance in life,’ the social worker said.
‘The Benedek family say that they have changed their lives by 180 degrees. It was a really big change for them. It was amazing, what the people of Jersey did.
‘It is amazing to see people offering an open hand for some people who are in need. The people have their own garden and it is amazing how quickly it has all happened.
‘For them it is a new life in a short time for people who were living on the streets. It is excellent for them, how the Jersey people have helped us.’
Mustard Seed Jersey was established in 1998 to ease hardship in Eastern Europe by providing opportunities to people to become self-sufficient and providing those who are most in need with aid. In 2013, the charity were able to rehouse four homeless people using their old aid trailer, which they turned into suitable accommodation, on the site in Cihei.
Each year the charity travels to Romania – where temperatures regularly plunge below freezing – to hand out Christmas shoeboxes and food parcels.
Mr Radu said that some people who are living on the streets died during the winter months – when temperatures can drop to – 20°C – because the homeless shelters are too full to offer them accommodation.
Some of those who have been rehoused have been homeless for their whole lives, but one woman – who has been rehomed with her grandson – signed away her home to fraudsters and had to endure the freezing cold temperatures living on the streets.
- Romania is the 12th-largest country in Europe
- The city of Oradea where the families have been rehomed has a population of around 200,000
- Romania joined the EU in 2007
- It was traditionally an agricultural country, however the industry has since floundered since it ceased to be a communist state in 1989
- Almost half of Romanias population live in rural areas, some of which are the most impoverished regions in Europe
- Around one in five people are living below the poverty line, according to statistics from 2011
Poverty in Romania is far greater in rural areas than in the towns, and many wealthy areas can be found in the country’s capital.
Rose Hélie-Pallot, co-ordinator of the charity, believes that if the resources among Romanians were shared between the rich and the poor, the charity would no longer be needed.
The charity launched a new appeal earlier this year to raise £40,000 to have a permanent structure built on the site in Oradea.
This is because, according to Romanian law, to obtain a pension, child or medical benefits or legal employment a person must have a registered permanent address, and portable cabins are not regarded as a permanent home.
The new building will have showers and toilets, which all residents will be able to use.
Mrs Hélie-Pallot said: ‘Our focus is to get this permanent structure but there is a possibility for more portable cabins, and maybe set up a business there.
‘We hope it will be next year. We are praying that God will provide.
Donations to the appeal can be sent to Mustard Seed Jersey Appeal, Cardiff House, St Peter, Jersey JE3 7EJ, or direct to the Mustard Seed bank account, sort code 40-25-41, account number 71135333.
WITH Jersey’s potential role in the refugee crisis continuing to cause ructions and divisions among the population, a Romanian social worker today reminds us of the positive impact of helping others.
Last Christmas, Islanders rallied round when local charity Mustard Seed Jersey reported the plight of a family in the small town of Cihei.
The Benedeks – a husband, wife and brother – had been reduced to living in a small outbuilding after a lorry crashed into their home and reduced it to rubble, leaving them facing a bitterly cold winter without a proper home.
People in Jersey responded superbly to the story, quickly raising more than £11,000 to house the family in temporary accommodation.
At the same time, a group of pupils and staff from Beaulieu Secondary School visited Romania with Mustard Seed Jersey, with the youngsters telling on their return of how ‘shocked and moved’ they were by the humbling experience.
Romanian social worker Nelu Radu visited Jersey this week on behalf of the Benedeks to show his appreciation for Islanders’ generosity and willingness to help others.
Mustard Seed Jersey is now concentrating on an appeal that was launched in the summer to raise £40,000 for the Benedeks – money which would be used to permanently rehouse the family.
The whole episode has been a reminder of the depth of charitable spirit in the Island – although not everyone felt the same way.
When Mustard Seed Jersey first launched their campaign, a small section of people in Jersey were outraged that any help should be given to a family living in another country.
There was a similar furious response from some Islanders when Chief Minister Ian Gorst suggested recently that Jersey might consider providing sanctuary to a few uprooted Syrian families.
It seems that there will always be a section of society in this privileged Island who firmly believe that ‘charity begins at home’ and are unlikely to be swayed by pictures of freezing, homeless Romanians or refugees living in a squalid camp in Calais.
But Jersey, a relatively rich jurisdiction compared to many places across the world, must continue to look beyond its shores for ways to share the wealth and forge links with communities worse off than ours.
Acting charitably is about more than just giving handouts – it also provides a lesson to our younger generation, soothes our conscience and enforces our humanity.
