We continue to spread the good news we discover, the commitment that some people choose to make to do good, to give their time and resources to a purpose they believe in fully. Today we introduce you to a family who does exactly that.

Maria: During the weekly meetings, the activities we do together aim to increase children’s self-confidence, pleasant experiences through which they feel accepted, loved, and appreciated, support for their development towards independence for life after leaving the protection system. The activities are diverse: educational and relaxation games, homework help, support for completing and graduating qualification or vocational courses, trips

I chose to volunteer in the field of education for children in placement centers because discovering that they have developmental needs that require the support of people from outside the system, I wanted to help. I chose to volunteer with my husband because we both had the same motivation to help, and together, knowing our abilities, it is easy to team up and come up with new and challenging ideas for children.

It brings us a lot of joy to see children and young people who at the beginning of our activity were quite demotivated and with little confidence in themselves, smiling, distrustful, wishing specifically for their development in certain areas, happy with the results they obtain. Being a time spent outside our home, it is very good to be able to understand the other’s motivation to be involved and to give time to such an activity.

Maria Santa – volunteering with her husband, Andrei

Andrei: I got involved in mentoring activities for children in placement centers on school issues (some sort of tutoring), participating weekly in recreational educational activities, trying to help them understand the school subject through games and other applied activities. Also, in the team of explorers of the association, I organized and participated in trips outside the centers with groups of children.

I chose to do this to offer something back from what I also received, “knowledge and good advice”, to show them and explain to them the world outside the placement center.

I do this together with my wife because that’s how it was, we complement each other and our different interests and fields give us the chance for the team to cover a larger area of ​​children’s knowledge needs. The advantages of being volunteers together are many, perhaps the most important is the power of example, the fact that we go together gives children the opportunity to see what collaboration means, discussing situations with different opinions, sharing tasks, responsibility, and last but not least, understanding the other. It is special to participate with my wife in a beautiful activity, that of sharing. Being together in this activity gives us the opportunity to discuss the different situations encountered “in the field”, another perspective being always welcome.

Andrei Santa – volunteering with his wife, Maria