Bob the driver’s thoughts on the shoebox delivery
trip Dec 2007
In the middle of November I had a phone call from
Rose. Did I know of anyone who could help drive “Bertha” (the Mustard Seed
lorry) to
As planned David my co-driver and I got on well and
we arrived in
After many an hour spent at trying to clear customs
between Hungary and Romania on the past 3 trips (more than 12 hours last year!)
it was a joy to just pass through this year as the border was opened in
January.
We were met at the border by Chipree from the
charity People to People. He escorted us from the border to our unloading area.
As soon as one crosses the border into
We spent nearly 2 hours unloading the 40 foot trailer. All the contents were put in
neat piles ready to be loaded into vans and taken off for distribution. We also
had a vast quantity of shoeboxes which we were going to help to distribute over
the weekend. The trailer was unloaded much quicker than the time taken by the
two Phils, Denis and George to load it!!
We were lucky being hosted by
After a good night’s rest we were treated to a
hearty breakfast and our day began. We were to spend time distributing aid to
needy families in outlying country areas where Rose has found a need in the
past. We enjoyed the opportunity for sightseeing on the way out to the
villages.
During the course of the day we visited many needy
families and handed out shoeboxes to the children. Rose and Alex (some of you
will have met him) dealt with various issues and problems that came up.
My own feeling is that the families are very needy
and in general are helping themselves as best they can, while the assistance we
give makes it a little easier. All the children we met had lovely smiles and
when we gave them their shoeboxes they were keen to open them and rummage
through to see what exciting things were inside.
One family we met were just a mother in her early
thirties. She had 4 children plus a few others from previous relationships. She
invited us into her very modest home where the little family were in the middle
of bath-time, a plastic bath in front of the fire. 1 youngster was in the bath
while the others helped dress each other.
Even although they had very little they were a happy loving little
family. Rose has seen the help being provided to these families and I am sure
she feels joy in the progress.
We visited other families including a girl who had
been given the wrong injection many years ago which has affected her badly. She
is now in her late 30s with no chance of any help. Her elderly parents look
after her full-time. It was very sad but the mum and dad were very pleased to
see us and invited us to have afternoon tea with them.
After a busy and rewarding day we went back to our
digs.
Next day being Sunday we visited the beautiful
Cathedral in
Our afternoon was spent handing out food parcels
and shoeboxes to pensioners at Cefa organised by Alex the pastor. More than 50
pensioners had walked from around the village to meet in the church hall. After
prayers and a Romanian carol we handed out the parcels and shoeboxes. It was a
pleasure to see the joy on the faces of
these proud people. What we gave will mean a little bit extra to make their
Christmas special.
Again we noticed even though they had very little
there was always a smile, a hug and the peace greeting “Pachey” as they leave.
The parcels were a little heavy for some of the pensioners, but youngsters were
around to help them take the goodies back home.
Our final visit of the day was to the girls’ hostel
in Oradea – girls who had been brought up in state orphanages; some had been
homeless, living on the streets, before joining the apartment sponsored by
We had found the couple of days rewarding but
Monday morning dawned and it was time to journey back. It was a pleasure not to
have to wait for hours on end at the border.
On our return journey we did encounter a little
problem at
We had pushed hard but we had achieved our aim.
Another safe and successful trip with lots to think about.
Written by BOB