Timisoara Hilarities

This is from my contact in Romania. My mind wonders if the crimes being committed against the children are a matter of sheer stupidity or blatant evil. This situation should be ample proof for all the Socialists in America on how a country can be ruined and a people suffer as a result of Socialism.

Here's a classic. From the truly ludicrous and ridiculous to the "sublime" (that last word is obviously tongue in cheek). It is so typical of life here.

Some good friends (ROMANIANS!) who have adopted several children in the past just received a request from the local Timis DPC to gather together the mountain of paperwork necessary so that this family could continue to keep their latest child in "incredintare" (perhaps in this case the parents are deceased since that is the only way "incredintare" can be given under the new law). Not that there were any problems. Just re-do the paperwork on your own time and at your own expense. The unspoken but implied threat being, but if you don't we're gonna take the child.

Now the fact is that they've had this child in their family for about 5 years. Of course the DPC wanted our friends to come into Timisoara (30 kms distance) at their own expense. They don't have a car and were supposed to come with all paperwork done and in hand -- and believe me, that would have entailed at least days of work if not weeks, and probably half a month's salary for a Romanian. Such is the effect of the new law such that it makes adoptions by Romanians extremely difficult. And it results in the harrassment of those families who have cared for or adopted children in the past, to the detriment and the ignoring of scores of thousands of other children without permanent families.

Generally, all this would be typical daily Romanian bureaucracy. But now, even the following new "sublime" form of ludicrous is all too common these days.

BUT THIS STORY GETS EVEN "BETTER"!

OUR FRIENDS ADOPTED THE LITTLE BOY ALMOST 4 YEARS AGO!!!!! He's not in "incredintare". They didn't even have the name right on the paperwork. The final and definitive sentence was handed down over three and one half years ago! He's not in "incredintare". HE'S BEEN ADOPTED INTO A PERMANENT FAMILY AS OF ALMOST FOUR YEARS AGO!

Our friends will be writing a letter of response explaining the situation with case numbers, etc. (Please note that once again the family who has helped is being burdened once again to prove their innocence and to work [unpaid] for the DPC. Notice how the DPC seems to be concentrating on previous stable situations instead of working harder on getting the unadopted children adopted.) Of course our friends will tell them, "Your records are so far off and behind and that's not our fault. And yet you still want us to do work for you??!!??" Ridiculous!

Such is life here. And especially after the new law went into effect.

To Kill an American

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is ... so they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.

An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.

The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, and the best services. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world.

But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Don't take little Dylan away from our Sarah

Don't take little Dylan away from our Sarah.
Plea over Romanian orphan who may be returned to his parents.

A DISTRAUGHT Nelson woman is throwing support behind her granddaughter as she begins an emotional battle to keep custody of a little boy she has fostered in Romania.

Mrs Hilda France, of Halifax Road, Nelson, is lobbying to help her granddaughter after hearing news that the Romanian orphan she has cared for for more than three and a half years could be returned to the parents who gave him away as a baby.

Dylan, whose real name is Josef and is also known as "the gypsy kid", was discovered in a Romanian orphanage by 18-year-old student Sarah Wade in 2002.

Sarah, who lives in Luton, went to Romania as part of a gap year before university. However what she discovered on a short-term visit to the country has had a life-changing effect on both her and her family.

Whilst working in an orphanage, Sarah discovered a malnourished boy who appeared to be no older than four-months-old. When she found out that the dishevelled child, who was filthy and tied to his bed, was actually a one-year-old that had been given away by uncaring parents, she was prompted into an unprecedented move.

Mrs. France described the circumstances that her granddaughter found herself in. She said: "The children were in an appalling condition. All the children were strapped to their cots and they would cringe and cry at the slightest sign of human touch."

"Sarah walked past Dylan and was overwhelmed with compassion."

From that point the story of Dylan and Sarah is something of a fairytale. She rescued him and brought him up as her own son, tending to his autism and teaching him both Romanian and English. He has even been to England to visit his new family on numerous occasions, and it is only 12 months since he was in Nelson visiting the woman he now knows as "Great Nanny".

"Sarah kept going back to the orphanage, hoping that someone would adopt Dylan, but nobody wanted him. She asked if she could adopt him and was told 'no', however she was given the right to be his chief guardian. She loves him so much", said Mrs. France.

The problem for Sarah and Dylan arose after Romania started to implement certain changes, widely believed to be aimed at aiding their acceptance into the EU in 2007. One such change is the introduction of child benefits and, according to some reports, this may be a contributing factor to Dylan's parents wanting him back.

Mrs. France has described how caring and loving her family is and how Sarah, in much the same tradition, has inherited these traits. She said: "My daughter, Kathryn, and her husband, Terry, Sarah's mum and dad, have fostered more than 40 children in their lifetime and Sarah is just as generous with love as they are. It would break my heart if they were to take Dylan away from her."

Interest towards the case is rapidly growing, most recently the Sunday Mirror covered Sarah and Dylan's story, and a BBC documentary is due to be aired in September. However, Mrs. France is being proactive in the mission for intervention in the case. She has recently written a letter to Euro-MP Baroness Emma Nicholson, a leading campaigner for protection of children's rights in Romania, in the hope that she may be able to intervene and bring about a possible solution. If there is no solution Sarah will have to officially give Dylan back to his parents on July 1st.

Sarah's father, Mr. Terry Wade, has further reinforced his mother-in-law's comments, and said that if any member of the public wants to support them they should contact their local MP and raise awareness as much as they possibly can.

24 June 2005 C 2005 Johnston Press New Media

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