St. Andrew's
Foundation
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St. Andrew's |
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| The St. Andrew's Foundation of Romania is set up to fund programs in
Romania
for street children
and other children who
have "fallen through the cracks," educationally. A key target for our
funding is the Back to School Foundation (Fundatia Inapoi la Scoala) which runs a
school in
Bucharest, Romania
for bright, motivated street children living in shelters, as well as disadvantaged children who
have dropped out of school. The school successfully teaches a grade 1-8 academic program. St. Andrew's is also set up to finance the living
arrangements of those youngsters who cannot or should not be living with their families.
These settings include apartments with a "house parent", and carefully "vetted"
foster families. Why is Back to School needed? There are well over 400,000 children who have abandoned school in the past decade in Why is the drop out rate so high? There are economic and social reasons. Part of the answer is that, although the public school system is ostensibly free, there are many costs associated with attending school which very poor families cannot afford. These include appropriate clothing, meals, textbooks, school supplies and classroom fees, which are routinely charged in public schools, despite the fact that schools are "free". Also, children who have run away from their families or from an orphanage need to spend their time on survival and often have no fixed address. What is the result of the drop-out problem? Uneducated people in all societies are relegated to the lowest skilled jobs which pay the least, thus contributing to their cycle of poverty. Naturally, with such limited opportunities, the uneducated have more incentive to resort to crime. Complicating the obvious results of limited or no education is the fact that under Romanian law, citizens who do not complete a minimum of eight years of education are legally unemployable. How many street children has St. Andrew's sent to summer camp, summer school, or housed in their Bucharest facility? Over 100 kids. St. Andrew's has plans to greatly expand its operations in 2006, as more grants are received. Where does St. Andrew's funding come from? We have had five very successful benefits at the stunning residence of the Romanian Ambassador to the US, with donations coming in from all over the USA. We also have had two similarly successful benefits at the Potomac Boat Club at Georgetown, Washington D.C. How can I help? Send checks to help these young people with good minds--and deep personal motivation to overcome the social and economic challenges they face--so that they may have bright futures and play an integral part in the rebirth of the great Romanian nation. Make your check out to: St. Andrew's Foundation of Romania-- Bucharest facility: Str. Liviu Rebreanu, Nr. 29 Sector-3 Bucuresti ,Romania |
