'Haven Speranta Batranilor' or 'HSB' is a home care foundation for the elderly that works in Piatra Neamt and the surrounding villages of Almas, Cleuidi and Garcina. The name means 'a hope of the elderly' and it is a foundation that offers practical, spiritual, and emotional hope to those who would otherwise have very little to look forward to.
Most elderly people have had a hard life working the land, and now receive a pension of around £20 a month. There is no social or medical care given to the elderly in their homes, and prescriptions and medication have to be collected from pharmacies, a hard task for those that can hardly make it from their bed. Houses in the villages don't have bathrooms or toilets inside their homes, and water has to be collected from the well outside, and wood cut for the stove - a difficult task in the summer, and a near impossible task in the winter.
HSB carers visit on a weekly basis and help with whatever is needed. They do housework, chop wood, and collect water. They also offer massages to those who are bed-ridden, helping with circulation and offering some relief to those in pain. But, perhaps even more importantly, they offer emotional and spiritual fellowship to the people they visit, providing a friendly face, a chat, and offering to pray and read to the clients from the Bible.
The annual budget for HSB is £10,000 per annum, which includes resources and the wages for the carers, which are around £90 a month.
HSB offers a service that is completely unique in its area, and helps many elderly people who otherwise would be left forgotten. But the vision for HSB is to be able to reach so many more. Haven in Romania is currently searching for a building to use as a day care centre where the work of HSB could be expanded to include many more vulnerable people, and could also offer palliative care to those with terminal illnesses.
Most elderly people have had a hard life working the land, and now receive a pension of around £20 a month. There is no social or medical care given to the elderly in their homes, and prescriptions and medication have to be collected from pharmacies, a hard task for those that can hardly make it from their bed. Houses in the villages don't have bathrooms or toilets inside their homes, and water has to be collected from the well outside, and wood cut for the stove - a difficult task in the summer, and a near impossible task in the winter.
HSB carers visit on a weekly basis and help with whatever is needed. They do housework, chop wood, and collect water. They also offer massages to those who are bed-ridden, helping with circulation and offering some relief to those in pain. But, perhaps even more importantly, they offer emotional and spiritual fellowship to the people they visit, providing a friendly face, a chat, and offering to pray and read to the clients from the Bible.
The annual budget for HSB is £10,000 per annum, which includes resources and the wages for the carers, which are around £90 a month.
HSB offers a service that is completely unique in its area, and helps many elderly people who otherwise would be left forgotten. But the vision for HSB is to be able to reach so many more. Haven in Romania is currently searching for a building to use as a day care centre where the work of HSB could be expanded to include many more vulnerable people, and could also offer palliative care to those with terminal illnesses.