Our community sent a 40ft lorry with more than 280 boxes of bric-a-brac and 50 items of furniture to the Romanian Emmaus community based in Satu Mare.
Worth approximately £14,500, the donations had been stored in readiness for the shipment which left our community in Cambridge on Tuesday 12 August and arrived at its destination on Friday 15 August, after a 1,342-mile return journey.
In addition to supplying the goods, which also included 124 paintings and mirrors, we also welcomed two guests from the Romanian Emmaus community, staff member Marian and companion Pal.
A warm welcome to our Romanian visitors
Our Chief Executive Officer, Donna Talbot said:
“We were delighted to welcome Marian and Pal as guests to our community. They arrived on Friday 8 August and stayed with us until the following Wednesday and it was a pleasure to have them.
“On Saturday they had the chance to look around the community and on Sunday, Ian a companion at Emmaus Cambridge, took them to London so they could visit England’s capital, taking in some of the history, architectural and of course tourist attractions.”
Emmaus Cambridge sent its first container to Romania in 2014 and has continued to make regular donations to its sister community ever since. The containers are heavily relied on by the Romanian community, which rarely receives donations.
Typically, people living at the Satu Mare community are under 25 years-old and have been in the Romanian care system their entire life. As residents of the community, they have access to health care and support in finding permanent housing.
Helping rebuild lives
Like Emmaus Cambridge, the stability provided at the Satu Mare community helps companions to rebuild their lives after experiencing social exclusion. Companions living at Emmaus Cambridge are encouraged to go and visit Satu Mare as part of an exchange programme to see how things are done in Europe.
Marian Muresan, one of the visitors from Emmaus Satu Mare, said:
“The Satu Mare community would not be able to help as many people as they do without the acts of solidarity from organisations such as Emmaus Cambridge.”
Mark Boden, Deputy Manager at Emmaus Cambridge, said:
“One of the most important parts of the Emmaus Cambridge ethos is solidarity which enables smaller, less fortunate communities to flourish. Watching the whole community get involved in loading the container on the day made me feel so proud knowing that this selfless act will benefit others who are in need of help.
“Working with Satu Mare provides an extremely valuable experience for our companions as it highlights that everyone has the capacity to make a difference to the lives of others.”
Emmaus Cambridge supports people by giving them a home, meaningful work in a social enterprise and an opportunity to regain lost self-esteem to help rebuild their lives.