On the Road with the Meals Bus to the Poorest of People...
Day 7: Piatra Neamt (Ro)
After yesterday’s birthday celebration for Lukas and a solid night’s sleep, we’re excited today to join the Meals Bus on its rounds. Once again today, we are welcomed at the orphanage with a coffee before the tour sets off.
The Meals Bus was funded by STV Besenbüren and Judo goes Orient and was sign-written by us two days ago. We accompany the Meals Bus on tour with our three rally cars.
After only a short while we stop and the rear door swings open. 4 kilograms of bread, 2 kilograms of spaghetti, 16 tins of vegetables, sauces and meat ragout, as well as 2 kilograms of frozen chicken legs are unloaded. During the Covid period, the Romanian state requires that no hot meals may be distributed. Each of us pitches in and carries the food directly into the homes of those in need. Indescribable impressions give us only the faintest sense of how these people live in the most dire poverty. In tears of joy and to the cries of those in need — «Mulțumesc foarte mult. Domnul fie cu tine» (Thank you so very much. God be with you) — we leave each apartment deeply moved ourselves.
One stop was particularly striking: the elderly woman we were delivering food to herself keeps a small stockpile of second-hand clothing, shoes, bedding and the like, which she in turn distributes to other people in need. This shows and confirms very clearly to us that the aid supplies we collected and brought to the orphanage are also reaching people directly on the ground.
Over the course of our half-day Meals Bus tour today, we deliver basic foodstuffs to families living in poverty and to people with disabilities at ten different locations. Normally, one tour runs in the morning and one in the afternoon, covering a radius of approximately 50 kilometres.
Brief summary:
Day seven gets under our team’s skin. We leave each apartment deeply affected, carrying impressions that first need to be processed. All the same, we are overjoyed to be helping the poorest people in a lasting way with our material and financial donations, and to be bringing some joy into their lives.
Your Judo goes Orient – Team
