The Boy's Home 'Caleb'
Poverty, lack of education and accessibility to birth control, broken familes and alcoholism continue to be major factors in the number of children living on the streets. At present there are approximately 150 children on the streets of Timisoara, their ages ranging from 5 to 25; two-thirds are boys. Because the state offers only temporary solutions for these boys and most cannot return to their homes we would like to open a house and farm for boys this year.
The children we work with have lived on the streets for some time and are usually very wild and rebellious, without any types of personal boundaries. Most have had trouble with the police, have been solvent abusers and been involved in many types of antisocial behaviour. They are a very difficult group of children to work with and that is why they have remained on the streets. We believe that with love and patience some of these boys can be saved.
It is our desire to use the same model we have used with the girls house – family type residential care for up to 15 boys with 24 hour supervision and a structured, loving environment where these children can grow and enjoy being children.
In time we would also like to use farming, animals and the outdoors as a way of helping these children overcome their problems and learn social responsibility.
In March 2006, we bought a 5 acre block of land with an old house and a large barn 19km out of Timisoara on the outskirts of a small village called Ianova. We have started construction of a new home on this land to accomodate up to 15 boys.
As you can see, we have made much progress but there is still a lot to do.
The Boy's Home - Update 2011
In the autumn we took on another ex street boy called Cristi and gave him a chance to prove himself stable enough to stay at the boys’ farm and look after the animals. As he is still at Ianova we decided to employ him from April part time to be the caretaker of the farm with a small salary as well as accommodation and food.
In October we planted 190 fruit trees and most have survived the long winter so we hope that in the next few years we will have a plentiful supply of fruit. In June we will slaughter one of the calves that were born last year which will provide us with a freezer full of beef and last month we were given some Dorper sheep which we hope to multiply to eventually create a decent herd.
Now that spring is here and as finance provides we intend to start the building process again with the hope that finally this year we will be able to open the home.
Inside the boys house living room in early 2011
The boys home in January 2011
Cristi relaxing after a job well done - 190 fruit trees planted Autumn 2010
The boy's house in early 2008, complete with walls and a roof!
A wide angle photo from 2007, taken with a special camera on a pole!
The boy's farm and old house, when we bought it in March 2006