A frequent question is how can I adopt?....answer.... Romanian law prohibits this, yes a bad law but.....

Can I send things there?............answer.........Yes, but postage is expensive, I am not there non stop, to send directly to an orphanage or other care facility would be putting things in the hands of the caregivers or administators, the children would never receive a thing.
My name is Bob Bechtel. I am an engineer teaching at a Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana. For the past 9 years I have been working with orphans and street kids in Iasi, Romania. Twice I have spent 8 months there and other years I have spent 4 months there (summer and Christmas vacations). I have worked with 100's of children in 4 orphanages and two hospitals. After 3 years there I saw many of the children from these orphanages being turned loose from them, once finished with school. Most had nowhere to go and no job. Their options were:
It was hard for me to see these kids being turned loose with nothing, so I began a program designed to help them. I bought an apartment, renovated it, and began housing 6 kids. They had to have jobs to stay in the apartment and now all work. However the only employment available for their limited education was in clothing "sweat" shops where the salary they receive is barely enough to buy food for the month. I must supplement this by providing free rent, medical care, utilities, and occasional support for other necessities.
I now house 18 kids in 4 apartments, but the needs grow. This fall (2004) I found two street girls who were near death and another girl I house developed severe kidney problems. Medical expenses where at a point that I could not afford. I was afraid I would have to choose who would live and who would have to die. I took on an overload schedule at the university but pay for this would not come for three months. With God's help I was able to cover the medical expenses and these kids are now doing well and are being housed. Soon afterward news came that two of the girls where pregnant (they had been raped while living on the street). For the third I discovered she already had a 3 month year old child. (I was in the US during this time working and was communicating with someone who helps me there by e-mail). Surprises never stop coming but the Lord keeps providing. Many of these kids now attend church regularly and are very well behaved for their young age.
I know this is a VERY brief explanation of what I do and what I HAVE SEEN there. But I felt one page to be sufficient to explain HIS work.

God bless,

bob
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