#orphanchildren

[indiancurrents]

Sindhutai Sapkal : A mother to orphaned children. Subscribe here today to get your regular copy - https://www.indiancurrents.org/subscribe.php . . . . . #Wardhadistrict#Maharashtra #SindhutaiSapkal#orphanchildren#SanmatiBalNiketan#MeeSindhutaiSapkal#Indianmagazines#onlineMagazinesinIndia#TopStories#IndianCurrents (at Madhu Vihar Market, Delhi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJsdb4wDAta/?igshid=i566maodshjr

[vaartharavi]

Amaravati: AP Cabinet decides to provide pensions to minors

Amaravati : మైనర్లకు పెన్షన్లు ఇవ్వాలని ఏపీ క్యాబినెట్ నిర్ణయం

సీఆర్‌డీఏ పరిధిలోకి చెల్లింపుల ప్రక్రియ ప్రభుత్వ తాజా నిర్ణయంతో అమరావతి పరిధిలోని మైనర్ పిల్లల వివరాలను సేకరించి,

[wronged-my-own-soul]

Orphan children send messages to their dead parents.

[number0seven]

Lunchtime at LEEDO Leedo is where orphans and destitute street children can begin to lead more normal lives. It is the first permanent home specifically built for street kids and there is no discrimination between boys and girls, able and disabled. LEEDO supports children to improve their life chances through education and training. #theanfieldtourist #thewanderinglondoner #orphans #orphan #orphanchildren #orphanagar #streetchildren #peacehome (at LEEDO) https://www.instagram.com/p/CV3pGMaIaY3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[achancetodance-fundraiser-blog]

My name is Gina Steliana and up until the age of 9 years old I lived in Romania where for a short time like most children, I lived with my birth mother. I believe we lived a lifestyle that lay somewhere between travelling gypsies and refugees. We moved a lot, and on one unfortunate day,aged only 3, I became separated from my family, and simply never saw them again. A Romanian woman found me and delivered me to the local orphanage.

That woman continued to visit me every weekend for the six years I lived at the orphanage. When I return to Romania beginning of this summer, I will see her once more. I was one of the more fortunate children in Romania and was adopted by an English family that live on the Isle of Wight, where I now live with my beautiful daughter.

There came a time when I had my own child, Mary, and she was 3 years old herself. I was shopping one day in a major chain store, and whilst she was away visiting relatives I wanted to buy her a token gift for her return. I was in a rush, and my eye was caught by a hula hoop, and also by some cheerleading style pom-poms. After some thought, I chose the pom-poms and went to pay and leave. Suddenly, whilst queueing, I was seized by a strong feeling that I had made the wrong choice, and left my place to run back and switch to the hula hoop. I had no idea, in that second, what a defining moment in my life that choice would quickly become.

Mary and I played with the hula hoop often and to this very day it continues to bring us much smiles of joy. To me, it was infectious and before I knew it I was even playing with it during her absence which is when I began to learn to hoop dance. Whilst I was dancing with the hoop I discovered something magical – that in those moments, a bubble of space appears around you, within which you have absolute control. As you focus within that bubble, everything else fades out, including all your stress and worries. There is only you and the hula hoop.  It was then that I realised  my soul purpose in life. An epiphany if you like.  “I have to give this feeling of escapism and freedom to children in Romanian orphanages”.

I began to research about the history of hoop dancing, and watched videos and talked to other hula hoop dancers across the world. I learned of the health benefits of hoop exercise, and how it can help hand-to-eye coordination and balance as well as flexibility, not to mention the benefits and impact it can have on you psychotically. Soon I owned my own business, and was teaching the art of the hula hoop to people from every walk of life – I’ve played with tiny children, taught in schools and young offenders as well as adults who simply wanted to do something positive for themselves. I’ve danced for huge crowds on foreign beaches, performed shows throughout festivals and I have also helped others raise charity funds here on my little island home. Now, for the first time, I need the help of others and so I’m reaching out to you all in the hope that you can help me to realise a dream.

I have a plan in place to take my gift back home. I have been in contact with both the woman who found me as a child all those years ago, and some orphanages in Romania, and in May this year I will be travelling back to visit some of those orphanages and start our teaching project giving some of the children in their care ‘A Chance to Dance’. I’ll be taking hoops everywhere and leaving them as gifts when I go, so they can take what I teach them and continue to enjoy it. I hope to give at least some of them that space, that bubble, where the whole world falls away and  only their playful dance remains in the hope that it will make even the slightest difference to their lives.

I’m a single mum, and although my dancing brings me money, it pays our bills and nothing more. My daughter and I live simply, but very happily, in a home full of laughter, love and creativity. There is an orphanage waiting for us right now, and when I go Mary will travel with me too, and see first-hand where I came from. If I am to fulfill this vision, I need to fund our travel to, and stay in, Romania as well as material costs for hoops. The costs are material only – I make/decorated every hoop by hand myself, and none of the funds I ask for is payment for my time in any way – these hoops are made with love, not profit, in mind.

If you can help me with whatever support and funds you can, I promise you two things. The first is that I will continue to write updates as and when I can to tell you all how things are progressing, and then when I go I will write of my travels and where possible take pictures so you can see with your own eyes the good your support and money has gone to. The second thing I promise is that, having once been one of those orphans myself, I know this adventure will bring a lot of joy and fun to children who desperately need it, along with the chance to hear this same story I’ve just told you and realise for themselves that good things really do come to those who wait, and that for every one of us, there is always hope.

Thank You

With Love and gratitude 

Gina Steliana

Credits:

Filming & Production By Richard Morel http://richardmorel.tumblr.com/

Music By David Nyman

I would like to personally thank all the children and families that were able to come and play with us making this film possible.