You will be expected to volunteer at a special needs school in Simeria located close to the local city of Deva, working with children and young adults who have a range of different levels of special educational needs. The program runs Monday- Thursday, during term time. A lot of the children and young adults come from a variety of backgrounds from Romany Gypsy to orphans. Some of the pupils travel for hours on end to get to school and therefore stay within the onsite accommodation during the week, then go back home at the weekend. However, a lot of children have access to the school buses and this is their form of transport.
Within the school you will assist with day to day activities, such as craft activities and being in the weaving workshops with the children. The teachers will encourage you to lead activities if you feel comfortable to do so and feel free to plan as many as you like before you go. A lot of the schools work is surrounded around crafts, so craft activities are a great opportunity for all the children to get involved in. The children are at the school to "learn how to learn", with work also surrounded around communication skills and life skills.
The school is again located within a village although there are around 140 pupils there. The children enjoy going on walks down to the river front, where in the summer they enjoy paddling in it.
All of the children are incredibly loving and the most grateful children that we have ever met. The teaching staff are also wonderful and are truly inspirational, committing themselves to the children 110%! Be prepared for the language barrier though as the teachers speak little English and the children speak little to none, however saying this it's easier than you think to communicate with them using varying methods.
You will come into contact with a number of varying staff within the school such as the school psychologists, it was here where we carried out a lot of our observations and a lot of answers for our research came from.
From the first day you will feel welcome within the school from having a tour of the school, being introduced to the school Director, who welcomes you upon the great journey.
There are other volunteering options available, but which one you participate on depends on the time that you go- such as volunteering within the holiday club for orphans.
You will stay with a British couple, Ali and Steve, who live in a small village, located a 10 minute drive from Deva. Ali and Steve have lived in Romania for nearly 10 years and Ali is fluent in Romanian. They really are the most loveliest people and will provide you with everything you need, and local knowledge of what to explore.
They really look after you and provide you with everything you will need including meals. Lunch is eaten at the school with the children but breakfast and evening meals are at the house, with Ali and Steve providing the meals. You will experience a variety of traditional Romanian food as you are immersed in the local culture.
The village that you live in is incredibly traditional and you will get no other cultural experience like it- definitely a time to remember! All of the locals are incredibly welcoming and be prepared to learn a few Romanian terms! Many of the villagers have lived in their village their whole life with a vast majority of them living off the land and being self-sufficient, traditional farming methods are still used, seeing how others live really is an eye opening experience. By the end of your time here you really won't want to leave you feel as if you have become one of the villagers!
The house is big enough for up to 18 volunteers at a time, with volunteers sharing rooms with either single beds or bunk beds. Depending on when you go depends on how many other volunteers will be there. In summer there would be expected to be more volunteers, when we went to Romania there was ourselves and one other volunteer.
The rooms have en-suite bathrooms with a western toilet and shower.
The house had Wi-fi and a lounge with a TV.
Flights are mainly from Luton Airport.
Steve will pick you up when you land in Romania so there is no need to worry about the transfer, however transfers back to the airport need to be sorted. These can be sorted when you are there using local taxi drivers.
Ali and Steve take you to and from the placement school which meant that there was no need to worry about trying to find your way there.
Taxi's are the safest and easiest form of transport with fees of a small cost and Ali and Steve will provide you with trusted local taxi drivers numbers.
The village has a local 'bar', which many of the villagers go to on a daily basis. It is a very social life that they lead in Romania with everyone knowing everyone. In the local 'bar' they play card games and drink the traditional tzuika, which you will get to have a go at! You will feel very much apart of the village and the villagers really embrace you into their community, which is lovely! By the end of you stay there you will feel one of them and lived there for a very long time!
Within the local city of Deva there are plenty of restaurants to indulge in and with the cost of living so cheap out in Romania, it is nearly impossible to spend your money. The city is again traditionally Romanian where you will explore the traditional way of life. It is a very small city and back home it would more likely be classed as a town- in regards to size.
You will have lots of time to plan activities that you wish to carry out within the school in the evenings.
Things to do, things not to do
There are lots of places to go and see,depending on how far you are willing to travel and what kind of activities you would like to under take.
It is definitely worth going to have a look around the local cities such as Deva and Hunedoara while you are in Romania. These two cities are full of incredible religious buildings and castles which are worth a look at.
Prislop Monastery, built in the second half of the fourteenth century by Father Nicodemus, symbolises one of the most important places of Orthodox worship within Romania. The locals get their water from a wish stream and people queue for hours to see the priest and visit the cave where the monks used to live. On the way you would stop off and have a look at the Gypsy palaces in Hunedoara, all very large, colourful and decorative. They are actually incredible.
Depending how far you are willing to travel you could go to Salina Durda, a real museum of salt mining build in 1857 and up until 1920. It is cheap to get in to and you could easily spend most of the day in there with a park, table tennis, mini golf, bowling, a theatre and a lake with rowing boats to hire there is plenty to do. Many people go there to experience the clean air, as it is good for your lungs. On the way back from the Salina Durda you could stop off at Alba Lulia where you will see some very impressive Greek-style Orthodox Cathedrals, it is an incredibly historic place to discover and is very beautiful.
Ali and Steve recommended staying in a hotel on our last night in Romania nearer to the airport in Sibiu. Again this was cheap but it allowed us to explore the city of Sibiu which really is beautiful. There are lots of nice place to eat, as well as shops, museums and many churches.
For any trips you are interested in doing, Ali and Steve are happy to give you numbers of trusted taxi drivers to get you around. As you get a three day weekend it would also be possible to explore the country further a field, if you wanted to stay away at the weekend.
Take PMGY's numbers just in case you have a problem.
PMGY UK Emergency No: 07774176306
PMGY Romania Emergency No: +40 724 634 509
Take the Universities Emergency number just in case you experience any problems but you should be fine with Ali and Steve.
Make sure you ask Ali and Steve for there number and address once you get there just in case you need to get in contact with them.
Before we left for Romania we were in contact with Philip a member of the Plan My Gap Year team, who would be willing to answer any questions that you have and was very helpful in the lead up to our trip.
Print of the Plan My Gab Year 'what to pack' list which includes all the items you will need while in Romania.
Get yourself a camera.
Don't change your money until you get to Romania as the exchange rates are a lot better over there, depending on what you want to do you won't need much spending money as the cost of living is so cheap! Two people can eat out and have a couple of drinks for under £10- it is unbelievable!
If you are in doubt we can honestly say, just go for it! It is one of the best things you will ever do!
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