Greetings, dear friends!

          During the period when we haven’t heard from each, respectively the months of January, February and March, we had to face some challenges, but with God's help, this time we are well and working in normal parameters.

          The first challenge was to deal with a small staff and to quickly find replacements to take over the tasks. Mrs. Lica from the laundry got sick with covid, and after overcoming this disease she started to fight with a strong depression that she has not overcome yet, no longer being active in the Ray House. Mrs. Aurica from the kitchen turned 66 and wanted to retire because the 70 km commute she made to get to Ray House was too exhausting for her. Also, the sudden departure of my mother, who was involved in many aspects of the Ray House, left many gaps.

          We hope that we found you well and healthy, and the transition to the new year brought you new hopes and fresh strength to face whatever awaits us in this new year.

          After mother's sudden departure to the eternal ones, for a few days we were all paralyzed, in a state of shock, it was as if we were living another life, as if we had woken up in a story that could not be ours.However, even if we were hurt and astonished, we had to keep household chores in check and we had to take care of the scheduled things.

          We noticed a general mobilization among everyone, both employees, volunteers and children.Everyone was eager to put their shoulder to the wheel and support "our home" so as not to fall under this heavy burden.Even young people who had plans for the near future to continue their lives independently, changed their minds, saying: “I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here to continue the work of mother Tatiana!”

          The house that the children live in, named Casa Ray, it was built 20 years ago. Improvements have been made every year. An important aspect we have not yet managed to administer/affix is the thermal insulation of the building.

In Dobreni County, the only heat source for the building is the central heating with solid fuel (wood). Without thermal insulation, the heat energy is pretty big, also the need of wood. For only one winter we need almost 30m³ of wood, which cost 11500 RON(2400 EUR). It is a big expense for us, that’s why we would like to reduce all these costs.

Mother...

         At the end of October, unfortunately, we had the first covid infections19. In turn, gradually, 7 children and the parents of the home, mother Tatiana and father Mihai, were found positive. God blessed us all with mild forms of the disease that could be treated at home, except for mother Tatiana who began to have difficulty breathing, her oxygen saturation dropped to 85, so she was hospitalized. As her condition worsened further, her saturation dropped to 63, she was transferred to the hospital's intensive care unit, where she was connected to 2 oxygen sources and given the maximum amount of medication.

         It's been 2 months since I came to you with news about Ray House, respectively news about the events of September and October.

         During this time, God helped us and we managed to put everything we needed for the winter: eggplant, peppers, red peppers, beans, mushrooms, pickles of all kinds, vegetables, tomato juice, jams, compotes, zacusca, fish paste etc. Tireless hands worked hard and filled the pantry and the refrigerated boxes, and mother Tatiana was the one who was not absent from all this work! We kiss your hands, Mother! (pictures 1-8)

         Household and farm activities also continued, being of course combined with play, anniversaries and moments of relaxation. (pictures 9-20) The celebrations of this period were Ionel(17 years old), Laura (10 years old), Gabriela (13 years old) and Madalin (17 years old). May God bless everyone and help them make the best decisions for their lives! (pictures 21-24)

          Warm greetings, dear friends! We hope you are well and your health has not left you.

          As for the children and the staff at Ray House, God protected us in these 2 months, July and August, and all the tests that were performed regularly, had a negative result. Thank God!

          One of the things we missed A LOT due to this pandemic was the visit of friends from America. Year after year, we had an indescribable joy when we spent about 2 weeks together, but this year we missed those beautiful moments. However, we had a small part of that happiness, when Jim sent us a short video in which he told the children how sorry he is that we can't be together, a video to which he attached some photos taken together in 2019. Thank you VERY MUCH Jim for the beautiful surprise! (picturea 1 and 2)

          The months of May and June were months of continuous quarantine, just like March and April, so the activities at Casa Ray had their "stage" also in our house and in our yard (with one small exception that we will mention later;).

          The children had regular activities such as housekeeping, play, birthdays, relaxation and learning. Especially the learning for 6 of our children and young people because at the end of June they had to take exams that would allow them to move on to the next form of education. (pictures 1-17) Oh, let's not forget. We also had a moment of artistic creation. :) (picture 18)

          In March, until the school classes were suspended and the quarantine itself began, we had some activities specific to spring, namely: gardening, painting trees, cleaning orchards and landscaping by Florin Dodita :) (pictures 1-7)

          Also at that time we received a donation of clothes and shoes from our friends in Germany, goods that brought great joy to the children and great joy and relief for us as well. (pictures 8-11)

          The month of February, the last month of winter, was like a late, cold autumn, as was the whole winter we had this year.

          Due to these high temperatures this season, the respiratory viruses that haunted us have affected many of our children. Only 5 of the boys resisted without getting sick, on the other hand all the other 14 went through conditions from the easiest to the most complicated. We cannot say that these viruses have passed completely, but they have reduced and are beginning to approach the end. We thank all those who support us in the medical field. We have months when these expenses far exceed the allocated budget. (picture 01)

          With joy we can let you know that the little ones started a fellowship group, a group that Doinita herself is dealing with, one of the big girls. We are glad that they find such concerns and that the big ones apply in their turn what they were taught. (pictures 2-4)

          We also have apprentices in the field of machine repairs and manual work, apprentices we are also pleased with! (pictures 5-10)