News
Please Help Us Bring Raluca Here for New Braces
Posted on 09.09.2009 | Filed as News
About two years ago, The Shepherd’s Crook was privileged to be able to send our Rehab Team to Romania to provide intervention and orthotic support for a number of children with special needs. If you don’t remember hearing about that, or if you would like to learn more about it, read our March ‘09 Newsletter (page 9). One of the children we were able to help on that trip was a little girl named Raluca. Raluca and her family lived, at the time, in the city of Ploiesti (pronounced, roughly, ploy-YESHT), about thirty-five miles north of Bucharest. She was born with a form of spina bifida which has left her with a number of debilitating conditions, including partial paralysis of her legs and feet. Sadly, the environment in which Raluca lives, and in particular her school, is not friendly toward persons with disabilities, and she routinely is subjected to taunting and teasing because of her problems.
The TSC Rehab Team fabricated new ankle-foot orthotics (braces) for her to help her walk, and they also provided new shoes to help her take advantage of the new braces. As I said, though, that was nearly two years ago. Raluca, who is now nine, has been growing since then, and she has outgrown the orthotics the team made for her. Without the braces, she cannot walk.
The Shepherd’s Crook is now working on a plan to bring Raluca to the States so our Rehab Team can fabricate a new set of orthotics for her. Our team will be donating their time and the materials to fabricate the braces, but we need to pay all of the travel and incidental expenses to make the trip possible. Raluca’s mother will travel with her, for obvious reasons. A national organization has already offered to cover the bulk of the expenses of this trip for us, but we still find ourselves about $1500 short of the total we’ll need.
If you feel led to contribute toward this trip and Raluca’s new braces, please send your donation to The Shepherd’s Crook Ministries, P.O. Box 773, West Chester, OH 45071, and indicate that your gift is for the “Raluca Trip.” If you wish to donate on-line, go to our donations page on the Web site; again, please be sure to indicate that your gift is for the “Raluca Trip.”