HOPE TOUR

After my return from Romania in October 2017, I asked myself a question, what will I do in Romania next year? How can I effectively apply my skills in a meaningful way if I am not a member of a club or organization?

 

I can organize, plan, drive anything with an engine and I have learned a lot about Romania and made many friends in my time there. There must be something that hasn’t been done before. These were my thoughts.

 

Within a few weeks the idea was born to borrow the veterinary ambulance (which I was involved in purchasing in 2015) from Romania Animal Rescue. I started to plan a tour of 2500km with the Ambulance, but what should it include and how to finance this?

 

Help on the spot is and has always been the focus for me so it was the logical conclusion to seek out places that receive help only occasionally or not at all but this on its own will not solve problems in the future so educational work was added to the list.

 

Where to get the biggest impact? Where the most people are so the idea evolved to involve some of the major attractions of the country. Castle Corvin, a landmark of the country, Sibiu, one of the most famous cities and Sighisoara. Discussions with authorities were successful and the support from official offices was simply indescribable.

 

The result is a tour that is unique and has an impressive effect. For the first time in Romanian and animal welfare history there was a veterinary ambulance in front of Castle Corvin, in front of one of the most famous churches in the country and the German high school in the centre of Sibiu and also at the foot of the medieval fortress in Sighisoara. In addition, no veterinary ambulance was ever in the mountains along the Transalpina and Transfargarasan highways treating animals there. A small idea became an incredible project.

 

I could not do all of this alone, I needed help so I started talking to friends about my idea. I asked Dr. Aurelian Stefan (Medical Director at RAR) if I can borrow some of his staff so as well as a vet from The Center Hope in Bucharest an assistant was also made available too. Alongside this, veterinarians from Family Vet in Craiova were also able to take part, performing castrations with the minimally invasive technique.

 

The most amazing thing is not what you can achieve with very little money, but the breathtaking response of the people and the team. 100% positive feedback and media interest from several TV and radio stations testifies to how much people want change to happen and how gratefully they accept the help.

 

Never before have I experienced so many positive reactions. This clearly demonstrates the need for exactly this type of work and for this reason the project is not just simply continued but also extended.

 

From the beginning Ruth Osborne from The Center of Hope in Bucharest and Dr. Calin Godeanu (independent Veterinarian from Craiova) joined my idea. This resulted in a core team with a completely different background and very broad core competences.