One of the things that was very evident in Romania was the number of street children. Thankfully there was a group of people who work specifically with these people-the Forget Me Not Foundation. They have a hostel near Brasov where some of the children can live, call home, and learn to move on from their experiences.

Although they may not have had the best start to life, the natural talents and gifts of these children were very evident. Some of the boys pulled out a few mates and with great ease pulled of back flips, flying tumbles and some other incredible feats, many of us who have had piano lessons were put to shame by one boy who had taught himself the piano to an incredibly high standard. As well as classical pieces, he astounded us with a perfect rendition of the Titanic theme tune. His playing definitely outclassed our singing.

Although there were many differences in our lives, similarities could easily be found. They liked and hated the same music as us, they loved to laugh (at and with us) and they were very keen to make new friends. Some of them gave us their addresses so that we could keep in touch, and undoubtedly we will.
We were able to build up very natural relationships with the young people there; it was almost as though we had known them for a lot longer that we had.

We spent nearly all of our time in the main, boys building, but we were also shown around two other buildings which were behind it. One was a newly built home which housed the six girls, and the other was used for storage and teaching. The idea of the storage room was that when one of the children grew out of their clothes or shoes, they would be given a new set from the store. A record was kept of who had been give what, which reflected how well and efficiently the foundation was run. Beside the storage rooms was the classroom. This was where the children were given special teaching to enable them to catch up. They were taught in small numbers-when we arrived there were only two boys being taught Maths. They seemed to genuinely be enjoying it! This showed me was how they appreciated their education so much more than us, and made me realize that I shouldn't take it so much for granted.

These children didn't have many of the things we would take for granted. They had led a life that we would find hard to imagine. However, they didn't search for our pity, instead looked for friendship. We all made good friends, just by being themselves, and talking with us, taught us an incredible amount.