Kath's crusade

Her aim is to bring smiles to the faces of the Romanian youngsters who are living rough on the streets, begging for a crust of bread.

It is a tall order but it is a problem Kath is determined to tackle.

She is no stranger to Romania or its people. For years, Kath has run the Good News for Romania Charity, helping, in particular, an orphanage in Dersca near the Romanian village of Dorohoi.

The orphanage was forced to close recently but Kath knew she would still want to continue to send aid to the country.

Now she is turning her hand to helping the street children who range in age from as young as six to teenagers, all with the same thing in common -- no home to call their own, and wandering the streets, begging, borrowing or even stealing to keep alive.

Kath's work in Romania, which has spanned 11 years, originally put her in touch with little Madalina, who is no stranger to BEN readers.

Madalina came to stay at the Richardson family's Wythburn Avenue, Bolton, home from the Dersca orphanage where she had lived most of her life, when she needed vital surgery on her arm.

The youngster's disability was discovered in the Dersca orphanage which Kath and husband Dave -- the other half of the Good News for Romania team -- helped with supplies collected here in Bolton.

Madalina came to England when she was five-years-old but her story has a happy ending because now, aged nine, she has a new home as the recently adopted daughter of Kath and Dave.

But, sadly, the outlook is not so rosy for many other Romanian children, and when the Dersca orphanage closed its doors, the Richardsons faced a turning point.

They knew they still wanted their charity to work in Romania, particularly helping needy children, but where would their aid be directed now? Through a good friend, Costel Florea, an inspirational Romanian fireman, Kath and Dave were told about the street children he had been helping in his home town of Barlad, which is north of Bucharest.

Costel had been providing a "food kitchen" for the hungry youngsters at the fire station where he worked and had also been helping poor families in the town who, without his assistance, would not have enough food to feed their, more often than not, large families.

Although Kath and Dave no longer had the orphanage in Dersca to help, they felt drawn towards the youngsters who desperately needed the very basic food so many of us take for granted.

There is also an orphanage in Barlad which will benefit from the Richardsons' hard work.

Kath explained: "What Costel does is to keep all the things that have been donated, then he gives it out to the children at least twice a week, ensuring they don't eat everything in one go.

"He also delivers food parcels to needy families once a week and they are so grateful. It is hard for us to imagine how these families live.

"But many live in just two rooms without any sanitation. They are so grateful for anything they can get."

Kath will be travelling out to Romania in September and she hopes to take with her enough money to buy vital food for the children which can then be distributed to the most needy cases.

She is hoping people in Bolton will dig deep into their pockets to help these youngsters who have no one to care for them.

"These are children who through no fault of their own have ended up on the streets of Romania.

"Some have been thrown out of their homes by their families because they just cannot afford to feed them.

"Others may have fallen out with their families and they take themselves out on to the streets."

Romanian authorities have long been embarrassed by their street children "problem", forcing the youngsters away from rail stations where they would head for shelter.

"They were too obvious to people visiting Romania and the authorities didn't like it." But they are still very much in evidence, explained Kath. "As you drive through the streets and stop, the children will run up to the car and start cleaning the windscreen in the hope of getting some money from you."

Ironically, problems of poverty have increased in Romania since the collapse of Communism, Kath said.

It was the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in January 1990 that brought the horrendous conditions in the Romanian orphanages to worldwide attention. Thousands of orphanages were discovered and the world was horrified by the pictures of poverty and neglect that were emerging.

Youngsters were living in decrepit conditions in crumbling orphanages. Some spent all day and night in their cots, often tied to the cot bars by overworked orphanage staff to prevent them from moving.

The scenes were relayed on television screens as more and more orphanages were discovered and many aid agencies, including the Richardsons' own charity, sprung up to help.

But Communism meant families did not have to worry about work, said Kath.

"The Communist rule meant everyone had a job, so everyone was earning money. Now there just aren't enough jobs to go round and there are many poor families who are living hand to mouth."

Things are still tough in Romania for many children and the street children's plight is sure to tug at the heartstrings. Some youngsters have been known to sleep in the sewers because it is warm there.

"It wouldn't happen in this country. But in Romania children living on the streets is a big problem. I am really hoping that local people will rally round to help them."