About us

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History

After a year of delivering urgent humanitarian medical supplies in the terrible wartime in the former Yugoslavia Brian Douglas who is a veteran humanitarian activist made his first visits to Romania in 1994. He has a vast experience of the problems within the Country, many a result of the years of communism rule until December 1989 that in some areas still linger where is an old mentality. He works with many well designed projects to raise the standards of the marginalized ones within society, is an expert on rural lifestyles that have changed little in the last 50 years and as such leaves many rural peasants in poverty and suffering extreme hardship. In the early years of living in Romania whilst still learning the difficult Romanian language Brian gave voluntary support daily at state orphanages and also at a dystrophic center for babies helping to raise basic standards including giving freely donated syringes and needles so that the risk of HIV/Aids could be eliminated as at that time many orphanages only had often old metal hyperthermic syringes that all the children were injected with. After changes within the care system he again voluntarily worked at a pediatric Tuberculosis asylum near Iasi City where he actually lived also in a small room so that he could daily offer support to the needs of the sick children. He created a play and education Room with freely donated aid offered from the west so that children could be out of their beds and in small groups with the non infected first could take their minds off being ill and enjoy themselves and learn a little too. This also had a double effect as allowed doctors and nurses to treat the sickest of children in wards free of the natural noise of other children, plus allowed ancillary staff a free open possibility to clean and disinfect wards.

He appealed for western donations so that he could completely renew the old bathroom in which was only broken showers and no hot water for children to wash. He installed new electric boilers along with brand new showers and sinks, plus mirrors on the wall above the hand sinks, plus tiled the walls and painted the windows and door to the bathroom and also found that a boiler to heat water was required in the laundry room as until then all bedding and clothing in this TB unit was only able to be washed in cold water! Now with hot water boiler direct to the washing machines infected items could be disinfected to correct standards. In this time Brian also helped at the children’s institution in Paun village where again were children in sub standard conditions who suffered from HIV/aids and hepatitis. Here also with the help of a friend and donations he helped create a new toilet and wash basin block for children among other essential activities to raise the standards in these old institutions. Even today all these years later he says he still shudders when he thinks of those years gone by remembering what he saw and worked to stop so that humanity could prevail. Eventually these old institutions were closed and better conditions made available and Brian started a long collaboration that still is in place today at the Hospital of Pneumoftiziologe in Iasi. At the old TB asylum Brian learned quickly about Tuberculosis which is still rife in Romania today and in all these last years has been offering voluntary help within the Iasi TB Pneumologie hospital, speaking at medical conferences and is the administrator also of a 2 medical websites one being a Tuberculosis website and the other a Covid website for medical specialists. He is also heavily involved in outreach work in TB education along with public health work as again for many years has worked in collaboration with Iasi public health department and this lead to more besides as this work also took him into the vast and poor rural communities were life has hardly changed in the last 60 years.

Here Brian adapted quickly and over many years has designed small but valuable projects that raise standards for both families, people living alone and communities as well. Life in the rural areas involves locals using horses and carts, water being still drawn from street wells, very basic facilities and many rural communities that have little or no medical facilities, but a life that is quiet and in fresh air compared to the large towns and cities. Poverty is the hardest problem to be overcome still today. Many struggle to make ends meet and as a result can easily become ill with problems associated with poor diet, lack of corresponding diet and in the cold season lack of heating in their small dwellings. The days of the vast collective agricultural concerns of the former communist state that employed the whole village have long gone, now there is only small local farm work on the land paid often on a day as when required basis and with low pay also.

Rural education is far from the standards in towns and the opportunities for even the best children to progress to say go to attend a high school in the towns are limited as families simply in the main cannot afford to send their child with all the extra costs involved, thus children finish education at an early age and as such with no qualifications never reach their full potential. It was with this in mind that when Brian first met with Simone Charmant in Brasov in 2008 and after this in Iasi with both Miriam Charmant and her Husband Jeroen that St RCHF was formed with am aim to lift standards for children in education along with all the other actions performed in Romania by Brian. A first step was an animated ‘’Timmie’’ book based cleverly by Miriam Charmant on a family of mice with the subject of the book on basic hygiene. This is an important subject in a Country were most rural people still take daily water from water wells in streets and where is a high amount of hepatitis. The book gave children an insight into how to easily prevent themselves from becoming ill from poor hygiene practices and as such reducing illness.

All these years later and St RCHF now thanks to the huge efforts of Miriam Charmant and her husband Jeroen as full range of early education books for children which Brian delivers and donated free to Kindergartens and schools in North-east Romania over many years. Within St RCHF we all agree that allowing a child to learn the basics at an early age places the child in good stead for later years ahead and this view is shared by Romanian teachers also who are full of support and praise for the vast collection of Timmie education books and also early learning cards that St RCHF is able to offer in education nowadays.

Other Rural projects designed by Brian via St RCHF include providing solar light packs which we freely donate to families who live in areas where is no mains electricity and also portable toilets for those who are infirm and unable to get outside to the pit toilet in the garden. Each year since 2010 St RCHF has taken hundreds of children for a free summer camping holiday in the vast mountain ranges of Suceava County with no cost to parents as all is paid by sponsors and Brian designs and oversees all at these summer camps that bring so much enjoyment to children who have no chance of even 1 day away from home in the summer school holiday as their parents simply have not the financial means.

For many years now St RCHF has helped in emergencies in north-east Romania when has been for instance mass flooding as was in Dorohoi in 2010 and in both Iasi and Bacau also as well as providing top up food aid to many families to help them manage when in need of extra support. With donations from 2 kind suppliers in the Netherlands St RCHF runs also a grow your own project which Brian oversees and operates in which people who have no work, are poor but have time are given freely donated vegetable seeds and are encouraged to grow their own on their plots of land thus enabling a fresh food harvest.

Each winter Brian thanks again to outside sponsor is able to bring warmth to hundreds who cannot afford home heating in rural villages by purchasing and delivering freely donated wood bricks for rural heating in homes.

Each Christmas wearing his Father Christmas suit Brian delivers Christmas treats to the poorest of children and food aid to parents at this time also and at each school new term via donations delivers direct in the hand back to school essentials that many family cannot afford and in this way allows the child to enter school along with all other children with confidence.

In Brian’s view the Romanian people are warm and kind as he has found over many years, but hampered by hardship and poverty that has forced many to leave and try find a better living abroad. We work in the service of God above to try raise standards for the most marginalized and all who we find in poverty, sick or disabled adds Brian.

Mission and objectives

The mission and objectives of St RCHF is to be ambassadors to those who are poor and marginalized in society.

We are a non-profit NGO dedicated to producing substantial projects that will provide opportunities by our actions to minimizing injustice in society thus bringing back humanity and paving the way for a real possibility for a better, safer future to children in difficulty, families suffering in poor living conditions and those living in poverty, plus assist the sick when frightened, in difficulty and in need of support to bring them back to health.

We also support senior citizens often who live alone in poor conditions. To be poor or in ill health is not a crime, yet often these groups receive the least support.

We work on a voluntary basis; no one is paid a salary, we are transparent in all of our work.

St RCHF does not discriminate on grounds of age, race, religion or any by other means. We all need help when in difficulty in our lives and St RCHF offers that help to everyone without discrimination of any kind or nature.

Brian Douglas

Brian Douglas is a British born citizen and voluntary director of St RCHF in Eastern Europe, plus founder member of St RCHF. Brian has a vast experience of humanitarian charity NGO workings in Eastern Europe. He has lived for the last 30 years mainly in Romania, were he is also registered with the state and local authorities including Romanian Police and British Embassy. Brian speaks fluent Romanian, plus living amongst the Romanian people brings an added asset that helps St RCHF achieve its aims to help by positive actions in addressing problems in health, education and cases of extreme hardship within families.

Miriam en Jeroen Charmant

Miriam Charmant has been the president and secretary of St. RCHF since September 2009. As a Dutch foundation, we were able to qualify as an ANBI, a public benefit corporation, but all the work happens in Romania, as my colleague Brian Douglas describes in “about us.

Our first introduction to Romania came in the early 2000s, when our daughter volunteered in Romania for several years. For example, she independently set up a pre-school program for Roma children. At a later stage, Jeroen and Miriam Charmant came into contact with Brian Douglas. One thing led to another and in a short time plans were made to create a hygiene booklet for children. This was later joined by the Children’s Crime Prevention booklet. In cooperation with the local police in Suceava, these topics were discussed at kindergartens and schools on a child-oriented basis.

Very soon after this the Timmy Mouse Educational Project saw the light of day. This project was launched in cooperation with the Suceava Police Inspectorate with the first 12,000 booklets in 2014.

For Miriam, creating these educational materials is the main goal within the foundation. The former work at an educational support center for schools, the love for books and drawing were the right ingredients to make our friendly Timmy Mouse do his ‘job’ in the booklets over the years.

We are very grateful for the ongoing support of Jeroen Charmant, whose corporate contributions make it possible for St. RCHF to do the work you can read more about on this website.

Your support counts!

Stichting Romanian Children’s’ Humanitarian Foundation receives some monthly donations from long standing supporters who recognize the importance of our work that brings hope and raises standards for the poorest of people in eastern Europe today including both children and the old aged people who suffer the most when living in hard circumstances. We educate children to a better standard in pre schools and schools via the superb Timmy Mouse educational aids that allow every child to learn with ease, plus provide essential school materials to many a child who’s parents have no financial means, support families in difficulty to raise their heads above water and allow a healthier lifestyle, plus help the sick back to health in well designed projects and also provide summer holiday camps for children without the possibility of even a days holiday and much more besides.

Educational support

We educate children and provide essential school materials to children in need.

Health care

We help the sick back to health in well designed projects.

Social support

We support families in difficulty to raise their heads above water.