Magyar News, 2001. szeptember-2002. augusztus (12. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2002-04-01 / 8. szám
Children from the orphanage helping with the bean harvest. Tino was sent to the orphanage when he was three. His parents had divorced and the father could not take care of him. At age 13 his parents got back together again, but soon thereafter the father died and the mother followed shortly after. Tino and his two sisters had difficulty without money to bury their parents. Tino experienced the depths of hunger, misery, loneliness and despair. Now the two boys found hope for their lives, they live together as brothers. They are both becoming fluent in Hungarian language and are learning how to become part of this rural community . While at Sunshine Farm they are supervised by a local villager by the name of Somogyi László. "Lacika", as they call him, is an upcoming, talented artist, with a kind and wonderful heart of a big brother. Many of the neighbors have promised moral and spiritual support. One special neighbor is our dear 75 year old Bözsi mama, who is teaching the boys how to cook and she is watching over them with great love, as a real grandmother would. The children’s transition from an orphanage to a healthy and productive life is not so simple, but finding trust and life-time commitments from adults is helping to heal their hearts and so they are more free to become productive individuals. The mere presence of these orphans in the tight knit rural community, was like a breath of fresh air .Many hearts were opened and tears were shed, because no matter how hard life is for people in this ex-communist country, they realized that their life is still much better compared to these children. We are just beginning to see the flowering of our work. We have many needs; we would like to build a bigger house for the orphanage, buy some farming machine, hire permanent staff and so on. But the seeds have been planted and the first fruits are now showing. Similar homes for orphans and/or abandoned children of Transylvania, Bihar province would benefit from the educational, practical model that the Sunshine Farm utilizes, said the Rev. Lugosi Mihály (előadó tanácsos at the Hungarian Reformed World Federation, and "righthand" man to Rev. Tőkés László). In order to share the vision of caring for and raising orphans to become socially Bözsi mama, "grandmother” to all. and emotionally healthy citizens, our goals are: to hold seminars for clergy, educators, social workers and volunteers in the summer of 2002; -to organize weekend educational programs for orphans in order to educate and select those who will be chosen to live in these homes; -to purchase a home with farm land surrounding it, in the village of Érsemjén; to purchase farming machinery. Even though one can not compare the price of this to what we have in America, still proper funds are needed to carry out this program. The founder and director of Sunshine Farm is Mrs. Kati Vigh- Brisebois who in collaboration with the Reverend Lugosi Mihály of the Hungarian Reformed World Federation will carry out this effort. With your donation this lifegiving endeavor will be accomplished. Thank you in advance for your support. May God bless your family and may we be His instrument of healing His children. For further information please contact Mrs. Kati Vigh-Brisebois by email: <mikekati82@hotmail.com> or call at (203)367-4919. Józsi and Tino at the orphanage having fun with the newly found balloons. Right: Ladies of the community help out with the cooking. Page 5
