We opened the apartment for girls on a Friday night back in May, 2012. Ramona was working so she came to us Saturday morning. She has been a part of the ministry with the girls since the beginning. She was 21 years old at that time and had been living with a family from her church.
She told us that she had never had a birthday party so on her first birthday with us we gave her a party. After only a few minutes we noticed that she was not around so we went to look for her and found her in the other apartment watching television. Her social skills were very limited at
that time.
At the end of 2014 we found a nanny job for one of our other girls in Germany through our contacts. When Ramona heard about that she asked if we could find her a job in England. We did have a contact in England who was willing to help us but Ramona did not speak English. Plus,
she had never flown on an airplane. Through our contact Ramona was able to get a job in London. Our friend happened to also be coming to Romania so Ramona flew back to London with her.
Since that time, Ramona got a job with a Romanian woman being a nanny for two young children. Last fall she decided it was time to go to the university to learn English. In May she will complete her first year of English.
She decided that it was time to move on from the nanny job this February after two years. She said that if she could not find another job she would return to Romania. Near the end of
March a friend in London found her a possible job cleaning for a Jewish family. She got an interview and went to talk with this older couple.
At the beginning of the interview the woman told her she could not clean the house as Ramona was just a child. Ramona told her that she was 26 years old and could definitely handle the job. The couple really liked her and hired her. She has been working for them now for one month and plans to continue on with this job. The couple has told her that she can get a second part-time job since she only cleans four hours a day in the morning. She lives in her own private bedroom with her own bathroom. It is a wonderful job for her. 
When Ramona interviewed for the job, she had to do the interview in English. The couple did not speak Romanian so she had to be able to communicate in English. This is the young woman who had never flown before going to London and was scared of socializing and being able to get around the city on her own. She has learned to navigate both the bus and tube systems in London and can easily get herself to and from the airport. She has returned to Romania on a plane twelve times now by herself. She has stated that in the fall she will begin her second year of English classes at the university.
During her time in London, because part of her job has been to live with the family, she has been able to save lots of money. She has saved well over a year’s salary in Romania, even with all her trips back home to visit. We have watched her grow in so many ways over the past five years. She has a willingness to try new things and she is not nearly as afraid as she was at the beginning. Her view of the world has changed drastically after having lived in another country for a period of time. We are very proud of the young woman she has become. We know by having observed her over the years that our ministry here with the girls really does help them to grow, mature, and become contributing members of society. That is a hope they are never given when they are raised in the orphanage system.
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