October 2011

It’s been the third time this year that a large team from the German town of Halle Westfalen visited the Bonus Pastor property in Ozd. Their aim was to learn more about the castle and its surroundings, as well as to do something for the renovation of the castle. The initiation of this program came from the Lutheran pastor Bernd Eimterbäumer, and it was organized in cooperation with the Bonus Pastor Foundation. The first volunteer workgroup came in 2009. At that time the team had “only” 45 volunteers, in 2010 there were 63 participants and this year 42 volunteers came.

Antecedents
The date of the program was settled for the period of the German fall holiday, when the students there are free for two weeks and are able to travel to Ozd in Romania. The team of volunteers is made up of specialists and youngsters. Usually they come by a big and a small bus, bringing the necessary equipment and tools with them including portable showers which they rent. Their work is planned and organized with Bonus Pastor beforehand. The objective of this program is to restore in small steps the damaged castle and also to experience the adventure of living in a castle for two weeks. It is true that the circumstances are rustic and primitive, but still--it’s a CASTLE!

2011
This year the volunteer group came to Ozd for the period of 23 October – 3 November. Of the 42 participants, 17 were adults and 25 kids or youth, between the ages of 9 and 76. They also brought skilled craftsmen with them: two bricklayers, two electricians, a gardener, three carpenters and a professional chimney sweeper. They had 13 girls and 29 boys or men in the group.

Activities
This year they succeeded in finishing the following work in the castle: they built wooden stairs so that people can safely reach the attic from the second floor, attached plastic foil to the attic floor, installed windows, attached water pipes, so the kitchen now has fresh and grey water plumbing, one bathroom is now ready, a second bathroom is half way done, the basement ceiling and the walls there were stabilized, the wooden floor in the big room is half completed, and the the area around the castle was cleaned up, including a big pile of dirt. They also restored the northeastern wall of the church in the nearby village of Bichis.

Leisure time
In addition to the work the volunteers also had interesting programs during free time. It was a precious moment for them when they have met the residents of the Therapy Centre. “The Centre, where the treatment of men with alcohol and drug addictions takes place, has been reaching outstanding results and it allows many people to find the way out from addiction to life.” – wrote one of the participants in his report. In one evening the attendants of the long term therapy program – the “residents”, as they are called – visited the work team in the Castle and were telling their life stories, the circumstances that brought them to Ozd, and to the Therapy Centre. A familial atmosphere formed during the evening when two youths from the German group also spoke about their lives. They closed the gathering with devotion.

Sunday was a full day of rest. In the morning they went to the small Reformed church in the village, then one part of the group went to Targu Mures to a swimming pool, another part went for a hike in the hills surrounding Ozd and a third part of the group participated in a football game together with the residents of the Centre--which is almost considered as a tradition, since in all the previous years similar “championships” were also organized.

This year during the period when the workgroup was here three Dutch volunteers also visited Ozd. They had a specific project related to the residents of the Therapy Centre, but they joined the Germans’ program too. They were invited for dinner in the Castle and had an opportunity to get to know one another and share experiences about being a volunteer in Ozd. The atmosphere was friendly.

What is it good for?
We asked them why it is good for a foreign youth to participate in such program. Their answer was that the common work for a common good can teach the great sense of being helpful and doing something worthwhile where the local possibilities are very limited. At the same time the youngsters could experience life in a poorer country and could see from a different perspective their own life circumstances. And finally they became acquainted with a variety of crafts – under the leadership of the professionals – and could try some of the work which they thought they might have a talent for.

“This workgroup is the biggest sign and hope for us that God has blessed our project!” – These were the farewell words of Dr. Levente Horváth, the President of the foundation to the volunteers.

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