the history
Little John’s House and its counterpart – Fundatia ‘Little John’s’ was founded in 1994 in post-revolution Romania by Mags Zaharia with the aim of supporting forgotten children with disabilities that were living in very poor conditions in state homes and hospitals.
It was purchased in 1993 to provide a secure home for Ionut Balan (Little John), a Romanian child living with Hydrocephalus. Ionut had earlier been invited to Devon to receive expert surgical/medical treatment, intensive physiotherapy, professional nursing and a great deal of loving care. His only other home in Romania would have been a State “Home for Irrecuperables”, where residents received the minimum of food and clothing and where medicine was almost non-existent.
Ionut was an inspiration to everyone who met him.
the present
Ionut tragically died of a heart attack in 1997 but the memory of him lives on to provide loving care for our six current young adults with varying physical and learning difficulties. Costica, Iulia, Andrada, Laur, Anamaria and Vlad live as a family in the care of employed Romanian helpers, supervised by Mags and Liviu Zaharia. 30 years on, the charity has helped hundreds of children and young adults achieve a better quality of life and look to a brighter future.
The Summer School
Little John’s House is not just a home for six young adults, but reaches out to touch the lives of many other disadvantaged individuals living in other care homes, hospitals and family homes in the local area. With the help of many priceless volunteers, the Summer School gives children and young adults from in and around Sibiu the chance for fun and a change of scenery, since the education system does not always cater for their needs.
In the words of one volunteer:
Many children from the hospital have been abandoned by their parents, due to lack of support for families and the stigma attached to having a handicapped child. Those living at home are often locked away from the rest of the world, in high rise apartment blocks. Whilst there are, of course, those lucky ones who have loving families, the majority of handicapped children in Romania do not have the opportunity to go to school even if they are of normal intelligence, so to provide a fun learning environment even for just one week is an education in itself.
