In 2008 The Duchess of York visited some of Europe’s most neglected institutions in Romania as part of an undercover investigation.
She found:
She saw hundreds of children and teenagers locked away in state institutions.
Children tied and restrained to beds, chairs and even benches in the yard.Starved of love, care and professional attention, these children had been forgotten and left in a life of neglect.
The Duchess went on to visit maternity hospitals where she witnessed up to 18 abandoned babies per room.
She also visited Roma communities where she was faced with mothers who had abandoned their children and mothers who were about to abandon their child due to the poverty they were living in and their long-term unemployment.
The Duchess soon realised the problems in Romania were so deeply embedded, that the long-term prevention of abandonment programmes was crucial to breaking the cycle of mass institutionalization.
The Duchess of York and Romanian Relief are working together to stop institutionalization, starting in Romania with the intention to take these successful projects worldwide making the biggest impact possible on the wellbeing of children’s lives across the globe.
“Having witnessed first hand the horrors of institutional care, I needed to find a solution to the problems of these children’s lives. Then I met the charity Romanian Relief, seeing the difference between their set up and others I had witnessed is so vast. Seeing the improvement in the children under their care is enough to bring hope and joy to anyone. I truly think that Romanian Relief is a model charity through which lives can be improved beyond measure” Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York
She found:
She saw hundreds of children and teenagers locked away in state institutions.
Children tied and restrained to beds, chairs and even benches in the yard.Starved of love, care and professional attention, these children had been forgotten and left in a life of neglect.
The Duchess went on to visit maternity hospitals where she witnessed up to 18 abandoned babies per room.
She also visited Roma communities where she was faced with mothers who had abandoned their children and mothers who were about to abandon their child due to the poverty they were living in and their long-term unemployment.
The Duchess soon realised the problems in Romania were so deeply embedded, that the long-term prevention of abandonment programmes was crucial to breaking the cycle of mass institutionalization.
The Duchess of York and Romanian Relief are working together to stop institutionalization, starting in Romania with the intention to take these successful projects worldwide making the biggest impact possible on the wellbeing of children’s lives across the globe.
“Having witnessed first hand the horrors of institutional care, I needed to find a solution to the problems of these children’s lives. Then I met the charity Romanian Relief, seeing the difference between their set up and others I had witnessed is so vast. Seeing the improvement in the children under their care is enough to bring hope and joy to anyone. I truly think that Romanian Relief is a model charity through which lives can be improved beyond measure” Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York
