Ioana is one of the women from the Roma community of the village of Tărian, and her life story is an impressive one, shaped by hardship but also by blessings and achievements.
Although she has had many difficult moments in her life, she managed to overcome them and to become an exemplary person in her community.
She was born into a family with many children, and at the age of one and a half she suffered a very serious burn to her left hand. As a result of this accident she spent 3 months in a coma.
While she was in the hospital, her parents did not come to look for her, as her mother was pregnant with another child. She was left in God's care, and He looked after her every step of the way.
After she came out of the coma, her parents took her home, where she grew up with her siblings, but she has always lived with the burden of the disability she carries to this day.
Because of her disability, her parents did not send her to school, wanting to protect her from children who might make fun of her. So she learned neither to write nor to read, until a school for adults was organized as part of the social projects in Girișu de Criș, implemented together with Dorcas Aid România. This was her chance, and the chance of other people in the community, to learn the basics.
Ioana married and, although her pregnancies were difficult, she brought 3 children into the world. Understanding the importance of education, she chose to send her children to school. Today her son attends a vocational school in Oradea, an achievement that makes the whole family happy.
She started attending the sewing classes at the Sukhar Center right from the beginning of the project and, even though she did not know how to sew at all and her disability allowed her to use her left hand only a little, nothing stopped her from becoming one of the most skilled students at our Center.
She fell in love with sewing right from the start, as well as with the atmosphere of our meetings, and as she says herself, when she comes to the Sukhar Center she "relaxes and forgets all her problems".
Ioana took part in every phase of the project, both in sewing the little clothes and in making the sandals.
Of all the women who worked on it, only Ioana was able to cut out the leather from which the doll's footwear was made, because it was painstaking work that required exceptional dexterity.
Even though her left hand helps her very little, she is the one who made it possible for the Aelia doll to be so nicely shod, in hand-made sandals.
Even though she has a disability that does not make her life any easier, God has blessed her, and she sees and acknowledges this. Her family has grown over the years and their work has prospered.
Today they have one of the most beautiful households in the Roma community of Tărian.
They raise animals and have a small garden, and we are happy about their success.
