The Story of His Little Ones

The icy wind howls in the night. It all seems hopeless! The cold darkness envelops the streets of Bucharest. Another brutal winter for the country of Romania. A slight shaking silhouette crouches in the snow-covered entrance of a now-deserted bakery. A half-frozen girl, little Carmen, trying to find shelter. Frozen snowflakes - like steel pellets - hit her cold, bluish face. But Carmen does not feel the pain. A few inhalations of "Silver-Arrow" numb her and help her forget. Forget about the frostbites, the pangs of hunger, and the fear of darkness.

"Silver-Arrow" is a thinner that can be bought for pennies at paint-shops. A drug that corrodes the respiratory tract and wastes the brain. It is the chemical "baby-sitter" of thousands of children who live on the streets and under the streets of Bucharest. Children - who just like Carmen - fumble through the shadowy sewers and stenchful catacombs of Bucharest. Children who grope through darkness.

The same darkness that several decades ago birthed Nicolae Ceausescu. A heartless monster, a proud and megalomaniac communist who built himself the largest palace in the world, ironically called the House of People. Ceausescu had a twisted vision of building a populous Romanian nation of workers, farmers, and soldiers. Consequently he had banned contraceptives and had forbidden any methods of family planning. Multiply! Multiply! Multiply was his demand of couples. More kids, more kids! Have more kids! Mothers with five children or more were praised and declared both heroic and patriotic. More people, more kids in a country with a centralized and collapsing communist economy. That was the recipe of disaster. Parents ended up economically-unable to care for their own children. Children, forced orphans, ended up in streets. These children began having children of their own, and the vicious circle started. Generations of orphans following generations of orphans. And nobody able to help them... children of the streets... little ones deluged by the torrents of communist darkness.

In December 1989, the Romanian people received a serendipitous Christmas gift - the dethroning of Ceausescu. The people had enough; and enough is enough. Thousands of college students rushed into the streets and at the cost of their very lives toppled the communist regime. Following suit, the army turned their weapons against the dictator, chased him down, caught him, tried him, and executed him for genocide.

Today the monster is gone but his illegitimate offspring skulk behind. Bureaucracy, corruption, and socio-economical crisis are the brood of the damned matrimony of Ceausescu and Communism. After half a century of Communism, Romania battles the largest social-economical crisis of its existence. Over 100,000 children without parents. A few of them dying of illness and violence before reaching age 20. Some of them trafficked for prostitution on the streets of Rome, Italy. Many of them living in hellish conditions in the underground sewers of Bucharest. The rest of them institutionalized in government-managed orphanages. All of them unhappy, emotionally wounded, motherless and fatherless children. Little children... Little ones crying with their every street petty-crime: "Help me!" Little ones crying with every inhalation of "Silver-Arrow:" "I need you!" Little ones crying with every tear rolling down their saddened faces: "I just want to be loved!"

Decades later, a group of college graduates received a vision. The vision of a better tomorrow. A better world for the little children. They heard the cries of the little ones and decided to take action. They formed a nonprofit called His Little Ones (HLO). HLO is an organization formed exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. HLO seeks to provide for the spiritual, emotional, physical, educational, and financial needs of all orphan children. HLO seeks to improve the quality of all orphan children's lives.

Day by day, everyday, and in everyway there is slow progress. Slowly but certainly the monster of post-communistic socio-economical crisis is coming down. It is trying to find shelter from the onslaught of humanitarian, charitable, and democratic efforts. But there is no place to hide. Squatting at the entrance of a now deserted House of People, the monster of post-communism is vainly trying to block the blows of the winds of change.

The winds of change are freely sweeping over the lands of Eastern Europe. Even Romania. Even Bucharest. A heart-warming breeze whispers divine promises of spring and sunshine. "Tomorrow will be a better day. Don't give up, Carmen! There will be a brighter future for you and the other children... all God's children... all His little ones."

Blessings,

Andrei C. Duta, PhD
Founder and President