But I don’t even want to consider that option.
My grandchildren were abandoned by their father in a park one day when the oldest was just four years old, and their mother wants nothing to do with them. So now they live with me. I don’t understand my daughter. I think she will realise what she has done when the children are older, but then it will be too late. She brings more sadness to me then I have ever experienced. My mother was blind and my father was a very angry man, but I never left my children to be raised by others.
Now that my health is not good, people say I should focus on taking care of myself. I tell them not to discourage me, I will not abandon the children! They aren’t leaving this home. They will stay here until I die or until they become adults.
I encourage my grandchildren to go to school, to learn, because if they’re not educated, they can't do anything these days. However poor we are, I always try to provide clean clothes for them to wear to school. I tell Antonia to focus on her education, to stand firm and not to give into any pressure to get into relationships with boys.
The children are my joy and I thank God that they are healthy. I know they love me. They are good children.
Leana, whose three grandchildren in Romania receive support through our child sponsorship programme
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