| Valentino ca = Community Even the Romanians warned Brentwood resident Kathy Ashley against adopting Valentino. The brown-eyed, dark haired baby’s parents were Gypsies — and many Romanians believe such children are destined to be diffi- cult. But Ashley, an experienced day care operator and mother of three young children, fell in love with the 13-month-old baby. “T got really lucky with him. He’s a really nice little guy.” Prejudice was not confined to the Romanians, Kathy noted. Valentino was offered for adoption to a Canadian couple from Tor- onto, who rejected the baby because they wanted a fair-haired, blue-eyed child. Such demands angered Ashley. “Romania is not a baby farm,” she said. She and husband Ron re- mortgaged their Brentwood home to raise the estimated $5,000 to $7,000 required to visit Romania and adopt a child. They had already considered adopting a special needs child in B.C. and provided a foster home for teenagers — so quickly decided to adopt a Romanian child after seeing television programs on the plight of orphaned children in Romania. “Humanitarian reasons,” Ash- ley explained. “I feel we have so much and this child will never want for food.” Many Romanian children ended up in orphanages because their families could not afford to feed them. “At least in the orphanages they know their children are being fed. These are not people who don’t care about their children,” Ashley said. Three of the parents she visited while seeking a child to adopt planned to reclaim their children from the orphanage as soon as they could afford to support the child. “@Valentino was the tenth child Ashley tried to adopt. Romanian law requires the consent of a parent, given in person at court, before granting an adoption. Ashley found several parents unwilling to consent to an adop- tion, since they hoped to regain their children, and was unable to locate other parents. Valentino’s mother lived in a one-room house with a grand- mother, six adults, three children and Valentino’s father, when he was around. The family’s only income was the grandmother’s pension, equal to about $1 a month Canadian. The mother readily agreed to the adoption. “She was thrilled that I was taking him,” Ashley said, explaining that the family’s mod- est three-bedroom Brentwood home looked like a mansion to the Romanians. Valentino had lived| in a crib since birth, after his mother left him at the hospital. A favorite of the nurses, he got some social contact in the hospital and at the orphanage, but his physical devel- opment was delayed. He did not eat solid food until he was seven months old. “Until I took him, he just lived in a crib,” Ashley said. A month ago he couldn’t sit up — now he is crawling. “It’s unbelievable how fast he’s responded.” While in Romania, she worked aS a volunteer in a Bucharest orphanage, drawing on her four years’ experience operating L’il Sprouts Day Care in Brentwood. At the orphanage she saw a room full of children cared for by a few staff. “The children were TheReview Wednesday, August 29,1990 — A13 piures local heart IN A HUDDLE around mom Kathy Ashley are children (clockwise from left) 13-month-old Valentino, three-year-old Troy, five-year-old Lauren and 20-month-old Morgan. Bren- twood residents Kathy and Ron Ashley adopted Valentino from an orphanage in Romania. walking back and forth and crying and looking for any kind of stimu- lation.” Sometimes items donated for the orphanage went home with staff — but Ashley suspects the staffs children were equally in need of the donated items. The large number of orphans is caused by poverty and by govern- ment strictures against birth con- trol and abortion, Ashley said. Under former president Nicolae Ceausecu, families who had fewer than five children were penalized, she added. Like the other Canadians in Romania to adopt children, Ashley waited seven weeks for the Roma- nian government to pass legisla- tion permitting the overseas adop- tions. She saw people crowded into tiny, tenement apartments with no water and standing overnight in line to buy meat. Small bribes — soap, shampoo, coffee, cigarettes and money — encouraged cooper- ation from often apathetic offi- cials, Ashley said. One man broke into tears as he congratulated Ashley on adopting Valentino. The man had been raised in an orphanage, sent to a state school and then been drafted into the army — a typical scenario for Romanian orphans. Valentino will have a better future, Ashley said. _ by Thursday, August 30, 1990. DISTRICT OF NORTH SAANICH PARKS COMMISSION The District of North Saanich is accepting applications from persons interested in serving on the Parks Commission. The Parks Commis- sion advises Council on matters relating to parks and trails in the District. Three appointments for two-year terms will be made at the September 4, 1990 regular Council meeting. Interested persons should forward their names to: Mrs. Joan E. Schill, Municipal Clerk District of North Saanich, 1620 Mills Road (mailing address: P.O. Box 2639 Sidney, B.C. V8L 4C1) Eee “Luxury living in a natural setting” a unique blend of 75 adult orientated carriage homes nestled throughout 75 acres of manicured and prestine parkland. OPEN DAILY 10-5 1255 Wain Road, Sidney 655-3111 2 ee Over 75* | Sold = Choice Locations= / NowSelling ™ eel in our - | 3rd & Final Stage= DR. JOHN M. HALES M.B.B:S. F.R.C.P(C.) is pleased to announce the opening of his office for the practice of PEDIATRICS at Suite 210 Sidney Centre 9764-5th St. Sidney V8L 2X2 656-5432 Appointments by referral ‘PHARMASAVE ____B.C. OWNED AND OPERATED (Slat We are pleased to Welcome TERRY LIGHT Pharmacist/Owner. A graduate of U.B.C. in 1973. Born in Bassano, Alberta he moved to Sidney in 1987. He is married and has 2 children. Terry is looking forward to serving you with all your Phar- macy needs! It teaches: The Tabernacle of Unity has been raised; regard ye not another as stran- gers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Baha'i Faith For further reading material and/or contact Bahai community. Please call. . . 656-3599 656-0601 652-5922 GOOD BOOKS By Echo Eburne BACK TO SCHOOL DAYS Less than a week to go before school’s back in and many are rushing to get together school materials pens, paper, etc. An area that is sometimes overlooked, unless there is a special request, is the wide selection of dictionaries and learning aids available at Tanner's. “The Canadian Intermediate Dictionary” from Gage is an excellent dictionary for Grade 3 and up. This dictionary also contains exercises for students to develop pronunciation, grammar and etymology keys. For the student studying French, “The Collins Robert French School Dictionary” could come in quite handy. The dictionary also has a special supplement providing expressions for use on the telephone, -{ writing letters, etc. Barron’s has several handy little books for French and German language students. “French Verbs” has complete conjugations in all tenses for over 300 of the most commonly used French verbs. There are also books on French grammar German grammar and German verbs. With the interest in Japanese growing, students can find several Japanese-English dictionaries at Tanners. Oxford publishes an excel- lent version. Fujihiko Kaneda has a good book on “Hiragana” which is taught at Parkland. The first steps to reading and writing basic Japanese are well covered. Another set of books that can be very useful are the “Scholastic’s A+ Guides.” One set is for high school, with a second set of ‘Juniors’ for Grades 5 and 6. They cover taking tests, book reports, research and term papers. Education is an important step in life. For some it is relatively easy; for others it is an obstacle. Tanners has a good supply of books to make the experience easier. 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