The months of May and June were months of continuous quarantine, just like March and April, so the activities at Casa Ray had their "stage" also in our house and in our yard (with one small exception that we will mention later;).

          The children had regular activities such as housekeeping, play, birthdays, relaxation and learning. Especially the learning for 6 of our children and young people because at the end of June they had to take exams that would allow them to move on to the next form of education. (pictures 1-17) Oh, let's not forget. We also had a moment of artistic creation. :) (picture 18)

          Regarding the way the days at Casa Ray unfolded in terms of the new conditions imposed by the COVID pandemic, Casa Ray home closed its doors, both for those outside and for those inside. The staff of the center was isolated at work, in different shifts, for periods of 14 days. The purchases were made by a single person who brought the necessary items to the yard, without entering the home, of course, protected with a mask, gloves and disinfected. Children and staff are monitored for temperature on a daily basis. When one of our children, Costi, (picture 19) had an allergic reaction to a medicine and had to go to the hospital urgently, after all the danger had passed and returned home, he was also isolated in a bedroom, in a separate room, until he was tested and confirmed negatively. All the staff who were going to enter a new shift were also tested before, and it was good that this procedure was performed, because, to our surprise, an employee of the center came out POSITIVE after the test. With God's help, she overcame this disease and is now back at work. As I said, during this period, 6 of our children had to take aptitude and baccalaureate exams, and in order to avoid them being exposed by using public transport, they were personally accompanied by an employee of the center, both when they went to exams and when they returned home. Disinfection of surfaces was also an important daily activity (picture 20) and last but not least the daily fellowship with God, through meetings organized by Father Mihai, helped us to overcome this period well so far.

          On June 1, we celebrated all the children, because it is "Children's Day". We celebrated with games and one of their favorite dishes, shaorma :) (picture 21). And… the exception I was talking about was an outing with all the children on the sports field of the village, where for a few hours they consumed a large part of their energy. (pictures 22-26)

          At our farm at Casa Speranta we managed to move forward with some of the works, namely: removing debris from a demolished building, removing old plaster and an old fence (pictures 27-28). As for the animals, we had to slaughter a pig to refill the freezer (picture 29), but instead God blessed us with 27 other piglets (of which 7 died, unfortunately), 10 bunnies and 6 puppies. We also bought 60 chickens, 40 turkeys (one of which was taken/stolen by a fox) and 30 ducks (of which we still have 27). (pictures  30-33 )

          We want to thank our friends from Germany who did their best and came to us with a truck with household goods, furniture and clothes. They are very beneficial both for Casa Ray and for other poor families who constantly turn to us for clothes and shoes and for furniture. Recently we had a family with 3 children who went through a fire and who needed our help. Thank God we had something to help them with! ( pictures 34,35)

          We were very impressed when two of the older children, Doinita and Florin, took the initiative and prepared a special dinner, as a thank you, for the isolated staff at work. Their gesture comforted our hearts and we applaud them for the beautiful character they have acquired. (picture 36)

          We have only one more aspect to mention about these two months, but we don't know how to describe it, because it is full of feelings of all kinds. Antonio Vacaru, our young man who turned 19 in May, after taking the baccalaureate exam, decided that it was time to leave the “nest” that had been his home for the last 8 years and to go to Belgium to work. It is a confusing feeling, because the sadness of separation is mixed with the joy of becoming independent people who begin to manage on their own in life. Certainly, those whose children have grown up and left home understand what we mean. Now all we have to do is continue to support him with what we can and entrust him to the arm of God every day. (pictures 37-41)

We hope that you, all the loved ones to whom we send these lines, are well and healthy. We hug you dearly!