THE LYDIA PROJECT

Sanpaul is a small Roma village situated around 21km North-West of the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. We love being here, and over the past 3 years, we have enjoyed building relationships with the men, women and children in this Roma community, and also in the surrounding Romanian villages. This is a very special place which has captivated our thoughts, fuelled our prayers, and completely captured our hearts.

COVID-19 UPDATE

A message from Mandy Simpson.
Founder and Director of Empower International.

It has been a hugely exciting season in Sanpaul over the past 6 months. Our focus during this time has been with the women in the Lydia Project. The 10 women we have worked with consistently in the programme most recently range in ages from teenagers to late thirties.

The women have been learning new skills in hand embroidery, cross-stitch and sewing with a machine, and we also have three young girls enrolled in a sewing school to learn traditional Romanian embroidery with the purpose of making traditional clothing and looking at the long term options that a skill like this can bring to the community.

In these unprecedented times it was necessary for our UK team to return home for the duration of the lock-down. We thank you for your continued support and prayers for all involved in Empower Romania and for the women involved in the Lydia Project and their families.

As we finalise some of the new products the women have made, we hope to soon offer them through this website and newsletters both for feedback and for purchase through donations that the women would be extremely encouraged by receiving in these challenging times.

...thankyou for continuing to share this journey with us.

Mandy

JOIN US

VISIT US

Do you have a heart for mission? Skills in administration? Healthcare? Children's work? Sports, Music, Drama?
Construction? Carpentry?
Sewing? Embroidery?

Whatever you have to offer we would love for you to come and join us for a short term mission trip or speak to us about an internship.

APPRENTICESHIP

Empower Romania offers 12 month apprenticeships in construction and carpentry work to the right candidates. We can only do this with the help of sponsors who will support them during their training.

All of our candidates are semi-literate, with minimal education and no viable opportunities to learn skills that would enable them to become employable.

Can you help support our young men to learn these valuable skills?

THE LYDIA PROJECT

This cottage industry and training programme specialises in hand-embroidered greetings cards and sewing products. The Lydia Project provides a safe environment for women to come together to enjoy a mutual support network, an opportunity to learn employable skills as well as providing a way to generate much needed income.