Happy Birthday, Sense International!

Last week, our colleagues at Sense International celebrated their 30th anniversary in the UK.

It was a great honour and joy for us to be with them. Sense International Romania was represented by Petre and Mădălina, two wonderful young people with deafblindness from the group we have been working with for many years, by Stela, Petre’s mother and also a member of our Board of Directors, and by Etelka, the director of Sense International Romania.

For us, the key moments of the anniversary evening were the meeting with Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, but also Stela’s emotional words to the over 200 participants:

[...] When I was asked if I wanted to say a few words about Sense International, I immediately accepted because our belonging to this family means more than I can express in words.

Before meeting Sense, I was afraid to even hope because, if you hope, you risk being disappointed and you think you can no longer cope with a disappointment. Then we were encouraged, supported, guided. We went from bitterness, blasé and discouragement to hope, discussions and involvement.

The meetings with the group of young people and parents, with the community, the discussions, the activities, the course on deafblindness that I participated in, all helped me to understand Petre better, to communicate better. To feel that we mean something, that we can choose!

I learned a lot thanks to the people at Sense International. Sense gave us wings! We felt that we had something to say and that things could change for the better for our children, for those who have to live with deafblindness. [...]