Ancuta came to Harja when she was three but not from an orphanage. She, her sister Florina, her brother Elvis and an older brother all lived with their grandmother, virtually in one room. Florina and Elvis came too. Sadly, Elvis’s problems became too great for him to continue living with the other children and when he was fifteen the Department of Child Protection placed him in a special school.

Florina married young, had a lovely baby but has since divorced, left her daughter and is working in the UK.

Ancuta is doing her final exams at Brasov University this year. She is studying English and will teach primary school children. For this she has done a good deal of psychology and this has been invaluable in the last few months when she has been living at home and helping, as a part-time carer, with the five little ones.

She has organised delightful and imaginative shows with all the children, often as a surprise for visitors (and sometimes for Betty). She has developed a remarkable sense of responsibility and thoughtfulness and remembers past teenage confrontations with thankfulness for Betty’s forbearance and direction.