Denisa, Lala and Gaby’s sister, came to join us six months after her sisters. Her godfather had taken her to live with him and his wife after Denisa had been saved after falling into a well. (An older brother had died in a fire at their home.) The godfather was married to a Hungarian who spoke no Romanian, so they conversed in that language and Denisa was often left in the yard. She wasn’t sent to school so her life was very lonely.

A week after it was suggested that we should have her, her mother agreed to hand her over.

She was very happy to go to school and to learn, and is incredibly painstaking with her writing. Now she is less withdrawn, beginning to come out of herself. She is happy playing with Vlad who is nearest to her in age, and she likes drawing and is proud of ‘belonging’ to Betty in the English class.