Lidia came to Harja when she was eight. She lived with her family in a nearby village until, one morning, she woke in her mother’s bed and found her cold. She picked up her eight-month-old sister, Diana, and ran outside, crying that her mother was dead. No-one believed her at first, but then they came to the house and found that it was true. The extended family felt unable to look after both sisters and asked us to have Lidia. A few weeks later, Diana joined her.

Lidia has extensive burn scars on her neck, her chest and her arms; when she was three she was in the house alone and pulled a pot of boiling soup over herself. Half an hour later, her screams brought her mother home. She ripped off her clothes. There was no chance of plastic surgery at that time, but in the Uk a generous surgeon did what he could to help her, and since then she has had a number of operations in Bucharest to relieve the tension caused by scar tissue (which does not expand with a growing body).

She has a lovely voice and at school she particularly studied art. Now she is at university aiming for a degree in geography (which she learns in French!) She is a happy girl and always has a boyfriend, yet she comes home frequently and loves the family. Diana is always very happy to see her, sometimes to sing with her.