April 25, 2001
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to unequivocally support the activities of the Viata Re-creational Outreach in Lupeni, Romania, and to strongly recommend your considering Viata worthy of your support as well. I am an American cultural anthropologist who has done research and worked in Romania in various capacities since the early 1970s. I came to know Dana and Brandi Bates and to become familiar with the Viata program when I began research in summer 1999 on the changing social and physical conditions of the Jiu Valley miners and their families. Since then I have lived in Petrosani, Lupeni, and the Jiu Valley for about four months. In that time I have had occasion to visit the Viata Program on Straja Mountain, see firsthand the response of the children, and evaluate the extent to which Viata really makes a difference in the lives of the children of Lupeni and the Jiu Valley.
The Jiu Valley is a troubled and needy region. Though the Valley is a zone of extraordinary natural beauty, the domination of the hard coal industry since the middle of the nineteenth century, and especially during socialist times, turned the region into a gritty industrial site, with related pollution, degrading housing stock, and widespread health problems. Today the Valley's miners and their families are in especially difficult straits. They suffer under one of the most extensive rates of unemployment in all of Romania, itself in the midst of a prolonged economic crisis. Since late 1997, when the Romanian government introduced a program of labor contract buy-outs, about 24,000 of 42,000 miners have lost their jobs as three of thirteen mines were shuttered indefinitely. The fear and anger of the miners is palpable as seven more mines are slated for closing in the near future. The extensive unemployment and uncertainty coupled with an enormous rise in the cost of living, has made life in the Valley a sad and troubled one, and the region's children have especially suffered.
Dana and Brandi Bates saw some of the same problems that I did. However, motivated by a deep sense of commitment and faith, they have devoted the last years to turn their dream of helping Romania's children into reality. Because the Jiu Valley is such a troubled place, it has attracted throngs of individuals and groups who seek to have some kind of positive impact. Most do not stay long, however, and many interventions, well intentioned as they are, barely make a dent in the multi-faceted problems of the Valley and its citizens. Some of the faith-oriented programs mainly come to harvest souls, with little concern for the daunting everyday problems faced by the region's peoples. Viata is different.
In the years since they've set up shop, Dana and Brandi have been faced with a variety of obstacles, from the mundane--like securing an appropriate site for their program, to the extreme--such as misinformed individuals accusing them of running a program of military and religious indoctrination. In the face of these challenges, they have never wavered. Their commitment to the children of the Jiu Valley remains as strong as ever.
Viata is very intelligently conceived. Running through the summer months, it brings ten groups of fifty children each, most of who are poor and many of who spend their days on the streets of Valley towns, for five-day stays on Straja. Here they are encouraged to challenge themselves in rock climbing and on a ropes course. They learn to support each other and develop good group skills. And they pay for their free stay with one day of environmental clean up, always needed in the Romanian countryside. The Viata program thus encourages these young people to develop strong senses of themselves and to learn and practice commitments to others and to society. The proof of Viata's success is that many children who complete the course beg to remain or return. Not content with their visible success in Re-creational Outreach in the Jiu Valley, Dana and Brandi now speak of developing another course elsewhere in Romania, and of expanding their mission in the Valley to provide food for needy children, again in exchange for social oriented "sweat equity."
As you can tell, I am remarkably enthused about the Viata program and the impressive results it has achieved against great odds and in such a short time. The program owes its success to the selfless commitment and ceaseless labors of Dana and Brandi Bates and to their strong sense of faith-based service. I am not a religious person myself and, as I mentioned above, I have been skeptical about some of the goals of religious organizations in the Valley. However, having followed the development and seen the results of Viata with my own eyes, and knowing Dana's and Brandi's genuine commitment from hours of discussion and observation, I am pleased to recommend them and Viata to you. Please feel free to contact me for further questions or information.
