To the rescue: Orphans Aid International founder Sue van Schreven has penned her remarkable story in her new book ‘Rescue’
Saving little Alex – one of many
In this excerpt from her autobiographical book Rescue, orphan saviour Sue Van Schreven recalls a Romanian rescue.
It was one of those defining moments; a moment when the importance and magnitude of what you are doing hits home.
I walked out of an old Romanian hospital carrying a little two-year-old boy called Alex. He was a gorgeous child, he was crying and I was feeling a tad emotional.
Actually, I felt like a thief stealing someone’s child. A baby stealer!
In a strange way it almost felt like I should be hiding the baby in case someone saw me remove it.
It was like someone was about to tap me on the shoulder and ask me what I was doing. Alex, the new child, knew something was up. He could tell this by the faces and the words of the nurses he was leaving, leaving with strangers, and with his jacket and shoes in place.
Since my knowledge of the Romanian language was limited, I couldn’t understand what the nurses had said to him, but it was encouraging to see the way they had huddled around to say goodbye to this wee man.
He wasn’t my child really, but in some strange way he belonged to me. My family was there, along with the staff from the orphanage we had set up in Romania and some of their family members.
This wasn’t a kidnapping; it was a rescue mission. We were taking Alex home. He couldn’t live in a hospital ward for the rest of his life. He couldn’t survive without love and someone taking care of his needs.
He was like many of the other children we had seen and had rescued from a similar plight.
Without someone’s intervention he would end up a mental case in a mental ward just for lack of love.
A courageous Queenstown woman who rescues abandoned children in third world countries has penned her moving story to inspire others.
Sue van Schreven has just released her self-published book Rescue as a fundraiser for the worldwide charity she set up, Orphans Aid International.
The book tells the story of her “pursuit of the ultimate dream” – to make a difference to others’ lives – throughout 25 years of charity work.
More specifically, it details the trials and triumphs of establishing children’s homes in Romania, Russia, India and Nepal – providing otherwise forgotten kids with food, medicine, education and transport for the past seven years.
The mum-of-two began writing her story in 2009 but it wasn’t till last summer, during a three-month sabbatical, when she could actually tackle writing a book.
“Writing my story was a good process – it’s good to reflect on where you have come,” she says.
“I hope it will inspire people to step out and give whatever they want to do a go. It doesn’t have to be in the charitable sector.”
Aside from publishing the book, she recently came runner-up in the international Vodafone World of Difference award, earning $20,000 for Orphans Aid.
Now she’s concentrating on setting up a children’s home in Uganda, where there are 2.7 million orphans.
Van Schreven has personally paid for the publishing of Rescue and has started out with 1000 copies for sale.
Books can be bought locally from Orphans Aid’s Frankton office for $30 and online for $35, including postage.
She’s already had good feedback:
“The boxes of books have been flying out. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out.”
Saving little Alex – one of many
In this excerpt from her autobiographical book Rescue, orphan saviour Sue Van Schreven recalls a Romanian rescue.
It was one of those defining moments; a moment when the importance and magnitude of what you are doing hits home.
I walked out of an old Romanian hospital carrying a little two-year-old boy called Alex. He was a gorgeous child, he was crying and I was feeling a tad emotional.
Actually, I felt like a thief stealing someone’s child. A baby stealer!
In a strange way it almost felt like I should be hiding the baby in case someone saw me remove it.
It was like someone was about to tap me on the shoulder and ask me what I was doing. Alex, the new child, knew something was up. He could tell this by the faces and the words of the nurses he was leaving, leaving with strangers, and with his jacket and shoes in place.
Since my knowledge of the Romanian language was limited, I couldn’t understand what the nurses had said to him, but it was encouraging to see the way they had huddled around to say goodbye to this wee man.
He wasn’t my child really, but in some strange way he belonged to me. My family was there, along with the staff from the orphanage we had set up in Romania and some of their family members.
This wasn’t a kidnapping; it was a rescue mission. We were taking Alex home. He couldn’t live in a hospital ward for the rest of his life. He couldn’t survive without love and someone taking care of his needs.
He was like many of the other children we had seen and had rescued from a similar plight.
Without someone’s intervention he would end up a mental case in a mental ward just for lack of love.
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