During the morning in the week, Mr.Trombin went with a delegation from the IRFF volunteers, and visited three High schools to give the IRFF-worldview slide presentation and to explain the project for the city of Brasov.

- A break on "Top of the World!"

From those meetings, a follow-up project was initiated by which IRFF will help the coordination of the School's Parents Association in the city of Brasov. Also, another follow-up project was implemented by providing the Scout office with a computer and an internet connection, for one year.
They will then be able to start some local service and business that will help provide some funds to the youth association. Also, two of the scouts will come to the next July IRFF Archeological project in Slovakia to be part of the staff.
As each day passed, more people would come to either help or to observe what we were doing. Eventually, about 500 children from the local schools participated in the trash cleaning and tree planting. It was a grand site to see hordes of children brandishing sticks and bags to pick up trash on the steep mountain.
As well, even quite small children were not afraid to attempt swinging the heavy pick-axe to dig a hole for a tree planting. The interest was high. I saw a very heartwarming scene at the tree-planting site. There were all of 10 boys encircled to witness the planting of one tiny tree! It was a cooperative venture. With our IRFF group, school children and other volunteers, we planted around 15,000 trees! The forest service said their goal is to continue and plant 25,000 more trees.

- Ready for the "START!"

We also picked up many tons of trash on the mountain. On the first day, I was walking along the mountainside path to move to another area to clean. On my way, I passed near the number one "Green Man". We used the term "Green Man" in reference to forest rangers (Forest Protection Association) who wore green work suits. This number one Green Man was very excited. A large man, he put his arm around me, gave a big smile and then spoke briskly in French.

-Yes "Green Man", pass it on!

Not knowing quite what he said, I at least understood that he was very happy that we were there to do this project! If he became anymore excited, I thought he might kiss me! He was big like a mountain but really a very gracious man.
In addition to the day's activity of mountain cleaning and tree planting, each night there was an activity or presentation. On the third night, John O'Connor gave a talk entitled: "Family: Center-Piece for World Peace". His talk focused on the dynamics of the family as a place to learn harmony with others and to respect differences in people, therefore, establishing a tradition of peaceful relationships. He encouraged the young participants to learn what true relationships are and to discover and support real love in their families. Following the talk, participants were asked to brainstorm in their teams to create a service project for their family or community. On one evening we had group singing by nationality and on another night we had a lively "Cultural Evening" with skits presented by teams.
On the last day, Saturday, we traveled for a cultural trip and visited the "Dracula Castle"! To the disappointment of some, the local tour guide assured us that the infamous Count Dracula in the movies never existed in Romania! After our tour through the castle, we gathered at the base of the mountain for a hearty barbecue and a group photo. With beautiful scenery surrounding, we wrote reflections of our experience. The project was closed with a banquet and a "Certificate of Appreciation" was presented for each participant from the sponsoring organizations.
Upon reading the positive reflections from the IRFF participants; seeing the involvement of the local youth, the NGO's and the schools; watching the political leaders coming to visit the work site for a photo by the press; and with the participation in the ICRF-IRFF-RYS conference, we can confidently say that the goals of the project were fully achieved. We hope that this project will contribute in Romania for the promotion of democratic principles and programs.

-Happy people's, smiling people's!

Special thanks to the following: to Mr. Paul Frank for a generous donation to cover a significant portion of the project expenses; to Mario and Luciana Farrario for helping to organize in advance of the project; to Catalina Bobocea for steadfastly attending to the general affairs and being the in-house doctor; to the "Green Men" for giving us guidance and supplying us with materials; and to the Brasov Scout group for their genuine efforts to support us in the project goals.

By John O'Connor, IRFF volunteer.