EEIHF

The highly anticipated, first visit to the United States of Artur Cerari! How it went?!
2018-10-10 17:00 - 21:00 UTC | IL
Having planned the visit of Artur Cerari, the King of all Roma, for an extensive time, we finally saw him touch the American soil on August 27, 2018. The long white beard and the genuine round hat made his appearance prominent from far away. Mr. Cerari embraced us with so much charisma and sense of humor that we felt a pleasant strike of coziness around him. His jokes were so entertaining that we had a great time as he shared them with us and later with so many more of the guests at the event few days later.
As the time of event organized at Versailles-Pavilion Restaurant in Chicago was approaching, all us preparing the event could notice the excitement in the air.

So many were eager to meet him as well. So, it happened on August 31st, 2018, at the Versailles-Pavilion Restaurant in Chicago, IL!
We were overwhelmed with numerous presence at the event. People gathered from various states to enjoy the evening in the presence of Mr. Cerari. The purpose of the event was to introduce the collaboration between Foundation for the Wellbeing and Development of the Romani People “Baronul Mircea Cerari” (Mircea Cerari – was the father of Artur Cerari and the prior Baron of all Roma recognized in most of the former Soviet Union Republics) and EEIHF.
As we have mentioned throughout the event and as reflated by our mission statement, we pledge to establish a milestone by connecting the community of Eastern Europeans Immigrants who settled in the US and made it their home, but at the same time we wish that people don’t forget about their roots and help those who continue to struggle in the countries that so many of us left behind.
The formal part of the event consisted with several speeches addressing the audience. The founders of the EEIHF opened the night by talking to the crowd about the history of the Foundation, Mission statement, past, current and future projects. Mr. Cerari then shared with us some alarming facts about the Roma life in Moldova but also communicated to us about some encouraging initiatives being undertaken within Roma community.

Our last speaker was Elena Sirbu, an activist for Romani women’s rights, a journalist at the Moldova 1 Television, and president of the NGO of the Romani women in Moldova. She spoke about the need to create a unified society be it in Moldova or anyplace else and fight against any and all prejudices. Only peace and harmony in communities will contribute to a healthy development of the interethnic relationships.

We were glad that she was able to be present at the event and gather great material for the TV series Petalo Romano – for which she is the presenter. The program talks about the life, struggles and achievements of the Romani people in Moldova. The program dedicated to this event focuses on the event in Chicago and shows that it is possible to have strong and supportive communities overseas! We invite you all to watch this program here: https://trm.md/ro/petalo-romano/petalo-romano-emisiune-din-20-septembrie-2018/
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The artistic part of the event was led by the folk ensemble “Doina Basarabiei” that brought joy and happiness in the ball room as well as by Mr. Cerari who played the accordion and sang beautiful Moldovan-Romani folk songs, and of course the colorful and joyful Romani dancer!

It was a great start of our collaboration with the Foundation for the Wellbeing and Development of the Romani People — “Baronul Mircea Cerari” — and we hope that our next event will dwell on the positive vibe created in Chicago. We believe that one of the most important objective sought during this first event was to bring the community together and to build trust — which, by far, has been achieved.

Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships. – STEPHEN R. COVEY
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Helping Roma and so many more other kids in Otaci and Tirnova to have joyful and successful start of the school year!
2018-10-09 11:00 - 14:30
With the funds donated by the guests at the event of August 31 st in Chicago IL, we made
possible the beautiful charity acts at schools Eminescu in Otaci and Negruzzi in Tirnova. At both
locations we focused on the students in the primary classes. Through the schools’
administrations we were able to figure out the students from the most disadvantage families,
most of whom were Roma children, but also of Ukrainian and Gagauz origin. For each young
student we included a parcel with schooling item such as pens, pencils, aquarelle, markers,
many colorful notebooks, folders, drawing albums, small carry bags and a second beg with
hygiene products, along with sweets and cookies!
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The event in Chicago and the follow-up charity act was possible through contributions of
those of you who care and would like to see similar things happen in the future. By becoming a
member and maintaining your membership with EEIHF you contribute to such charity acts and
cultural events while being rewarded by the membership benefits.
We are grateful to you for this!

Announcement: the visit of Baron Artur Cerari, the Leader of the Moldova’s Roma
2018-02-18 09:00 - 11:30
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It is with great anticipation we announce the visit of Baron Artur Cerari, the Leader of the Moldova’s Roma Community to the United States, which shall take place at the end of August 2018. We will provide more details about the exact location and date in the near future. In the light of Mr. Cerari’s visit, the “Eastern European Immigrant Hope” Foundation in cooperation with International Organization Foundation “Mircea Cerari” is looking forward to promote a new milestone in connecting the community of Eastern Europeans in the U.S. As part of Mr. Cerari’s trip, the first stop will be in Chicago, IL home of one of the largest communities of Moldovans and Roma in the United States and the second stop will be in Seattle, WA – another area with a growing immigrant community of Moldovans and Roma from Eastern Europe. On this both occasions Mr. Cerari and the “Eastern European Immigrant Hope” Foundation would like to cordially invite you to honor us with your presence on a cozy evening to amplify the bond. A number of speakers will join us. We will also talk about the stringent problems and obstacles among Roma and Moldovan communities and some of the resolutions that we think might help out the suffering people. Good food and wine, along funny tales and jokes will brighten up the spirits.
It is our hope to craft these evenings as pleasant and enjoying as possible.

Trip to Soroca 2017
2018-02-17 10:30 - 14:00
Once the idea to form this Foundation came to the mind of its founders, the desire arose to actually visit one of the place where so many of our supporters find their roots. The Soroca City of Moldova is the place that a lot of Eastern European Immigrants can associate with. Speaking of the Romani people of America, they can definitely see why Soroca is such dear place. This city hosts the largest concentration of the Roma people in Moldova and is the home of the Roma Baron (Romani King) of all Roma of Moldova Artur Cenrari. The trip to Soroca led us to the welcoming and beautiful house of Mr. Cerari.

His big house has seen prominent guests such as the U.S. Ambassador to Moldova William Moser and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiol. We also had a chance to know better this man, to know his story, his aspirations, and his dreams. His grey beard is immaculate. He is a warm and charming person. The most famous “King of the Gypsies,” was the legendary Baron Mircea Cerari, the father of the current Baron. Artur Cerari, the King’s son, a Baron himself, and the successor, remembers his father with bright eyes and melancholy.

After a wonderful meal with Romani style stuffed cabbage with turkey bones, Mamaliga (traditional Moldovan bread), and Romani style roasted turkey served with a delightful Moldovan cognac and a Romani salute, we got to work. We drove around and distributed Christmas present to the poor and earth-forgotten Romani children and seniors.

Our first stop was visiting one of the public housing, a soviet style old building, that housed tens of Roma children and there we distributed chocolates, sweets and sodas which cheered that cold winter day. So many of them see this kinds of treats so rarely in their life and it cheered us even more to hear their sincere thanks and smiles on their faces.

Next stop was visiting households of Roma seniors to whom we distributed basic foods such as sunflower oil, wheat flour, rice, and canned turkey. For most of them this would be the ingredients used to prepare their holiday meals and we were grateful to help them doing that.

The Eastern European Immigrant Hope Foundation achieved one its first projects: to put smiles on people’s faces during the past winter holidays and we want to set-up the pathway for future charitable activities with your help. Most of us are immigrants of Eastern European Immigrants or their descendants and
