I am so pleased to help, in some small way, the magnificent work you do in saving the lives of abused, abandoned dogs living in appalling conditions and often near death. Bringing them some semblance of happiness with food and shelter is reward in itself, feeling sorry for their plight is not enough, you have to commit to helping them. Sincere thanks for the wonderful work you do, you are making all the difference to their lives. THANK YOU.

Jeg har kjent Dana (grunnleggeren av ROLDA);i flere år nå, og hjelper henne bla. med å oversette tekster til norsk. Hun er en fantastisk dame med det største hjertet som fines. Jeg stoler uforbeholdent på hennes dømmekraft og vet at hun har gjort det umulige mulig gang på gang. Verden trenger flere mennesker som henne! Jeg hjelper ROLDA med oversettelse av tekst fra engelsk til norsk fordi de gjør et utrolig viktig arbeid for hjemløse dyr i Romania. Det er ikke alltid man har mulighet til å støtte alle organisasjoner man gjerne skulle hjulpet økonomisk, så det er godt å kunne bidra på andre måter!

I extend the hand of friendship to you and your workers and wish you success in saving all the dogs that need saving and that you are able through people’s donations and kindness, to give all Romania animals safe shelter, food, and security. The days of murdering our beloved animals must come to an end as we educate people and stop money from being made from their deaths. Keep this wonderful work going!

Dana is working relentlessly towards creating an amazing charity to help and protect animals. I have been working with her for the last 6 months and have found her to be totally honest and have high integrity.

ROLDA was founded by Dana Costin. She has put together an international team of volunteers and staff that are almost all women. I believe Dana herself is an inspiration for the young women and girls who work with her, and know of her work in Romania. I myself am impressed by her perseverance, her passion, and the devotion she demonstrates to her many projects. She is determined to make her community, and her country, more compassionate through education and animal rescue projects. It has become almost a cliché, but it still warrants repeating. “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way it treats its animals”. Now Dana is not Gandhi! However, she and her team will drag the Romanian masses forward with a force hard to be described in simple words.

My first plan was to go somewhere in Europe to do voluntary work for one week and then travel around by train for two weeks. When I decided to go to ROLDA, I didn’t change my plans, even though Galati is on the other side of Europe and very far from Finland. It took me four days to reach Galati and I was very excited, also worried about how the place would be. But all the fears were unnecessary. There was a guy in the train station picking me up and at ROLDA, there was nice colorful bed waiting for me.

The next day I saw the dogs. It was my first time in any animal shelter so I was amazed by the enthusiasm of dogs. It was one of the best things for me while staying at ROLDA to go to kennels and greet all the dogs that ran towards me. The whole day I just sat with dogs and pet them and gave them treats.

After few days, I knew I was going to stay at ROLDA as long as I can. If I didn’t have a train ticket I could have staid even longer. Everything was so nice and easy. My days filled with dogs and my evenings filled with nice timeless hanging out. And I was taken so good care of. The shelter worker Denis didn’t speak English but it wasn’t problem because I usually understood what I was supposed to do and I had always Dana’s phone number so that I could call her if I need anything or if I need translator.

My main task was to socialize with dogs and this is exactly what I did with pleasure. I also helped Denis cleaning and brushing dogs that were going to new homes in England and Holland. Another day, I helped him cleaning the kennels and painting the outdoor fence. Sometimes I also walked with a dog on the leash. One day Dana took me to visit big shelter with hundreds of dogs and one horse. I greeted every dog that was willing to come near me – and almost every one did.

At any time I didn’t really get bored, not even in evenings when I was all alone. When I didn’t have anything to do I ate cherries. There were a lot of sweet cherry trees at ROLDA. I couldn’t eat to leave them empty, even if I tried my best.

When it was time to start the journey back home, Dana let me use her own personal computer to check train schedules. That was very nice but proofed to be useless. By the time of leaving there wasn’t any trains leaving to Bucharest from Galati that day. Luckily for me Dana came with me to the train station and took me back to ROLDA for one more night. Next day I found out by other passenger that the evening trains were cancelled because of holidays. It was very weird the women selling tickets didn’t know that.

The non-existing train is something I’m not very surprised of because it’s Romania. For people living in Finland where they make announcement if train is three minutes late it is shock but it just shows how different the country is. That’s why I think traveling to Romania by train was one of the best things I’ve chosen to do. It gives you opportunity to see the whole Europe in few days. Countries like Romania and Austria are pretty much the opposite.

That’s why I loved also Galati even it’s an industrial city. It’s so different from my home. It made me feel I’m really on a holiday in another world. And that’s the second reason I want to go back there. The first reason is of course the dogs and friendly staff of ROLDA. I just can’t tell a better place for dog loving person to spend holidays!