Our story

Established in 2015 and based in Tg-Jiu, Gorj County, Romania, Down Art Therapy (DART) Association was born from its founding members’ wish to make the life of children with Down Syndrome better. Having little Ana with Down, Radu and Monica are interested in making their dream come true with the help of Adelin & Roxana, Janina & Father Alin, Catalin & Raluca (UK) and of course, the people we try to gather as volunteers. As we know, a long journey starts with the first step! But the long journey ahead is paved with hope and the ambition to succeed, due to the faith and the love we have for these children in our souls. Through ART THERAPY, we aim to improve Down Syndrome children’ social abilities, so they can live independently and manage on their own. We promise to do our best to heal their bodies and souls, as possible as it may be. So help us God!

Down Art Therapy’s founding members

Let’s give (ourselves) to the children with Down syndrome

In June 2014, little Ana was born, the spark that lit in our hearts a desire to establish an association. The idea came to us after we learned or read testimonies of parents in the same situation as us. All of them had witnessed the malice or indifference of healthcare professionals from the hospital, to all of them were told what burden will be these children, none of them has heard kind words of encouragement or hope … We decided to show everyone that these children are special, that they can love, they are talented, they are people who will certainly bless their lives and become saints much easier than us.

Personally, I can say that Ana is a great kid, with the sweetest smile. We do physiotherapy and daily massage because, although she had no health problems (internal malformations), there are some specific moving problems. But for us, Ana is a blessing. She watches her elder brother with curiosity, and embraces Damian in the most touching way and she plays her role of a good child in the most successful way.

Today (19th of December), I had the pleasure to meet other children like Ana, alongside Roxana (from ASCOR Tg-Jiu) and mother Tatiana (Saint Stelian Kindergarten) who made Santa’s gifts richer.

Santa comes to DART – 2015

I looked into their eyes and saw everyone how carefully they were watching Santa Claus.

These were a few moments in which Angels from heaven smiled and I can say that they strengthened my belief that we will go on in a sense that we can beat general theories about this disability.

First, we will try to give love and show that there are so many factors which influence the development of a child with Down Syndrome, that no person should have to predict the exact path they will follow in life. They are unique in their own way like all people, and the ways to work with them are diversified, even though it supposes a lot of effort and faith.

Let’s say YES to the courage to look, to smile, to embrace a child with Down syndrome like any other child.

Let’s stifle the voices of those who affirm that this children or other children with disabilities should not be born because they could be the reason that God might let the sun shine longer on us.

Let’s be united for good even now with the coming of Christmas, let the light of good, peace and joy that Christ has given us to come softly over our souls and in our homes. (Monica Buțu, mother of Ana)

Traducere:

ANDREIA DIACONITA

TRADUCĂTOR AUTORIZAT LIMBA ENGLEZĂ/FREELANCER

TEL. 0766 320 192

E-MAIL: diaconitaandreia@yahoo.com

About the situation in Romania – romania-fact-sheet

Activities:

March for Life, 26th of March 2016 – including the march itself, a prayer and a conference about autism and Down Syndrome – the Month/March for Life is held every year (in Tg-Jiu, since 2013), latest edition in 2022.
trips in different beautiful places of our count(r)y, visits to museums/monasteries…
Once we have an office, we start art therapy with our children: music, dance, movies, handmade, drawing, reading, theatre, etc.
we already printed 13 numbers of our magazine ,,Child’s smile”.
Holy Oil every last Thursday of the month for all children having different disabilities. – not held anymore.
http://stopdiscriminatingdown.com/ro/petitia/ is available in Romanian.
part of https://eufortrisomy21.eu/ in 2021, proud members of EUforTrisomy21-Romania community. Making DS people visible internationally.
sports for inclusion – the anually event ,,3D Race” sponsored by Decathlon, the second edition in July 2021.
our library has a lot of books about Down Syndrome, autism, disability, etc, some of them in English.
being a pro-life association, we give for free books or other materials about abortion or themes connected to it. Together fighting to end abortion. Publicizing prolife articles.
involved in making local (Gorj) Special Olympics Romania events more visible, thanks to Transloc Tg-Jiu!
October 2021, part of the beautiful project BikeUp&Down, with Davy and Emilie Sanchis.
Contact: asociatiaDART@gmail.com or +40758 01 01 01 (Radu Buțu, president)
https://www.facebook.com/downarttherapy
https://twitter.com/Down_ArtTherapy