If you’ve made the cut, congratulations! This means that your shining resume, your carefully written cover letter, your proficiency in English, your enthusiasm and your performance in the interview have set you apart from the high number of candidates. You are now moving on to round two – the experience of working with the embassy’s incredible staff for the next two months.

Your internship mentors strive to make your work both enjoyable and challenging. As an intern, you will participate in a number of different tasks that range from reviewing the daily news and briefing the political staff, research and drafting reports on specific topics to arranging meetings with state officials for the political staff (and even participating in some of those meetings), helping organizing events, as well as representing the embassy at various conferences and seminars.

If you are probably not expecting to ever cross paths with Ambassador Martin Harris, you are definitely going to be surprised when he is going to make time between his meetings with Romanian state officials to personally welcome you and to get to know you. If your head goes empty and you don’t know what to say next when you meet him, here’s some inspiration: Ambassador Harris has two cats named Tolstoi and Pushkin, and his favorite movie is British film noir “The Third Man.” One thing you will notice during your time at the embassy is that Ambassador Harris and the embassy staff really value their interns. So, future intern, try not to look confounded when the Ambassador pops into the political section and asks for your opinion on a political development that happened that day. If I had to highlight the most memorable moment during my time at the embassy, it would be the Cross-Cultural event when Ambassador Harris taught us Scottish dancing and the British staff learned how to dance traditional Romanian invartita. Let’s just say no Brit or Romanian excelled at traditional dancing.  

Yes, they occasionally drink tea and celebrate Shrove Tuesday by eating pancakes traditionally served with lemon and sugar, and yes, they do say “to-mah-to” instead of “tomayto,” “herb” instead of “-erb,” they leave out the “r,” (like in “caah” for “car”), they use “cheers” a lot and yes, they do use the British colloquialisms you learned in high school and never thought you’ll need to know, such as “taking the mickey out of someone.” And no, I still cannot do a British accent.

The last thing they don’t tell you when you apply to intern in the British Embassy is that you will meet so many outstanding individuals, who are the heart of the British mission in Bucharest. They nurture the strong diplomatic relationship between Romania and the United Kingdom and work actively to promote the common interests and the shared values of the British and Romanian people. Over the entire period of my internship, I felt privileged to have worked with the embassy’s skilled and passionate political team, and many times it was as an old saying goes that a single conversation across the table with any of them was worth a month’s study of books. So, if you were waiting for somebody to tell you about an internship that will mean to you so much more than a nice resume boost, here it is. Just apply.

 Bianca Dragan has worked as an intern in the political section of the British Embassy. She is an M.A. student of Security and Diplomacy (SNSPA) and British Cultural Studies (Bucharest University).

Romania and the UK already enjoy a strong relationship on anti-corruption and justice reform. This has evolved over the last two years to our mutual benefit, and we are now working to strengthen our cooperation on the confiscation of criminals’ assets.

Improving instruments for asset recovery is crucial. Confiscation is an effective way of fighting crime and a strong deterrent, and the UK has a stake in this. Our countries have a history of tackling together cross border crime and this will help us improve cooperation and lead to concrete results in recovering criminal assets. Secondly, this is significant for improving the business climate in Romania. Our companies will benefit from a more stable,
predictable judiciary where Court orders are enforced and criminals’ profits are sent back to the legal economy.

We think there are encouraging steps on asset recovery in Romania, and the recent adoption of the extended confiscation amendment to the Criminal Code is the most important. This shows that there is positive momentum: Romania is developing its capability to effectively target profits of crime and we want to see more of that.

I strongly believe that the UK is well placed to support Romania in this crucial task. The UK has a long track record of recovering criminal money as it hosts one of the global financial centres in the City of London. In the United Kingdom the internal criminal economy is said to have reached £2.5 billion in 2010, while around £200 million are recovered annually.

This year we have decided to work with the Ministry of Justice and the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) to strengthen the technical and operational capacity on asset recovery. Between 5 and 8 March, two practitioners from the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency travelled to Romania to deliver presentations on the UK’s experience to deal with on money laundering cases and cross-border criminal activity.

I was tasked with facilitating the event. Around 40 judges, prosecutors, police officers and financial investigators took part in the two workshops in Bucharest and Craiova, learning about how the UK improved dramatically their asset recovery regime over the last ten years and how financial investigations are being carried out. Both for us at the British Embassy and for the two experts, going out of Bucharest for the second event made a huge difference. We had the chance to meet a group of highly respected and dedicated people in Craiova that were really keen to get more exposure to international expertise.

We really look forward to working closely with the Romanian authorities on asset recovery. It will take time, and sustained effort to put together a strong and effective asset recovery mechanism. But it is worth it – the most effective deterrent against a criminal is to make sure that crime doesn’t pay.

Felicia Alexandru
Senior Political Officer
British Embassy Bucharest

Felicia is working as Senior Political officer in the British Embassy and her main responsibilities include justice reform and anti-corruption as well as EU policy work.

Ian arrived in Romania in 1990 and settled in Bucharest in 1992. His wish was to convert a block in a deprived area of the city into ten large apartments that would each provide accommodation for some institutionalised children with disabilities. In 1995 “Casa Ioana” – named in memory of Joanne (Ioana in Romanian) Pope, a young British woman, who lost a brave fight against a terminal illness – was established.

Two years later, the Mayor of Bucharest asked Ian to develop the country’s first night shelter for homeless people. The shelter was honoured with a visit by Prince Charles in 1999.

But Ian wanted to do more than just provide emergency night shelter and developed the “ACASĂ” programme to provide a range of professional services aimed at getting homeless people back on their feet and into their own homes. 4,000 homeless people have passed through Casa Ioana since they opened their first shelter. They care for up to 60 people in two shelters at any one time. Beneficiaries can stay up to one year if need be.

Ian with one of the younger beneficiaries.

I visited Casa Ioana last week: the shelter feels like a small community. Ian and his team of five psycho-social experts work round the clock, supported by regular volunteers. I am one of them, and have been visiting weekly for over a year.

In all his experience, Ian has never met a homeless person who has told him that they have ‘adopted’ this way of life. He has met hundreds though who have told him that they have no hope and no opportunities and have ‘adapted’ to this way of life. Therefore, everything they do in Casa Ioana is aimed at creating opportunities and nurturing self-belief, so that children go back to school, parents go back to work and families move into their own homes. Their success rate is an impressive 80%.

Ian’s philosophy is to empower the residents to take back control of their lives. Casa Ioana runs money management courses, encourages saving, helps with CVs, and gives employment advice. The residents manage their own shelters. They use a mixture of techniques – from group therapy to one-to-one counseling.

Prince Charles aside, they have had a number of VIP visitors over the years from Romanian Royalty to actress Carmen Tanase, currently an active Goodwill Ambassador.

Ian is truly a Great Briton in Romania. He is a retired British police officer, whose initial intention was to stay two years in Romania. 22-years later Casa Ioana is the centre of his life, along with his family. He has received many accolades. In 2010, he received the “Romanian Oscar for Excellence” (normally reserved for Romanian citizens) for 20 years humanitarian work. In 2002, he received the “Order of Faithful Service” for developing professional social assistance services in Romania. In 2000, he was decorated with an MBE in HM The Queen’s Birthday Honours for social community work in Romania.

After receiving his honour from the Romanian President, a former lawyer who was staying in Casa Ioana as a resident turned to him and said, “Before I came to Casa Ioana I was nothing but a bum. Since then, I’ve met the future King of Great Britain, the King and Queen of Romania, the President of Romania, and the Vice-President of the World Bank. I guess that makes me pretty important!’

Ian is truly an inspiration to me – and many Romanians. He devotes his life to helping those less fortunate, is always smiling and positive. I am honoured to know Ian, and I will continue to work as a volunteer at Casa Ioana whilst I am based in Romania.

Ian Saunders
British Embassy Bucharest

Eduárd Novák, Romanian Para-cycling Track World Championship

Eduárd succeeded in defeating the Czech rider Jiri Jezek, the world record holder in the final, by 3 seconds. Eduárd completed a perfect race and said that this success gives him confidence that he will become Olympic champion at the Paralympic Games in London.

“I’m very happy with this result and for this outstanding performance. In the qualifying round I was 1.6 seconds slower, but in the final I managed to win, which gives me the confidence for London. The time was not the fastest because it is a very tough track and many cyclists failed because of their tactics and choosing the wrong gears”, declared Novák.

Eduárd completed the race in 04:47.9270, followed by the Czech Jiri Jezek in 04:50.8520 and the British cyclist Jody Cundy in the third place. He also won the bronze medal in Los Angeles for the 1km pursuit race.

Eduárd Novák remains the best hope for a gold medal for the Romanian paralympic team in London this year, both at the road race where he is currently world champion (2011, Denmark, World Championship) and now at the veladrome. In Beijing he won the silver medal at the Road Race and two 4th places at the veladrome.

A blog by Sally Wood Lamont
President of the Romanian National Paralympic Committee

Shajjad came to Romania in early 1990 to deliver a shipment of humanitarian aid. He planned to stay for two weeks but he fell in love with the country and ended up staying in late 1992. He then relocated to the Hungarian-Yugoslav border (now Croatian) to help with the influx of Bosnian refugees, where he met his wife Katie. They returned to Cluj-Napoca, where they are still based, in 1996 and set up The Little People to meet the overwhelming need for psycho support services in Romania’s children’s hospitals. They started at the children’s oncology section of the main hospital in Cluj Napoca.

Due to huge demand and their tireless dedication their services now reach 85% of all children, teenagers and young adults suffering from cancer in Romania. They have the largest patient outreach in Romania. They have permanent centres in Bucharest, Iasi, Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca. 2012 will bring their overseas expansion, starting with the Republic of Moldova and then to Bulgaria and Serbia.

Messages from children supported by the Little People project

They rely on dedicated staff and many volunteers to carry out specialised programmes based on therapy, art and drama which allow the children to get used to medical procedures and surroundings, conquer their fear and improve their self-esteem. Most importantly they help children to feel like children.

I visited their centre at the Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest last week, where I was struck by the bravery of the 26 children, some just babies, currently undergoing serious treatment, like chemotherapy. The Little People team, coordinating by the personable and selfless Alina, worked tirelessly to make the children feel like children. The ward looked like a dedicated teacher’s class room with collages, pictures and educational toys everywhere. The only difference was reading what the children hoped for, instead of the latest toy or gadget read no more surgery, a new prosthetic leg or to spend time with my brother. Heart breaking, and left me thinking life is unfair but without The Little People it would be a lot worse.

One of the children supported by the Little People project promotes the message of the campaign "You can do it too"

The personal care and attention offered to each patient is a tribute to the tireless efforts of Shajjad and Katie. When they are not spending time with their little patients, they work tirelessly to attract sponsorship. Their work has been endorsed by Lance Armstrong, Oana Pellea and Beyoncé. Visiting British football stars like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have also given their time generously. And I for one will be running part of the Bucharest marathon for them.

Guest blog by Peter Thomas,
Deputy Head of Political Section
British Embassy Bucharest

“You make your own luck”. This is a saying that 79% of Romanians disagree with, according a recent GfK study. Only 21% of us are “fighters” and wait nothing from nobody. The rest are either expecting help from others (government, parents, school, society, etc) or they stopped waiting and hoping. These are figures that are not right at all for us as a country.

In order to help others make their own luck, me and 2 of my best friends created in March 2011 StartEvo, a project which inspires people to fight for their dreams.

Our activity is divided on 4 levels of personal implication:

1. We invite people to talk, on camera, about their success stories. These are people who demonstrate something in life. Personal stories, without too much theory, are extremely well received.
2. We organize events all over the country in high schools, faculties and for young professionals and we invite others to share their success and inspire the audience.
3. We put together the StartEvo National Mentoring System, where we have many Romanian VIPs that allocate time from their busy schedule to help teams of 2 mentorees.
4. We have a volunteering system, through which we help people to reinvent themselves and to meet WOW people, by becoming StartEvo ambassadors. So, those that join the project are supported by us to identify persons they consider inspirational and propose them to join the project; the Ambassadors video record success stories, come to our events and participate in the Mentoring program. The VIP’s acceptance rate is 95%!

Although StartEvo is a niche project, the results are excellent. We have tens of bloggers as partners, biggest Romanian websites have partnered with us, we won important awards such as 2nd place at Webstock 2011 and the 2011 Online StartUp Award, we benefit from media exposure. We are also in the process of opening 5 new branches worldwide (USA, Canada, Italy, Finland, Greece)

We hope to help as many people as possible reach for their dreams as soon as possible.:) So, I invite you all to join StartEvo and BE INSPIRED. Don’t forget to register to our cool newsletter Check what other events we have done so far.

Iulian Craciun
Co-fondator StartEvo

Sir Richard Branson featured in the GREAT Campaign

A visionary with astounding resources, Richard Branson is the offspring of Britain’s economic boom following the WWII. A man of many talents with undeterred perseverance when it comes to the pursuit of his vision, Richard Branson once said:

“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them”.

Thanks to Twitter, I have been following his journeys across the world for quite a while, and have gained a very deep appreciation of his work especially through Virgin Unite, the charity arm of his now iconic company. I share his passion for lifting up people from poverty through education and self-empowerment. And I was deeply impressed to learn that Virgin Unite’s overheads are covered by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, meaning that all of additional donations received go direct to frontline activities. Virgin Unite is definitely a hub for creative approaches to tackling global challenges affecting our livelihoods!

So from a virtual follower on social media, I will hopefully have the opportunity to meet this British visionary and tap into his thinking during the visit to Bucharest. Will be walking on virgin territory…

David came to Romania in 1993 to work in a local orphanage, and soon realised that there was a large number of children living in the orphanage without the care, stimulation, education or love that all children need. So he set up the Nightingales Children’s Project, an official UK charity since 1995, with a commitment that “every penny raised will go directly towards caring for the disadvantaged young people and children in Cernavoda and the surrounding region”. David was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for the work and progress Nightingales has made in Romania.

I visited the project just before Christmas, and was shown around by another great Briton, Assistant Director Ben Wells. The projects focus on helping disadvantaged children and young adults get on in life instead of turning to alcohol, crime or prostitution. Two notable ones are:

• Casa Fericirii – “Home of Happiness” which was set up in 1998 to house HIV infected orphans. Many of the orphans (aged between 9 months and 25 years old) could not look after themselves when they moved in but are now thriving after receiving the confidence and education to stand on their own two feet. All residents had sad stories to tell: I met two HIV infected women living there with their very young babies ( 9 and 10 months old). One had contracted it after being put out on the streets by her father to make money. Fortunately the babies are not showing signs of having contracted the infection.
• Human Trafficking Prevention – In 2010 Nightingales, together with the Human Trafficking Foundation set up a new project helping tackle the roots of trafficking in Cernavoda. Together they are sponsoring six young girls (13-16 years old) to stop them falling into prostitution or from being trafficked. The girls receive financial support, counselling and a variety of practical educational courses.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on one of these educational classes – a cooking class – run by Ben Wells’s wife and Nightingale’s Volunteer, Luiza Nicola. The food they cook feeds the residents and members of their close families. After lunch I visited one of the young girls’ houses (a small one bedroom apartment shared by one adult and 5 children aged between 11 months and 13 years). I was struck by how grateful the girl’s family were for the support she receives from David, Ben and the Nightingales team.

Rhys Osborne

British Embassy Bucharest

As we all know Christmas is all about giving.  So for the second year running the British Embassy was very pleased to participate in the “Santa’s for everyone” campaign by collecting toys and clothes to donate to urban and rural Roma communities around Romania.  On Tuesday we had the pleasure of travelling to Mizil, 100 kms from Bucharest to visit a local school and Roma community, to deliver our gifts.

The school, whilst modest in size, caters to over 400 students in two shifts.  In spite of the limited resources available, one can see that the teachers and school staff have done their utmost to liven it up.  The walls are decorated with pictures, drawings and inspiring quotations. One of the arrangements on display presents the values behind a model student: hard-work, attention, order, forgiveness, generosity, sincerity, character, punctuality and respect. The attendance record for the early shift was a commendable 186 out of 220.  This was not due to the impending visit of Santa, the school has a creditable attendance record throughout the year.

Santa’s entrance was greeted with beaming smiles.  He spent an hour giving away presents, listening to poems and songs. Afterwards, we were invited to watch the Christmas production. They opened with a traditional song about the sad love story between a Roma girl and a Romanian man, and swiftly moved onto an energetic sequence of traditional Roma and Romanian dance. The energy of the children was contagious. The dances were followed by two short plays and a violin recital by a very talented 5th grader who plays with gusto from Beethoven to the Roma anthem. It was good to see Roma culture being celebrated and recognised in schools.

I was very pleased to hear that SMURD, an almost iconic institution with a large outreach all across Romania, has joined this initiative. On one hand, SMURD has been set up including with support from the UK, specifically the Emergency Service of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and the Strathclyde Fire Brigade in Glasgow. Secondly, the founder of SMURD, doctor Raed Arafat, was the guest of honour at this year’s event hosted by the British Embassy to mark the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II and to celebrate CSR programmes undertaken by British companies in Romania.

Asociatia React was the surprise element for me: a relatively young yet very active NGO that offers this training for free to members of the public. So I became one of the lucky recipients of a first aid introductory module and learned how to respond in the case of cardio-respiratory arrest and to help release obstructed airways. A very intense yet rewarding first session! I have only praise for this initiative and welcome the support that Vodafone Romania is providing so that the campaign can carry on in Bucharest and in other cities.