Share House

Entrepreneur Bogdan Tanasa is building houses for the disadvantaged

România Internațional, 23.03.2022, 10:16

I’m not Superman or some kind of saviour of the planet, but I have a good heart, compassion and lots of determination, so I’m trying to change the lives of children that have been hit hard by life.

This is how Bogdan Tanasa describes himself; the man who, though his association, Share House, refurbishes or builds houses for the disadvantaged and is building a an educational and vocational centre for children in need in the region of Moldavia:

I’m 48 years old and I am an entrepreneur. I own two factories that produce briquettes and pellets. I was born in a village in Iasi county, right across the street from a children’s home and I think that’s why I have this urge to do something for society. As a child I saw so many things happening there, and I’ve also been lucky enough to meet people from abroad and I’ve learnt a lot from them. I lived abroad for some time and I told myself that, had God helped me earn more and live a better life, I would help other people. And that’s what I’ve been doing for eight years now, working at my factory, and devoting the very little spsare time I have to the Share House association.

Very little spare time, Bogdan Tanase says, but so many success stories, we would say. Because, in the past eight years that he’s been devoted to his association, Bogdan Tanasa has built 30 houses for disadvantaged people in rural areas.

People ask me: how did you think about doing that, how did you plan it? Well, I didn’t think and I didn’t plan. It just came to me, out of the desire to do something good. Eight years ago a saw a newspaper article about six children living with their father, as the mother had abandoned them. It was really hard for them, one of the children was dreaming of a little toy care to play with and I said to myself: this cannot be allowed to happen. I went to them initially to help them build a stove, because they had no source of heating, but when I see where they lived, I just built the whole house. And so I’ve built 30 houses.

The beneficiaries of the houses are, all of them, people that fate has not been kind to: mothers with many children and no dad around, people with no income, people who lost everything they had in a fire, very poor elderly who cannot work to provide for themselves. In time, the association has become a mini-brand, known not only in the region, but all over the country.

We have to select the cases, we talk to social workers, mayors, priests and do our best to change their lives. That’s what Share House does, changes peoples’ lives. We monitor the children up until they turn 18, and even after we check upon them, to see how they’re doing, if they decide to work abroad we check their contracts. 16 of them have become grown-ups and they have jobs. I very keen on helping them stay here, in the country and help reconstruct it. We need them, as these children have been raised in this spirit of helping the others.

Everybody Bogdan Tanasa is helping is important. But disadvantaged children are his main concern, because he believes that through proper education and learning a trade, young people from poor families can decide on a better future for themselves. That is why the Share House association has been working on establishing an educational and vocational center in Iasi.

It’s 540 square meters, with two storeys, four big rooms where there will be some 70 children, and two big workshops. In those workshops electricians, plumbers, carpenters will come and teach them the trade. So, after school (we are keen on sending them to school, because they benefit from so many things this way), we take them to the centre, we feed them, they do their homework, supported by teachers, and after that they go to these workshops where we teach them something practical.

So, the educational and vocational centre set up by Bogdan Tanasa will be more than just an after-school for poor children, it will be their chance for a better life. Moreover, with the help of the association, Bogdan Tanase provides people with food and makes sure old people see a doctor. During the pandemic, he bought a Covid-29 testing equipment for the infectious diseases hospital in Iasi, tests, masks, PPEs. And now, since the war in Ukraine, he’s been to the Siret border to help the refugees.

I’ve come here and see what’s happening. Many good people have come with food and whatever people here need. But I’m a very practical person, and that is why I’m building houses, and helping people do things for themselves. When I saw mothers with small children crossing the border after 14-20 hours spent in the cold, together with a friend of mine from Gura Humorului association, we found 14 guest houses, we asked the owners to open them, we filled them with whatever was necessary and we accommodated mothers and their children there.

What Bogdan Tanasa has been doing through is association is an example for all of us and he has revealed so many sources of humanity that society so desperately needs today, more than ever. (MI)