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Project Description

Projekt Tausendfüssler -  Project Centipede was started in February 1990 when an Hungarian speaking member of the Reformed Church returned from delivering a truck load of food to several places in the Transylvania area of Romania.   He told about a children's home which was very minimally heated where the children could not attend school as they did not have shoes.  He asked "Isn't there some way we can help these children?"  The answer was "yes".  Our idea was to provide each child with three pair of shoes - house, street and winter shoes.  Thus the name "Tausendfüssler - Centipede".

Questionnaires asking for the child's name, birth date, height, weight, shoe size and outline of foot were sent to the minister of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Miercurea Ciuc (Csikszerede) with the request that he take them to the home to be completed and to return them to us.  We started collecting shoes of all types that were in good condition - grown out of but not worn out shoes.  The questionnaires were returned with a letter from Rev. Hegyi saying that he had taken them to another home in the area where the need was greater - a home for children under 3 years of age where the children received ONE bowl of soup a day!  The children 2 - 3 years old weighed on the average 6 kg (14 pounds).  This orphanage was in Sinmartin.  The shoes we collected were taken to a home for 540 children ages 3-18 in the town of Cristura Secuiesc (Keresztur).

The aim of Project Centipede was to ensure that the children in Sinmartin had sufficient food, medicine and clothing for the next 3 - 4 years and that they would have a home like atmosphere to grow up in.  When possible, we would give some assistance to the kinder­garten group (3 - 6 year olds) in Keresztur as this is where many of the Sinmartin children move when they become 3 years old.  Project Centipede celebrated its 9th birthday in March 1999.  In March 1993 we started discussions with the director of the orphanage in Sinmartin about changing the direction of the Project.  It should become a project where the home no longer would be dependent upon basic food deliver­ies from outside Romania.  The end of October 1993 a contract was signed with the director of a school/orphanage for mentally challenged children and young people located in Olteni (Oltszem). The contract was made with this home as it produced agricultural products and trained the young people to become gardeners and farm helpers.  They had no modern farm equipment which made the training very difficult.  In fulfillment of the contract, the home in Olteni would supply the home in Sinmartin with all the fruits and vegetable it needed for the next five years and Project Centipede would supply the home in Olteni with a tractor. The tractor was delivered in March 1994. We are in the process of setting up a workshop training program in Olteni to promote the dexterity, concentration and perseverance of the children.  The home in Sinmartin was closed for renovation in July 1996 and the children are now living with foster families.

The kindergarten children when we started are now teenagers wanting an education that will help them to find jobs.  As a result, in the fall of 1998 we gave the Technical Trade School in Csikszereda 17 complete PC systems so that the students can now receive computer education to better prepare them for the future.  Additional PCs have been delivered since then.  We also assist a grade school in Erdöalja by supplying school  materials and have installed new toilet facilities in the school.

At the present time, Project Centipede cares for over 1000 children.

The original "Centipede Family" members were members of the Reformed Church - Vienna I, its Hungarian speaking congregation, the Vienna Community Church and many of their friends.  The present "Family" members live in and around Vienna and in other parts of Austria, in the European countries of Scotland, England, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Hungary as well as the USA.
Project Tausendfüssler - Project Centipede is headed by Heinz and Louise Pickart from whom additional information can be obtained.


Address: Marburggasse 36/2, A-1228 Vienna, Austria
Tel: + 43 / 1 / 774 37 94
Fax: + 43 / 1 / 774 25 43
E-mail: pickart.hl@utanet.at