The Mimler family is a 9 children family who moved to the Romanian mountains in 2021. They live in Valea Uzei, a small mountain village with only 39 habitants, most of them old people.
The mother, Elisabeth, is a German citizen. The father, Gabriel, is a Romanian citizen. After more than twenty years in Austria, where he studied philosophy, communication tools and conflict resolution, involved in many social projects, he decided to return to Romania. But he didn’t come back alone. His wife, Elisabeth, and the seven children joined him. Meanwhile, in Romania, his wife gave birth to another two children.
They bought a piece of land with an old house on it, surrounded by mountains and monasteries in Alba county, Romania. They succeed in renovating and expanding the old house. Elisabeth, who studied nutrition and sport, emerged completely in the life of the family, with unsurpassed love and devotion; she proved her resilience and capability of adapt herself to new situations, leaving Austria behind and finding together with her husband and children a place to start a new life, starting off from zero in a foreign country, with a different culture.
They live in Valea Uzei, a small mountain village with only 39 habitants, most of them old people.
The children of the family are going to the school village, helping the school to keep its doors open. The older children study the violin and the piano.
Gabriel`s dream is to create a vital space where to exercise how to make strong communities and to participate in child education.
For this purpose, the family initiated an NGO, in order to manage this project. On the property of the family, in a fairy tale like environment, in the middle of a mountain forest with clear springs, they started the work for a natural park and an environment for youth camps.
The inauguration of the first phase of the project took place in September 2024. The number of participants was over three hundred people, the feedback very positive. The Mimler Family hopes, through this project, as well as through their lives, to motivate young people to build beautiful families, to be a good example in society, encouraging families to invest in the values of their children.
The motto of Gabriel is: “The children from today are the adults from tomorrow. Our future is as good as our children.”
In spite of the challenges they had been exposed to (moving to a new country, living under construction, two pregnancies and two births, starting the youth camp project), the Mimler Family succeed in keeping their harmony and to feel more than ever the force of the unity emerging from the community of their family; and they express this force and conviction every time they get the opportunity.
Finalist: Plaza Ferrando family from Valencia, Spain
The Plaza Ferrando family consists of Sergio Plaza Tamarit (32 years old), Encarna Ferrando Romero (29 years old), Rodrigo Pelayo Plaza Ferrando (6 years old), Encarna Plaza Ferrando (5 years old), Sixto Federico Plaza Ferrando (3 years old), Santiago Beltrán Plaza Ferrando (2 years old), Constanza Leonor Plaza Ferrando (1 year old) and a baby who will be born D.M. in June 2025.
The father of the family runs a travel agency specializing in large families and religious tourism. Encarna Ferrando is vocationally dedicated to health care as a nurse.
Last October 29, 2024, in the Valencian flood, they lost their house, their two vehicles and their travel agency.
Encarna Ferrando was caught by the water alone while she was giving dinner to her five children. They lived in a traditional Valencian farmhouse in the middle of the orchard, with hardly any neighbors and 1km from Paiporta, the nearest town. In such a dramatic situation and with little time to react, the roar of the water tearing off doors, windows and furniture forced him to leave the house through the roof with all the children. He passed them one by one to the house next door where the neighbor took them in. The water, ferociously, swept through the entire floor and almost went up to the second floor.
Sergio, on the other hand, had left the house with his brother-in-law Bosco Ferrando to try to rescue his wife, who an hour before the water destroyed her house. The poor woman was already entering on her own. She was alone and pregnant and they decided to take the Plaza Ferrando’s family vehicle -because it was taller- and go to her aid.
They were caught by a giant wave in Picanya. They were able to abandon the car and help 6 people to survive, among them 2 children. According to several testimonies, in just two minutes the car had been completely engulfed by the water and the streetlights stopped illuminating, making survival impossible. Unfortunately, he denounces that there were many people who could not help.
Since day 30, this family has been serving as an instrument for thousands of families who, like them, have lost everything. The first hours they were helping to rescue people and now, after insisting a lot on the urgency of human aid, they work voluntarily with the Vice President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Susana Camarero, assisting families of all kinds so that the basic personal and spiritual needs of those affected are covered.
This voluntary agreement is due to the insistence of this couple to provide, since during the first two months serving in Paiporta they saw many families, elderly and newborn babies in really alarming situations.
Today, they thank God for having allowed them to stay alive and ask for prayers for all those who died in the flood and later because of it. They always put the value of the family as the fundamental pillar of everything.