The story of Andreas Samuelsson and the Kenosis community is one of generosity, sacrifice and resilience. He came to Romania with a desire to help, and from then until now, he has dedicated years to uplifting people and bringing change to disadvantaged communities. He has transformed a simple workshop into a place of creation and hope, where people find their worth through hard work and creativity.
Coming to Romania to help homeless people
Andreas Samuelsson is Swedish and came to Romania when he was not yet 20 to help disadvantaged communities work and develop. I met Andreas at the event organised by Tehnicas for the company's 25th anniversary. In a corner of the hall, next to a stand with choppers and another with metal, wood and leather jewellery, a young blond man with a beard, glasses and close-cropped hair was showing the children gathered around him how to work small objects made of wood or leather. Although we had never met before, I recognised him. I had read about him and was impressed by his desire to help and the joy with which he did it. I wanted to know more about how he came to Romania, his work in disadvantaged communities and how he got into woodworking, so I approached him.
Andreas speaks very good Romanian, but it's not surprising because he has been in Romania for 19 years, married to a Romanian woman and has two children. He first came here just after finishing high school with the intention of staying for a week and stayed for 3 months. He then worked with homeless people in Arad together with another Swede who came to Romania through a relief foundation. He felt that he had found his role among these people and that his involvement here could bring about change, so he wanted to return to continue the work he had started. And he came back after less than a year. He settled in Andria and started working with the local Roma community, with very poor people who had nothing, living in dilapidated shacks with dirt on the ground. He started by helping them with things they needed, but realised that this would not bring about change. So he thought he'd give them something, if they gave something, on the principle of if you work, you get. For example, he would give a chicken to someone and if they took care of it, they would get another one. If he didn't, he got nothing. That's how many of them got involved, to do more, both for themselves and for others in the community. Andreas is totally dedicated to working with disadvantaged people. He says it brings him joy, and you can see it in his twinkling eyes. You feel he is a fulfilled man who has found his place.
A man is like wood, if you polish it well it can become a valuable piece
Now he has a business, Kenosis Design, developed with the people who gathered around him. A workshop where he produces objects in wood, leather, metal. From chippers, to tables, cabinets, various pieces of wooden furniture for homes, restaurants, cafes. He continues to work with people from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially from the Roma community.
It all started more than 7 years ago when I was on a trip with the children from Yury. In a pile of wood that was going to end up on the fire he saw a plank that he found very beautiful. He asked the forester for it and when he got home with the plank, he sanded it, finished it, put metal legs on it and it became the table he still has in his house. That's how he got the idea to set up a non-profit organization where he could work on various objects. He says the goal wasn't the furniture but the people, lifting them just as he lifted wood for the fire, making it into a table. Both wood and people have stories, uniqueness and need polishing.
Shortly after the wood incident he met his future wife and moved to Timisoara. He opened his workshop in Giarmata, where a Roma community lives. They first worked in a container that had no electricity. With the help of a church aid association that invested €100,000, they were able to buy machinery and start production. Orders came in pretty quickly so they also made a profit which they reinvested. They use defective wood taken from local barbecues, which they combine with epoxy resin to give them solve problems and sometimes with metal and leather. The team is made up mostly of Roma who work with passion on special pieces of furniture. Such furniture can now be seen in top restaurants and cafés in Bucharest and Timisoara or in the homes of wealthy people. Scraps of wood from tables and furniture are transformed by the women's hands into small pieces of jewellery.
A business risen from the ashes
A year ago, on a night in September 2022, the workshop burned to the ground. There were shredders, trays and furniture ready to be delivered, along with machinery and materials. Almost everything burned. But this whole community gathered around Kenosis jumped to help. Among those who came to help was Cristoff Krattiger from Tehnicas. That's when he understood that he wasn't building a factory but a community, that it wasn't about walls but about relationships, dreams and values.
Although immediately after the fire he thought he would probably put everything on hold for a year, within a week he was working with the team in the roofless hall. They sanded, wiped and repaired, looking up and wishing it wouldn't rain. They literally rose from the ashes and are now working again on jewellery, shredders and custom furniture for anyone eager to own a Kenosis branded item.
Kenosis - get down for lift others up
Kenosis is a biblical term that means to give up privilege and stoop to help and uplift others. Kenosis is where Andreas creates beauty by giving meaning to life, helping people and community. He teaches them how to work their way up, be generous to others and pass on the desire to help others. With hard-working people who are passionate about crafts, the Kenosis family has grown.
Kenosis is not just a business, but a community where people support each other and share their dreams. The fire that destroyed the workshop did not break their spirit; on the contrary, it united them and made them come back stronger and more determined. Through their work, they demonstrate that each individual can be a valuable piece in building a better future for us all. In this way, Kenosis becomes more than just a production workshop. It is a manifestation of the principle - to lower oneself in order to raise others. Andreas and his team are living examples of this philosophy, and through their actions they remind us that true wealth lies in the ability to give and bring joy to those around us.
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