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December
12, 2004
Sunday
Evening in Barlad, Romania
The
Christmas lights are up in town including a huge tree with twinkling
lights. It makes an otherwise dreary town with small stores
brighter. Interestingly there are ten cell phone stores in this
town... The grocery stores are small and you could never buy
Costco-sized packages because they don't give bags with your
purchase. I found this out after buying three bottles of water
and two bottles of wine plus some bananas for the clinic. I
went back to the hotel and got my L.L. Bean canvas bag only
to learn the next day that you can buy plastic bags. When I
think of the 10,000 that are in my pantry! Worse than that,
however, is that without a car you have do schlep it (i.e. walk!).
Do you know how heavy two 1.5 liter bottles of water are! Enough
to want to dehydrate.
Weather
here is about like home... but not humid. I brought my parka
and boots but am wearing a light jacket and there is no snow.
The light here is beautiful, particularly in the a.m. It's 7
hours later than Eastern time and gets dark around 4:30 p.m.
They don't turn the hall lights on at the hotel 'til 5:30 and
then only 4 of the 12 in the hall... So I am getting pretty
good at "feeling" my way around.
More
interesting Romania things....
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Today is election day and the outcome will significantly effect
whether Romania gets to join the European Union on Jan. 1, 2007.
The EU has put in all kinds of requirements for reducing the
horrid corruption (i.e. you must bribe the doctor at the hospital
to treat you, bribe for electricity, bribe for everything!),
change the laws on all kinds of human rights things including
adoption. Adoption was banned because the prime minister of
Romania made a "cash deal" with the Prime Minister of Italy,
Berlesconi. Berlesconi was just acquitted of corruption due
to the statute of limitations taking effect - because it took
so long to bring this billionaire to trial. Adoption will be
legal again in 2005, but only as "the last resort" -- more later
on that.
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The hotel bathtubs are like they are in England: very high off
the ground because the plumbing is beneath the tub. They have
those awkward hand showers you have to hold (i.e. not mounted
on the wall). The Hotel Maldova where I stay has had so many
American volunteers who complained about no shower curtains
that they (happily) installed them so you don't soak the entire
bathroom when showering. The problem is no shower curtains exist
in Romania so there are not any rods. They jury-rigged a rod
with a 1/4 inch dowel which would be fine if you knew about
it. when you pull the shower curtain back other than by the
inch it all flies off the rod since the hooks are "American
sized". It's not pretty to be wet with a wet plastic curtain
on you.
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The only fruit available here off season is small apples, imported
bananas and oranges and grapefruit. I am missing my cantaloupe.
We are very spoiled in the U.S. having anything we want year-round.
They tell me the in-season watermelon in Romania is fabulous.
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The lines at the ATM on Friday were because it was payday. Every
day there are lines at the appliance store because appliances
are so expensive that people have to make weekly payments.
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The menu at my hotel includes pig brains (all different ways),
pig liver, pig neck (scruff), tripe soup, etc. Fortunately,
it also has grilled pork and chicken and "tenderloin" which
is pretty good. Canned beans and fresh carrots... potatoes (which
I skip) and canned peas. I am craving broccoli.
The
Hotel Maldova Non-Smoking Dining Room. I ate alone!
Back
to my work here. I have been busy. Most of the volunteers through
Global volunteers travel on the weekend, but I think I mentioned
I wasn't interested in doing it alone, so I worked both Saturday
and Sunday. Saturday was a bit scary to see what happened. Twelve
women were doing the regular "Saturday cleaning program" that
included using tree sticks with cloths on them to dust every
wall and crevice including the radiators. They scrubbed every
item including sinks, beds, floors, toys, appliances, etc. It
was overwhelming. If I hadn't been warned by Ramona about it
I would have thought there had been an Ebola contamination.
It was frantic. They clean one of the kids rooms every day from
top to bottom and move the kids around. I often get the kids
into the wrong beds as a result since the names don't match
the ones on the door. But the staff is very nice about it. You
could literally eat off the floor here.
Sunday
was quiet. Only three on staff for the 35 kids -- and me. When
there are no volunteers here, the kids don't leave the cribs
very often. So instead of staying entirely with my group of
very young children, I am trying to get all of the kids out
every other day at least. Today I had ten "non-mobiles" from
9 - 12... put them back and then took four special needs kids
for two hours including feeding them the banana/yogurt/biscuit
(gruel)) mixture with one dish and one spoon for all four. There
are simply too many kids to have a spoon or dish for each one.
When one gets sick, all do.
Changing
the kids here is an exercise in time and motion. They get changed
every four hours because it's simply impossible to do more.
The diaper rash on many of the children is frightening too me.
Maia and Maestra, the two triplet girls who were left here)
have bottoms that are so purple it brings tears to your eyes.
The A&D ointment I brought by the pound isn't enough... so I
bought so DermoVat, a cortico-steroid cream. I bought five tubes
at $4 each and will buy out the pharmacy before I leave. The
volume of things they go through is amazing. Each child is wiped
with a baby wipe (which they need by the ton, but which are
tremendously heavy to carry as I learned). They then are diapered
with two cloth diapers, pinned and then covered with a "onesie"
undershirt/pants combination and then have a sleeper put on.
Sometimes the older ones who are out in the hall get a little
sweater or jacket too. It's quite a bit of volume for them to
sit up with! I haven't had the chance to change anyone because
I am so busy (not that I am seeking that opportunity). Three
women come through with a pile of diapers, a huge plastic container
to hold the soiled ones and then do the kids a room at a time.
Very efficient. The diapers are, of course, cloth due to expense
plus the inability to dispose of Pampers here. They are washed
in a machine donated by Global Volunteers, put through a centrifuge
to get more water out and then in a dryer. In my opinion they
are very rough... but I don't see a choice.
The
baby food continues the same day after day. Nourishing, but
it won't develop a gourmet palate in these youngsters. This
morning I bought 13 bananas and 12 yogurts and they made upthe
"mixture" I described above. I think I will be a regular at
the grocery store.
Sabianca.
"Yogurt is good!
Many
of you have written and asked what happens to the children after
they leave the Tutova clinic. At three they are put into foster
homes. Because the children are so well cared for here, parents
are happy to take them. The children are amazingly joyous --
although quite passive due to the lack of attention. Once you
get them "going", they quickly become alert, but underdevelopment
is an issue, of course. They cannot be adopted internationally
at present. The new 2005 regulations will allow it after all
other alternatives are exhausted. Even though these children
are effectively abandoned since no parents visit, the parents
still have rights. Sounds like the U.S. The laws all over the
world absolutely must be changed so that all the people who
want babies can have them. I might get involved in this... I
don't know. There are probably organizations which deal with
reformation of these laws. I think parents who abandon should
be considered persona non grata and lose their rights.
By
the way, I brought two digital thermometers that allow you to
pass the special head over the baby's forehead. It takes 1000
readings and calculates the "average". Lorraine Lauret gave
me money for a second. They said "I'll be damned" when they
saw them, "First in Romania". They are even new in the U.S.
I got to use one today on Dimitrou who had a 101 fever which
I detected when holding him. It truly was amazing. It runs on
9-volt batteries which are $3 each here. I brought 24. All the
"automated" rockers for the kids run on D batteries and they
have none. This is a very poor country. Maybe I'll write to
Duracell when I get home!
Enough
for tonight. Thanks for all your good thoughts. Email is the
height of my evening. So much for excitement here!
Love,
glo
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