Gloria Gery's
Romania Journal

DECEMBER 2004

December 12, '04


 

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....

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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

 

December 12, '04