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Sunday,
January 29 , 2006 - Banca,
Romania
Our
first
full week is over here in Romania. It's been more than a full
one. We are here as part of a team of 8. Six people are from
our tiny town of Tolland, MA: Nancy and Phil Grannan, Cindy
Lawler (also of West Hartford, CT), Sue Voudren, plus Bob and
me. We are joined by Kathy Fritz, a first-time volunteer from
Minneapolis, and Barbara Marcus, a returning volunteer from
Key West. Barbara came to focus on an autistic boy, Constantine,
who she fell in love with in September when volunteering here
with her husband. So we have three returning volunteers and
five first-timers. We are an amazingly well matched team who
have laughed more in the past week than you can imagine. We
are all "in the same age bracket" and share a strong common
goal of working with and serving the 33 amazing kids between
six weeks and three years of age who are at the Tutova Failure
to Thrive Clinic supported by our host organization, Global
Volunteers.
We traveled to visit the Painted Monasteries
over our first weekend. It's in the North near the Ukraine.
Below zero all weekend but we had great times. From left to
right, Bob Gery, Gloria Gery, Sue Voudren, our Guide, Alex,
Nancy Grannan, Cindy Lawler, Kathy Fritz and Phil Grannan. Barbara
Marcus (shown below) took the photo.
After
some initial getting to know each other and a tour of the clinic
we divided up primary responsibility: Bob and Nancy are with
the mobile kids who wander around after initially learning to
walk. There are 14. In the mornings Cindy and I join them and
"float" because our group, the six special needs kids, are in
therapy with a group of dedicated Romanian and American therapists
who focus on the kids' requirements. In the afternoon Cindy
and I are challenged to do helpful things with these kids who
are autistic, have neurological damage from fetal alcohol syndrome
or other problems, a set of twins whose mother had syphilis
during pregnancy, and a child with incredible reflux problems
who has spent far too much time in a walker and has underdeveloped
leg and torso muscles. Phil and Kathy have the smallest non-mobile
infants and Sue is doing yeoman's duty with up to ten toddlers
who are a challenge to keep doing constructive things like learning
to feed themselves, brush their teeth, do puzzles and overall
entertain themselves. It's quite a zoo.
A Special Relationship: Team member, Barbara
Marcus, worked in Tutova in September 2005 and fell in love
with Constantin, a special needs child. She came back primarily
to work with him, although she worked with other kids as well.
During this trip she brought Constantin to Iasi where there
is a neurologist who evaluated him and prescribed some special
medication to see if it would calm him down. Barbara was told
that "Constantin is not autistic" which gave her great pleasure.
Fingers crossed that the prescription will make a difference.
All
but the six newest infants were here when Bob and I were here
in April so we know them... most were here during my first trip
in December 2005. You have asked if they "remember us". Definitely
not... but we remember them. They swarm us as if we are their
parents. I think because there are continuously new teams here
every three weeks the kids learn to go to whoever is around.
Touching yet hopeful because they adapt to us right away.
Some
kids treat us as "newbie's" and within a day learn what they
can get away with. Liliana Rosca, one of the mobiles, is called
"the velcro kid". She will crawl on you and cling until you
put her down. If you would do it, she'd be stuck to you all
day. After some fussing and learning that others are going to
get some "hugging time", she'll play by herself. She's quite
the drama queen and can turn it on and off in a second. She
puts one hand on each cheek in succession as she rocks her head
back and forth in a "woe is me" style with eyes that melt your
heart. It didn't take us long to bond with these beautiful and
growing children. And "we were off".
As
in the past, our days are filled with feeding and changing diapers
(except for Bob Gery who says it's "not my field" and can sniff
out the diaper changing requirements and hand-off to better
diaper changers in the most efficient action). We play, we rock,
we sing, we dance. We chase up and down the hall. We bring smiles...
we put kids on rocking horses and lift them (sometimes a challenge),
and all in all just love them as much as we can. Within three
days we were in a routine and learned how to help each other
constantly. Nancy's back went into a spasm while flying over
on Air France - so we don't let her lift. Her spasm has been
passed to Kathy who says some of the smallest kids are like
"tanks". They are well fed and a snack at 11:30 of yogurt, oatmeal,
bananas, eggs or whatever we bring to the clinic from our breakfast
table is a mess but satisfying. We monitor the predator kids
who take others' bottles or run from feeder to feeder to get
three times the food... We cajole the reluctant or slower eaters
and hide their bottles from the staff so we are sure they all
get their share.
Gloria (with Scooby Doo Scrubs on!) and clinic
staff work on diaper folding. The job is huge and occurs several
times daily!
The
progress of the children has been amazing. In particular, several
of the special needs children like Liliana C have progressed
to the point where you wonder what the original problem was.
She's walking and playing and dancing and eating and saying
sounds that are almost words. In December 2004 she cowered in
the corner of her crib. The Woodall Foundation of Houston Texas
has supported these therapists and is training them to do this
work through their staff who are here. Tracy Woodall is making
such a difference with her outreach here in Romania. What a
gift to all. Constantine has grown so much and Barbara focuses
on him much of the day. He needs so much one on one and is very
demanding in the larger group when she is not with him. I worry
about how we will handle him and his opening and closing doors,
self-stimulation (head rocking, rocking, etc). He has very little
impulse control - as does Andre, a child with quite a bit of
neurological damage. Andre throws heavy toys, climbs into the
tub, pulls on wires that you would think beyond his reach and
moves like a shot from a cannon: boom -- and he's into something.
Part of me has trouble working with this group because there
is less feedback, less affection and more physical demands.
But I am getting to know them and feel what I do matters.
We've
had a tremendous challenge here with weather that until today
was freezing cold with high winds. We were not prepared for
below zero weather and the van that drives us the 18 miles to
and from our motel (which is its own story) had its windows
iced throughout. For five days we never saw a bit of scenery.
Four of the women are in renovated apartments across the parking
lot from the motel and two of the rooms never got above 50 degrees
Fahrenheit. We had to work out problems so they didn't have
to sleep in coats. It's better this week but it was rough going
for four days.
We
spent this weekend on a tour of the beautiful 16th century painted
monasteries and were in a university town, Iasi, which was quite
nice. It takes long rides to get "anywhere" from here, and after
four or five hours a day driving we were happy to be "home"
to an early dinner and bed.
These beautiful monasteries were painted
with natural paints in the 13th and 14th Centuries. It's a UNESCO
World Heritage Site and all of the monasteries are active nunneries.
There is no heat… these are actively used churches. And the
settings and interiors are stunning.
Thanks
for your support... more later in the week.
We
are so happy to be here.
Best,
Gloria and Bob
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