My Journal
This page contains excerpts from my daily journal. Global Volunteers encourages workers to keep a journal during service projects. My journal became a place where I could unload my feelings each day and go to sleep with a cleansed mind. Some of the entries may seem bleak, and that is because I wrote mostly about things that weighed upon my mind. Please know that I would not trade this experience for anything. Just seeing the babies smiling faces when we came to take them out of their cribs was worth the entire trip!
Monday, July 15, 2002
We met the babies today. There are 26 right now in the
Failure to Thrive unit. 1 nurse and 2 aides (who, I'm happy to report, are very
dedicated and affectionate towards the babies) take care of all of them.
Needless to say, when volunteers aren't there, they lay in their cribs. The
babies' ages range from 4 months-2 1/2 years, but most have delays and are small
for their age. Two days ago they got a 6 month old baby who weighs 11
pounds--no bigger than a newborn. His head is swollen from malnutrition, and he
has conjunctivitis in his eyes. He is a sweetie, and I carried him around for a
long time.
Another baby I met is 9 months old, and was born without a
thyroid. They've been giving her medicine, but she really needs a
transplant. This has never been done in Romania. Dr. Delia said that
if she doesn't get a transplant by age 1, she will have serious developmental
problems, and probably won't make it to age 3. The delays are showing now as it
is: her muscles are very weak and vision is poor.
However, other babies there are doing very well.
Mihaela said that the babies have made great progress since Global Volunteers
started this program a few years ago. The attention that the volunteers
have been giving, as well as donations to the hospital, have really made a
difference!
We chose groups of babies to work with after dinner.
Another volunteer (Patsy) and I are in charge of 3 babies who have severe
delays. Our babies are a little over 1 year old, but are functioning at
4-5 months. I hope I can help them.
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Patsy and I are in charge of 3 special-needs infants: Nicu,
Gigel and Ionut. None can stand independently, and Nicu is the only one
who can sit up by himself. They are all sweethearts, and I am falling in
love with all three!
I found out today that Ionut had rickets when he came to the
hospital. That is why his head is oddly-shaped and probably why he is delayed.
Dr. Delia said that since the people are so poor, the mothers don't get enough
nutrition to produce good breast milk, and the children suffer.
Gigel seems to be feeling bad. He's been crying a lot
and tugging at his ear. Another child was just diagnosed with an ear infection,
but the hospital doesn't want to give him antibiotics yet because they don't
have enough. Gigel is also teething and has a very bad heat rash/dry skin
covering most of his body. I let him play in his diaper yesterday, but the nurse
asked me to put his clothes back on. Many Romanians believe that a draft can
make a child ill, even if it is 85 degrees. The nurses prefer to keep
the windows and doors closed, and childrens' clothes on, even when it is very
hot.
Nicu is a total cutie. He is the youngest of the three, but
the furthest along developmentally. He has been trying to pull himself up
when he is in the playroom, but the plastic chairs aren't heavy enough and tip
over. We are looking for other things he can use.
I almost cried when I left today, looking at Ionut and
knowing that he would probably be in his crib from the time I left until I
arrive tomorrow. The staff here is wonderful, but there just isn't enough
help to give each child the attention they need. It is heartbreaking to know
that many of them don't have a mommy to rub their little backs, or a daddy to
swing them in the air.
Stray
dogs in Iasi
Saturday, July 20, 2002
We're in Iasi now at a nice hotel that has air
conditioning! Our trip to the monasteries has been good, and I've enjoyed seeing
the beauty of the countryside. It's a nice, pleasant break from the stresses of
the hospital.
There are so many stray dogs here. I feel so sorry for
them. We've almost hit a few today in the van.
Our travels between the monasteries and Iasi were both
breathtaking and heartbreaking. We saw hills with herds of sheep, gypsy
houses and farmland that looked like patchwork. We also saw a horse that
had been hit by a car, a town that had been recently devastated by a flash
flood, and a rough family fight.
The babies were doing well on Friday, but we had to leave
early for our weekend trip. I have been working with a 2 year old named
Gabi in the mornings for a few days, and the other 3 in the afternoon. He
is a cutie with curly hair and big, brown eyes. Gabi has many autistic
tendencies, but I don't think he has been diagnosed with anything. He also
has a "lazy eye" and is very thin. I've been trying to help him
make eye contact, increase his attention span, and eat with a spoon. I
hope that I can help.
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Today a 3 year old girl was brought to the hospital in an
alcoholic coma. She had been left with a sibling while her parents
worked. Apparently, she found some home-made liquor and drank it.
She had been in a coma for a while before her sister realized what happened--she
had thought the child was sleeping. Dr. Joan was called down to help
out. The girl was still in a coma when we left today. The hospital
staff says that this type of thing is not unusual. Families are so poor
that they have no one to watch their children when they work, and all kinds of
things can happen to the kids.
Katie and I went to the Barlad zoo this afternoon. Unless I
am freeing the animals, I never, ever, ever want to see that again. They
had all kinds of animals locked up in tiny, dirty cages- dogs, cats, foxes,
tigers, bears--so miserable. I wonder why, in this poor town, they would want to
spend money on exotic animals that they obviously don't have the money to
care for?
Friday, August 2, 2002
I've been home for a few days, recuperating. I wasn't able to
finish my journal because right at the end of the trip, I got really bad
food poisoning. I didn't get to say goodbye to the babies, but I think overall
it was a blessing. I don't know if I would have been able to get on that bus and
leave.
They told us we might have "re-entry shock" upon
our arrival home, and I definitely do. Things are so different. I went to the
doctor the other day and almost broke down. There was a baby, about 10 months
old, and I was watching him. He played with his mom and then effortlessly pulled
himself up to stand at his mother's knees. I started crying then, thinking about
16-month old Ionut, and the bald spot at the back of his head because all he can
do is lay on his back.
Now that I have seen what I saw, I cannot just ease back into
my life and forget. These two weeks have put my life into perspective.
I have to hand it to Global Volunteers: they have given me
something I never would have if I had traveled to Romania on my own. It is one
thing to travel to a country, and entirely another to live and work in it as its
people do.
I am planning to return to Romania in June with HUG Internationally. I am also planning to take another service trip with Global Volunteers.