we arrived in Roisuri in time for lunch at one of the H2H missionaries apartments, toured this small city briefly on foot and then it was back to Alexandria to one of the toughest orphanages in the country we are told. It is also filled with "special needs" kids--from what looked like autistic rocking, to children that could not speak at all, to kids that were happy but also infantile in their behavior. What a tough ministry this would be long-term--but what a blessing to these kids. In the midst of these kids, are kids that were misdiagnosed when they were babies and are actually "normal"--and not special needs. And there was a new boy yesterday who looked to be about 10 who was just dropped off by his parents---how hard would that be? I can't even imagine leaving a child there, let alone after caring/loving them for 10 years! Many Romanians are struggling to survive and they see the orphanage as a place where their children will get enough food and a place to sleep--forgetting about the lack of love and care from a family. Many will return at some point to either visit them and then leave, or to take them back after they have worked and earned more money. It has been hard to see but also to realize what a blessing this Heart to Heart ministry is here.
Back to the blog: at the orphanage a group of 2nd-4th grades came in for singing and a story and we played a game with them. It was a special time for these kids (and us) to get some special time. This group was about 10 kids. After they left, another group of older kids came for a similar time. These kids are only reached by Heart to Heart once a week since the needs are great elsewhere. I have not taken as many pictures as I had planned simply because each time I pull out the camera, I am swarmed by kids wanting pictures--I will need to continue Baking for Bucharest just to mail pictures to everyone that I have promised! In this orphanage, many girls have very short hair and are tough--acting like boys and looking like boys. This is how they survive. It is sometimes hard to see the kids and not be sure if they are girls or boys!
We also drove through a gypsy town (it was featured in National Geographic sometime ago) that had these amazing houses--we were told that the outside is very fancy and large and the inside is empty. The houses were so large that we couldn't even take pictures of them--and each house tries to outdo the one built before them. These people are the ones that drive the horse drawn carts collecting "stuff"--amazing!
After leaving the orphanage, we went to the Boys Transition House--a beautiful place in the country that used to be an old cheese factory. There are only 3 boys there right now since 2 of the boys dropped out of the program. They have rules to follow, jobs to do and training to receive while there--and they did not stick with it. Not sure what happened to them.
We were out in the country and had a beautiful Romanian meal--typical to start with soup, then go on to meat with rice/potatoes, a salad, always bread and then we had a special dessert since it was one of the boys birthday. We sang Happy Birthday in Eng. and Romanian--what fun! It was fun to sit around the table laughing and talking--much in Romanian but it was translated for us. It is hard to sit and wait for the translation--how eye-opening to experience what our Hispanic kids deal with daily! God is indeed growing my compassion!
I think I forgot to mention that we were in the country--there were many horse drawn carts and it was amazing to see farm equipment driving in the fields that were larger and at the same time to see horse drawn plows in the smaller plots of ground. Most houses here also have a small garden most with a grape vine or two--and the houses are so very interesting! Right next to a tiny falling down house will be a very large (esp. by American standards) house--and the colors are great: bright red houses, orange, yellow, green....and the colors are not subtle. What fun to have the color of these new houses next to the dreariness of the cement block houses (huge apt. buildings).
Today we will visit the northern area of Romania and tour a castle--we are excited about this. Although we have loved our time here in the city--we are missing the country. It is very beautiful here--but it is the city!
We have had more rain and more is expected today and tomorrow--but that isn't stopping us! We are getting excited about going to Greece and having some warmer weather with sunshine! We are spoiled with our CA weather! We got an updated picture of Leah and Emily from my sister that we enjoyed showing everyone here--we are also excited to hold her and to be back amongst our kids (and granddaughter!) and our church family. We have many stories to tell of our adventures here! Off we go.....
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