For those of you that do not know already, the month of September my team of 6 will doing mission work the World Race calls, “Unsung Heroes.” Unsung Heroes (UH) consists of backpacking an assigned country and finding Christian contacts- solely needing to be heard to further their mission, and potentially partnering with Adventures in Missions on a later date. We find people, give them publicity, help them physically and try to incorporate future World Race teams to visit.
I rolled out of bed early Friday morning, grabbed a piece of bread with peanut butter, and walked out into the chilly Romanian air without a lot of thought to my wardrobe. Today, it didn’t matter what piece of re-worn clothing I was wearing because today I was putting on scrubs.
Scrubs? Yes. Scrubs. Today, I was going to work in a Children’s hospital, but the hospital could have been better named: The Children’s Abandonment Center.
Even the occasional Obama fan like me can admit, free national health care is not always the best option. Romania, home to the most Gypsy communities in the world takes a strong advantage to this European Union accommodation. The first 2 years of a child’s life is free unlimited health care to a child, AKA, if a mother drops her child off at a hospital within the first two years of his/her life with a mere cold or more… or if it’s potato-season, it is free unlimited “daycare.”
Long story short, these babies are abandoned-ranging from a few weeks to forever. This makes any adoption process extremely difficult. Also, Romania doesn’t allow international adoption, and to be adopted within the country 4+ generations have to sign off on abandoning the child. Tough luck. Because this process, the majority of babies stay in “placement” or “limbo” while they are bounced around in foster care, hospitals, and the occasional gypsy village-never having a real family.
I arrived at the simple 5-story hospital. So many babies and toddlers were sick, but more depressing, they were completely starved for attention. Their eyes were haunting as they starred at you, longing for you to simply look at them and acknowledge them. I was with an organization (whom we found through Unsung Heroes) called Firm Foundations. This non-profit organization simply spends time with the babies, provides/changes diapers and most important provides-love and playtime and affection. Each floor of the hospital had about 16 babies, and there were only 5 volunteers. It’s safe to say each baby only had about a ½ hour of attention per day and only during the workweek. Many babies sat in their metal cribs and rocked back and forth; a physical coping mechanism to abandonment.
One little boy I will never forget had a horrible cough, and the second he saw me he started sobbing. I walked over to him and tried to comfort him. He literally jumped onto me and clung. Trying to breathe between his deep, hoarse coughs and tears he muttered “Momma.” He wouldn’t let me put him down to change his diaper or help him go to sleep. He reeked as the hospital only has time to bathe babies upon entry, and his hair was matted. The volunteers said he had been left for about 6 months.
Seeing children neglected and forgotten by their parents is probably the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. The vomit, diapers of children that should have been potty trained long ago, and smell was unnoticed to the effects abandonment had on the children.
Please pray for these children, and keep tabs on Firm Foundations (www.facebook.com/firmfoundationsro) as they fight to change adoption laws in Romania and take care of these little ones to the best of their ability.
