Romania: July 2013

Monday, July 15, 2013

UPDATE

As I am finishing up, I want to let everyone know that I will be writing probably one or two more posts. This summer has been very busy and I want to be able to really reflect on my trip. I also want to write about my last day in Romania which had the most impact on me. Will be posted soon!!

#13 World Vision

World Vision is an organization that is Cluj and internationally based. One of their main programs is a scholarship program. They try to get donations that go towards a child. In Cluj they had a family sponsorship from when a U.S.family donated money to a family in Cluj. World Visions intervention programs include: education, economic, society and health. After the people we met spoke for a little bit we watched a movie about World Vision. WV helps children and communities in poverty. They try to make a self sustaining community. For example, building and partnering with schools, churches and businesses. There approach is based on what has worked in other countries. They develop a plan that works for 4-5 years. Children are involved in the planning process. The specialists involved in this plan include: educators, economists, citizens, people living in the community. A social worker is placed in each community.

After communism, the first WV was made to help children in orphanages. In Cluj, they set up child care, foster care and shelters. They were mainly focused on child protection till it was taken over by the state. In 1991, children institutions ere locked down. Two of them reached out for help. WV went in to help. The WV founder was a pastor that volunteered in many different countries. He went to Korea during the war and met an orphan child. After witnessing the horrible conditions the pastor was sent back to the U.S. but began donating money.

The U.S. is the main support office for WV. Politics is what determines which communities need help. Marketing is a huge part of promoting WV. The money they receive can go directly to a family or to the community. For example, some children receive scholarships to go to school in Cluj.

WV was a lot to learn about and some parts of it were kind of confusing. They seem to have a lot going on in a lot of different places, It was difficult to ask some specific questions because there was much information. I liked hearing about the founder of WV and I told that there is a book written about him. I also want to look up other projects WV has done in other countries.

Friday, July 5, 2013

#12 Christiana Association & Foundation of Elderly Care

Christiana was established in Cluj in 2007. They have 7 programs based off of the different needs. For example, education, child abandonment, prevention, youth center and 2nd Chance. We met with the coordinator and director of programs. I think he was a minister but I am not sure. We also had a chance to meet with 4 students that attend their 2nd Chance program. These students have repeated grades and cannot continue in the main stream schools. They were 19 years old-8th grade, 17 years old-5th grade, 19 years old-7th grade and 28 years old-8th grade. One of the students was a girl from Pata Rat the Roma village. She is the kindergarten teacher there. The social worker at Christiana goes out to schools to find students that are at risk of dropping out. The SW also deals with issues in the schools, financial, illness and family problems. While chatting with the students they told us that they like sports, helping their family, doing farm work and chores. These students have family support which is difficult to come by. The director said their biggest challenge is motivating children. What was nice about this place was that we felt at home. For the first time the director and the students asked us questions back. It was the first time people wanted to know more about us.

Foundation of Elderly Care is a day program for improving the lives of the elderly. They have 156 registered people. They offer activities such as: social/recreation, art/dance/theater, book club, aerobics and education classes. When we walked in everyone was very excited to say hello to us. They were playing card games, chess, checkers etc. The elders serve as volunteers themselves. The foundation receives money from a Switzerland Foundation and donations. They also offer medical home care for those that have chronic health conditions. During the meeting a man came in, he has been there the longest. He spoke a lot about the center what they do. It was kind of difficult to understand him. Everyone seemed really happy there. As for the social worker they do assessments, establish intervention plan, monitor cases, counseling and support.

#11 Veritas

“Veritas” means truth. This organization is based in Sighisoara. In 1989 after the fall of Communism 7 students came from the U.S. to volunteer at an orphanage. They wanted a Romanian study abroad program. So Dorothy and 8 students from Eastern Nazareth College began one. Dorothy never left. In 1995, they moved the program to Sighisoara. Dorothy hoped to find local Christians who would work with students. They needed to find need. What they found was poor begging children, abandoned children and elderly in hospitals. In 1998 they purchased the family center. Veritas was officially founded in 2001. Their mission statement is, “Seeks to effect positive change in the lives of the people of Sighisoara through service to the community and to the people in need.” They currently have 4 accredited services: children, elderly, people with special needs, domestic violence and a variety of educational services. They have whats called, “Kids Club” for 7-13 year olds as well as a prek and teen program. In Romania there is now a new form of child abandonment. This is when the parents leave the country for work and do not leave adequate care for their children. For support for the parents they offer counseling, home visits, parenting classes and group meetings. While on the tour we got to see their soup kitchen and their day care room. Many of my fellow students want to do their extended weeks here but the problem is that it is far from Cluj. This organization seemed to have a strong Christian faith influence.

#10 Caritas & Autism Transylvania

A Catholic organization that has five different departments: Anti-Drug, Social Education, Disaster Preparation, Counseling and Disabilities and Home Care for Elders. While visiting they mostly spoke about the anti-drug program and social education . They have activities, games, trips, art therapy, music, dance and sport. Through this program they offer intervention in schools and a the church. When asked what seems to be the popular drugs they said, angel dust and crystal meth. However, one of there biggest problems is cigarettes. The government does not support of enforce cigarette selling laws. I noticed that where ever we went people smoked. Anti-drug programs are very new in Romania. Drug abuse is very new to Romania. There is also a high rate of school drop-outs. In there social education program they try to combat this. They currently have 50 children/families involved. There main focus being homework help and tutoring. They also help families with food, clothes and school supplies. This program is an after-school program as well as having activities that take place in the schools. While there we met with two volunteers. We were able to ask them questions and speak with them a bit. They told us that marijuana is becoming an increasingly popular drug and that no one does cocaine because its too expensive. They said that a lot of students drop out by 10th grade but as low as 5th grade. One quote which was really funny by one of the volunteers is, “That is McDonalds for you.” He was referring to dropping out of high school.

Autism Transylvania is one of if not the only autism school in Romania (don’t remember). They had just moved into this large modern beautiful building. They have come a long way with no assistance from the government. They receive their money mostly from a UK foundation. Currently, they have 35 children 5-12 years old. They offer counseling services to families and different types of therapy for the children. Autism in Romania is very new and not many people know much about it. Autism is difficult to diagnose because a physician is not obliged to screen child for symptoms. In schools, children with disabilities and without are clumped together. AT is trying to work with schools the have separate classrooms. Some of their students have aids in the schools with them. This was one of my favorite places to visit. It was really interesting to see how the school is set up. I have never been to a school like that in the U.S. so I have nothing to compare it too. But based on my observations AT seems to be top of line for autism education. We were able to meet with the assistant director? and her son who has autism. He was a very sweet and cute boy. He told us about the rules for being in a library. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication and we were unable to attend their family day festival. I wish I had been able to interact with the children more.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

#9 Nursing Home

After the children shelter we went to a nursing home. Prior to visiting the nursing home we were cautioned to watch our facial expressions and what we say. Professor had mentioned this because the director of the nursing home knows that they are not what it’s like in the U.S. He does not want us to compare them to what we know. So I went into this visit expecting the worst. It was nothing like I had expected. The building was pretty large and it smelled like bleach. The nurses were all dressed in white uniforms. I had to go to the bathroom so I was escorted by one of the nurses. Her name was Andrea and she was really nice. We got to chat for a little while. While walking through the halls I felt like I was in an old mental asylum. The halls were long and had padded doors. The building seemed to be old. I was expecting horrible conditions and this is not what I found at all. The only thing was that they were crowded. There was about 5-8 elderly people per room. They mentioned that there are not enough of these institutions for care.

This nursing home is the only public facility in Cluj. They serve anyone from different backgrounds, religion, culture and education. They ask the patients to pay $200 a month but if they cannot afford it they let it slide. All other facilities in Cluj are private. Currently, there are 100 residents, 2 doctors, 1 social worker, a few nurses, 110 beds and 17 rooms. There is a wait list with about 150-250 people on it. They offer everything that the residents need. Such as social, food, psychology, and medical needs. The one thing that they cannot provide is, “No family love or intimacy.” Many of the clients have no outside contact and 30 of them need permanent care. Patients with severe psychosis are not accepted at the home.

After speaking the nurse Andrea. She seemed to love her job. She has been there for over 8 years. She said there are not many of us but they do what they can. The director said, “we are a small army working for them.” The feeling I got from the director is that he seemed sad, angry and frustrated that they do not receive the money or attention they need. Everyone really seemed to truly care about the residents. And it was definitely not as modern as the U.S. but the level of care seemed to be different. I really got the feeling that these people enjoyed working there. As I wrote before, I was not allowed to take pictures. Outside I did take a picture with the nurse Andrea. Finally, we had a tour of some of the rooms and were able to meet with some of the residents. They did not speak any English and it was kind of sad to see so many of them.

#7 Human Trafficking

Today we went on our first day trip to Tourda. This town was about 30 minutes outside of Cluj. First we went to the Salt Mine. This was really interesting because it used to be a working mine but now most of it was turned into a tourist attraction. I really learned that I have a fear of heights. After the mine we went to Centrul Ratiu Pentru Democratie. While there we learned more specifically about human trafficking which is something I had an interest in. We met with Sarah who is working there within the Peace Corp. There human trafficking support program is called, Footsteps. They currently have 8 victims involved in the program. There focus is mainly on intervention not prevention. This I noticed was common with what we learned at the conference. That more social services need to work on prevention. Within the program they provide education, medical, psychological and vocational activities. The victims are Romanian and were taken to other countries being, “promised a better life.” They told us that the main causes that lead to a person being trafficked is poverty, lack of education, confusion and being tricked. The Ratiu center collaborates with police and prosecutors. Currently roughly 1,048 people are being trafficked in Romania, 400 being minors. As for consequences in Romania it is a 15 year felony. Only 2-3 victims are taking their traffickers to court. They said unfortunately it is rare to press charges against the traffickers. This is because the victim may fall in love with trafficker, live in a still dangerous community or are ashamed. One way the victims get free is they can buy their freedom otherwise it usually happens by raids, police, family report or hot lines.

At the Ratiu center they are currently working on making a plan to build a shelter for the victims. They are partnering with Habitat for Humanity to provide a short term living situation. The goal being to decrease risk of re-victimization. As a whole they are refocusing on survivor assistance and advocacy. Unfortunately, there is no international collaboration for human trafficking.

This was one of my favorite social service agencies that we visited. I think part of it was because I wanted to know the truth about human trafficking in Romania. For example, the media/movies make it appear different. More specifically the movie, “Taken.” A few people joked around with me before I left saying, “Be safe, don’t make me send Liam Neeson after you.” I’d have to admit I was a little worried about standing out as a tourist in Romania. I am sure there is a risk that tourists may get taken but from what we learned at Ratiu most women that are taken are poor and more specifically Roma.

#8 Children Shelter

Today we went to a children shelter which housed children that were from the streets or in the process of being placed within the system. The shelter could hold a max of 12-14 children there ages include 3-18 years old. Some of these children have never attended school before so they try to add some education into their life there. These children are helped to be enrolled in school and can only live there for a limited time. Most of these children are eventually placed with extended family or in a group home. The decision of whether a child is placed in the shelter is determined by the child protection agency. Children are usually placed there because of delinquency, poverty, begging and starvation. This is unlike the U.S. when most children are placed because of abuse. The services they provide include care, housing, education, counseling and support towards independence. As of now they have a total of 10 caregivers, 1 social worker and 3 educators.

As for the atmosphere of the shelter it was very bright and cheery. We were not allowed to take any pictures. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to say hi to the children. The house was not very big but it was clean. There was a boys and girls room with about 5 beds in each. The house was a lot nicer and more homey than I had expected. I realized that I did not know much about the Romania child welfare system after Communism.