White Cross Mission
http://www.whitecross.org.uk/background.shtml
In 1997, I travelled to the Romanian towns of Remeti and Bratca, in the Province of Cluj-Napocal, with the White Cross Misssion. Our aim was to visit the orphanages of the two towns, and provide 'musical therapy' for the orphans we were to meet. We spent only two weeks between Remeti and Bratca, coming into contact with hundreds of children, and left with eyes wide open.
The word 'orphanage' is not used here in its correct sense. Remeti and Bratca are just two of the countless 'orphanages' which litter Romania . They stem from the days of Nikolai Ceaucescu: the Communist dictator who ruled the country during the age of the Iron Curtain. At his behest, these lifeless buildings were erected all over Romania, and into them were thrown the 'orphans' - those who did not fit Ceaucescu's ideal for his master race. Hence, children both with and without parents were labelled under the blanket term 'orphan'.
The phrase 'musical therapy' was also another blatant façade. Each year, the White Cross Mission would take groups of Cornish folk-musicians to Remeti and Bratca in order to play music to the orphans. At the time, I was gigging with a folk-band (attempting to make a living out of ripping-off The Levellers), and we were lucky enough to be invited along on the 1997 excursion. So we gigged for six months, putting all the money towards the trip which we received from the happy landlords and from the colourful washing-up bowl we would surreptitiously place in front of the PA, and finally raised enough to leave for Romania in August.
On our arrival in Remeti, we set up camp opposite the orphanage and headed straight through the imposing iron railings (no-one comes in; no-one gets out) to be introduced to the orphans. The three nurses (the only attendants for the 150 children) met us on the steps, and informed us that they were about to open the doors. I heard one of the volunteers who had come the year before mutter that we should brace ourselves.
The doors opened. One hundred and fifty children flooded down the steps and launched themselves at us. Within a minute, each volunteer had at least three children delightedly hanging off them. We were swamped. I seem to recall one clinging to my leg, another wrapped around my neck, and a third joyfully swinging from my right nipple. We played with the children for the rest of the day - no chance for the 'musical therapy'.
The next day we returned with our instruments. After the obligatory preliminary rush, we managed to calm the children down and get them sitting quietly while we played. Not two minutes later, our guitars, violins, didgeridoos and drums were ripped from our hands and the children launched themselves at us again. They didn't want music; they just wanted some much-needed attention. And so, for the next two weeks, we gave them as much as we could.
The neglect of these so-called orphans was overwhelming. While a lot were happy and vivacious (indeed, were just children), some were entirely cut off from our attention and, no matter how hard we tried, would simply sit, vacantly rocking back and forth as flies circled them. All were dangerously malnourished, underdeveloped (the sixteen year olds looked about eleven) and poorly clothed. In the "baby's ward" in Bratca, the state of the younger orphans was horrific. One nine year old girl who was deaf and blind was simply left in her cot all day and night. Without exercise, her arms and legs had withered away to almost nothing, and she was completely incapable of moving herself.
Of course, since 1997, a lot has changed, and changed for the better. The two orphanages themselves have now been turned into Centres for the Recuperation and Rehabilitation for Children with Handicaps. Remeti is now properly furnished and equipped with living-units and work rooms, and even has a room where visiting parents can stay overnight. In Bratca, a new Director has taken over who has succeeded in employing a number of extra qualified staff, among them a physiotherapist and a speech therapist.
The Centres are now in the care of the Department for the Protection of Children's Rights, with whom the White Cross Mission has not been invited to work. Through the Department, the Romanian government have decided to begin closing the institutions. Many children are being returned to their own or foster families, or, at least, back to the villages where they were either born or abandoned.
Of course, among these children, a large percentage are still much too traumatised from their time in the orphanages to allow successful re-integration into Romanian society. Hence, the White Cross Mission bought five farm homes near to the old orphanages and opened them up as permanent residences for those children who needed them. These homes not only provide accommodation, but also employment for their inhabitants. The children work the farms themselves and exist – to some extent – on what they themselves produce. Up until now, four of these homes have had official sponsors. Now, however, the One Percent Scheme has become the official sponsor for the fifth: Casa Sfintul Nicolae (The House of Saint Nicholas), which sits in the village of Suncuius in west Romania.
Every donation we make to the White Cross Mission will go directly
towards Casa Saint Nicholas. Through this amazing opportunity,
we will be able to know – and, more importantly, see –
exactly where our contributions are going, and to what use they
are being put. While the orphans do succeed in providing for themselves,
the farm home would not be possible without the monetary support
of an external party. As that external party, we will be able
to put our money towards necessary farming equipment, repairs,
food and the wages for the staff who care for the children.
Above all, it is delightful to simply know that our money is helping
Ramona Kallai, Elemer Orgovan, Claudia Varga, Gabor Lakatos, Eva
Zambor, Adam Erdai and Cornelia Lacatos live the most fulfilling
lives they can.
Ross Dickinson - March, 2004