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| On waste ground near Arad railway station about twenty
five people from babies to adults were living in a hollow. Dirty and
shouting they swarmed around us when we asked to photograph them.
I'd never done anything like this before and was afraid the cameras
would be stolen and us beaten. A deal was struck and we bought them
bread & sausage in exchange for photos. A woman brought out a
dirty plastic table cloth, spread it on the ground and everyone stopped
shouting. Then one man stood up and said grace. We spent a magical
afternoon with these people. Laughing, shouting, posing, sharing sweets
with us and trying on our sun glasses. It was heart breaking to leave. |
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The Romanian Revolution began in Timisoara. The first casualties
were children being persued down the Piata Victorie by a group of
Ceaucescu's secret police, the securitate. The children ran to the
cathedral to take refuge but amid the confusion and shouting the
priests had locked the doors. On the wall next to the doors a plaque
now stands in memory of those children whom the securitate shot
on the steps.
In Timisoara we got the knack of finding street kids - you sit
down to eat an apple and they find you! This time we were used to
them and there was no fear in the way. At a road junction we made
friends with a group living in the bushes and drainage pipes beneath
a railway embankment. And more on the Piata Victorie. Grubby 'artful
dodger' characters who could melt your heart in an instant.
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A woman sitting
on a cot next to a battered oxygen tent allowed me to photograph
her child. She told me she believed my pictures would help the hospital
to find more equipment to help other mothers. I asked Dr. Romas,
in English, whether the child would be OK. 'She has cerebral thrombosis.'
She replied 'It is unlikely.'
In Bucharest
we were shown round a paediatric ward & by doctor Roxana Romas
who told us about the new insurance which everyone pays into which
entitles all children to care. Most of the equipment was second
hand and came from western hospitals when they updated older equipment.
A three week old baby girl, found abandoned on the hospital steps
four days before we arrived, had a tube set into her skull for cerebral
drainage. Prior to the new insurance scheme she would have certainly
died unless someone had been found to sponsor the cost of her treatment.
Dr Romas told me her job was both heat breaking and, despite the
lack of money and up to date equipment, fantastically rewarding.
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| In Arad we stayed at Casa Nostra Children's Home for a week and
visited homes in outlying villages as well as in Bucharest. Though
austere by English standards, the homes were warm and well equipped,
the children were clean, healthy and educated. They all had their
own toys which they cherished and put away in their own cupboards
when finished with. Unlike adults, children seldom pretend to like
someone they're uncomfortable around; they cuddled and so obviously
loved the staff who acted as their parents. |
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"These
children are so great. In the face of adversity they just shine
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we really
hope you fall in love with them."
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Left
- piggy back on the streets of Timisoara
Right - piggy back at Casa Nostra Home
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