Rehab camp

I decided about a month beforehand that I wanted to go to Rehab camp. I asked Florina if she knew anything about it and she half encouraged me, half tried to scare me out of it. The deciding factor that I could handle it was that I wasn't afraid to drink the Bucuresti water. I don't exactly know how that qualified me, but it did. When I got to camp, I found out that the sleeping arrangements were as follows; Four single beds, Ariana (a CTL worker), Marylin (an American volunteer I have spent the last 3 months with), Kitty (Romanian translator, very nice), me, a terribly cute autistic six year old Alexandra, and a terrible spoiled but otherwise completely normal 2 1/2 year old Georgiana. It was very hard to share a room with these kids, cute as they are, but well worth it as two other kids may have not been able to go if we had not. Along with and amble number of caretakers, there was a British team there to put on a program for the kids. This week we were a 'tribe' and we were all broken into little groups named after animals. We made masks like our animals and danced like our animals. At the end of the week, we put it all together and had a big festival. The kids really loved it, but I was even more surprised that it was pulled of, we had no accidents with scissors or plastic bags or the river next door, however we did have quiet a few accidents involving wet pants. It was a draining week, but the highlights of the week were more than worth it. I was sharing a bed with Ariana and Alexandra, I kept my alarm clock under my pillow for lack of a bed stand and also to protect it from cute little six-year-old fingers. There was a faint ticking that could be heard with my head on my pillow. On the first morning, I woke up and Alex was laying there, two inches away from my face, eyes wide open, listening to my pillow. It was hilarious and heart warming. Another highlight was with Georgi. Georgiana had a hole in her heart when she was born. She was sickly and her mother dropped her off at the disabilities orphanage. However, the whole has since healed and Georgi is now a completely normal little girls surrounded by disabled children and the caretakers. She is spoiled rotten as the caretakers never punish her or say no. The adults in our cabin took it upon ourselves to treat Georgi like we would a normal girls her age. We employed "the door". Whenever Georgi misbehaved she would sit at the door for a certain number of ten counts, depending on the severity of her crime and how she behaved at the door. For the first few days, it was very hard. We got spit at, hit, and even shown the finger... yes, the finger from a two year old, never thought I would see the day. But as the week went on, Georgi started to listen to us. We didn't have to take her to the door every time she was told no. She started to behave. We were so happy that our labor wasn't completely in vain. Now Georgi is at the Black Sea with the children and will probably come back as spoiled as before, but she was a normal little girl for a few days, and we have to pray that that will count for something. Georgi is a special little girl and it hurts to hear her story. She is stuck at that orphanage because her mother hasn't signed the papers needed for her to be moved or adopted. She is already picking up really bad habits like rocking and biting herself. I would like everyone who reads this to pray that Georgi's mother would be found and would sign the papers so that she could be adopted by a nice family who would love her and discipline her.

Now because it took me so long to finish this blog, I have another week to catch up on. I went to rehab Monday through Wednesday morning. On Monday afternoon I went straight home. On Tuesday afternoon I went to a park with the younger boys from number seven and on Wednesday I went to Chitila and we watched the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I am so glad that I went to these places. I love Rehab so much, but I had forgotten how much I love those kids too. It was so cute (and frustrating) that after I told them I knew Romanian, they still tried to communicate with gestures and pointing. On Thursday I stayed at the center and helped Mada give English lessons to little kids. In the afternoon, some teenage girls came and we cooked together and I helped an mother of a boy with cerebral palsy create an email address so she could contact a doctor about possible surgery for her son. Friday I went to a pool with some children from the family program. We had a lot of fun trying to teach them to swim! :/ It was also very amusing to get told by one of the employees that I wasn't allowed in the water because I wasn't dressed in a swimsuit. I was wearing board shorts and a tankini top. (P.S. Everyone in Romania and Europe in general wears bikinis... not always a pretty sight). On Saturday I went to Rehab and said my goodbyes to the children who were there. They don't get back from the Sea until Monday afternoon, so I won't get to see them. It was really hard to walk down those steps for the last time for a long while. I feel so needed there. I know that this isn't my last trip in Romania. I want to come back here in two years for another summer and then for a long stay after college. Whatever God's will is, I pray He will make it known. But for now, I am leaving Romania on Tuesday in the early morning, and it is hard.

A New Routine

I haven't blogged in a while, but I will catch up on everything, I promise. In the week after camp, CTL/Inimi Deschise helped to put on an autism seminar. Some people from California came and provided the information and I helped some staff with the refreshments and clean up. It was great that there was this opportunity because nothing like this has been done in Romania before and it was offered free to parents and specialists. They were desperate for help and we got many expressions of relief and thanks from them. The need for my help ended on Wednesday and so I went to Rehab on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was a free day so I cleaned up and had fun with Kelly who left on Monday. On Monday and Tuesday, the staff that is here got the lovely job of unpacking the tubs from camp and cleaning the whole ministry center from top to bottom. It was a bit of an ordeal and every bit as tiring as working at an orphanage. On Wednesday I helped Mada and Fibia take eight girls from Chitila to the Herestrau Park. The girls really enjoyed it and had been looking forward to it for some time. We brought sandwiches and after lunch and some playtime, we went on a big boat that travels all around the lake. The lady at the ticket counter let all of us go on for free because we were from Inimi Deschise. After the boat ride, a friend of Fibia's gave us money to buy everyone ice cream. It was a great day and it was easy to see that the girls enjoyed it. On Thursday and Friday I went to Rehab. 

I got some bad news on Friday. I found out that a boy named David who I have been working with is in the hospital. David has cerebral palsy and he started having seizures earlier in the week. He was in a coma for three days. I went to visit him yesterday (Saturday the ninth) with a fellow intern Marilyn and he did not look good. He seemed even skinnier than usual, if that is possible. He also had oxygen and an IV as well as a feeding tube. His grandmother came to visit and it was really hard for her to see him like that. He had been doing so well the day before. I went to visit him again before church today and he was of the IV and when he woke up we could see that he knew us and was feeling better. I hope everyone will remember David in their prayers, that he would fully recover and go back to the center doing even better that when he left.

That is how the last few weeks have gone I am doing well and Kelly took a little video of me so everyone at church could hear from me.

After camp

What a week! The entire staff left on Saturday morning after we packed all of the tubs into a van, not as easy as it sounds... We drove about 2 and a half hours to an area of Romania right by the Danube River and about 10 minutes away from Bulgaria. We spent to rest of the day unpacking and playing around with each other. At one point I think all of the interns were with Alex in the kiddie pool, soaking wet. That was fun.
The kids arrived the next day and we greeted them with staff members dressed as Spider man, Superman, and Snow White. The little kids were so funny when their buss drove up, they were waving and they all had their mouths open when they saw the characters.
The next day began the clinics. I helped with painting, arts and crafts, and English. I was mostly a fetch and carry person except in English. Florina was in charge of English and in the group were two girls who speak better English that I do Romanian and one boy who spoke almost no English. We took turns translating eachothers' sentences and it was actually quite fun. I found out near the end of camp that this boy wants to continue English lessons. This is so surprising because, according to the staff Gabe was very much so a handful last year and the fact that is sat down and studied when everyone else was playing soccer really shows that he has matured and really wants to learn English. I really hope that this doesn't stop after camp.
After the clinics was lunch then free time (also known as nap time) at around 4 or 5, depending on how hot it was there was a camp game. Everyone who wasn't helping was with their devotion group, so I got to spend time with the older girls. At first it was hard and a little awkward because even though I could understand what they were saying, no one would slow down long enough for me to respond. I got better, though, as I had some one on one time with the girls and we got to know each other better. After dinner was devotions and a movie. Sometimes I stayed up and watched it, sometimes not.
At the beginning of each day was chapel and I played the keyboard while Fibia and her husband Andrei sang and played the guitar. After singing there was a skit. The interns had prepared two mimes to music and the staff had done three or four more. They all went really well (thank you Bakersfield team for letting us steal your skits!) In one of the mimes, I was Satan. As everyone knows I enjoy playing the villain and perhaps I enjoyed it a little to much because I was called a " fata rau" (bad/evil girl) and the devil for the rest of the day.
So all in all, I think that camp was a good experience and I hope that those kids took it home with them.

Long week

It has been a while since my last post, but it has been a busy week without a lot of free-time at the ministry center. Last week, we started ministry on Tuesday and spent our afternoons at the office. We cleaned and organized and packed for camp. It was far more exhausting that spending time with kids would have been. I never want to see another plastic tub in my life. After we finished cleaning, the interns have been working on skits that we will do for the kids at camp, they are both mimes to Christian songs and they have been a lot of fun to learn. In one of the skits I get to play Satan. I know... it is a little odd, but I have to say I enjoy it a lot.
This week there were a lot of new arrivals. Kelly came from Turkey to here. She is originally from North Carolina but has been studying in Turkey for 2 months and wanted to spend the rest of her summer here. A married couple, Meg and Lane are here for a short time. Meg was an intern a few years ago and wanted to come back and visit. We also got a lady named Carol from California who came to work with Rehab. She works with autistic children in the states an I am excited to learn new things from her. On that note, if things continue, I will probably be going to Rehab camp at the end of August. I am excited and nervous, I will be helping to feed and bathe the kids as well as sleep in the same room as them. It will be quite a challenge and I will need a lot of prayer. Camp for the kids is next week and I will need a lot of prayer for this too. I will be spending most of my time with the 16-18 year old girls. I found out today that there will be six of them and four of them don't want to go to camp. I pray that I will be able to connect with them despite the language barrier and that God will soften their hearts so that they will open up to what they hear and see there.
It has not been all work and no play here. On Saturday, we went to Obor were there is a giant swap meet-ish group of stores. It was fun to see the Romanian way to shop and I bought a few things to take home. On Monday, the interns took a trip to Brasov. It is a beautiful historic city and we saw the Biserca Negru (Black Church) as well as the Castel Braun which was built in the 1300's I think. It was great to get away and spend time with the interns and get to know them better... a lot better. The rest of this week, we will spend preparing for camp some more and getting as much rest as possible.

A week with the Bakersfield Team

This has been a great (if tiring) week. The team from Bakersfield came with five football players and two coaches to play soccer with the orphanage boys. Every afternoon they would go out to a field and play hard, they would come back to the ministry center exhausted but what an impact. There are pictures of the boys (all of them) tearing up on the last day when they had to say good-bye. It is so important for these boys to see that they can be strong men and love Jesus at the same time. Inimi Deschise really needs more of this influence and it was so refreshing to see. But, the Bakersfield team was not all boys. There were also six (I think) girls and a teacher from BC who came to talk to the girls about beauty on the inside. we would come to the ministry center in the afternoon and make purses and do hair and nails and make-up, then the girls would talk about how even though it is fun to feel pretty on the outside, God cares about what is on the inside and He thinks that we are all beautiful because that is how He made us. I loved taking part in this and I really think that some live were touched , both American and Romanian.

On a personal level, this was a hard week. I got sick on Wednesday and even though I completed the day, I'm afraid I wasn't much use, I felt better physically on Thursday but was faced with an emotional hardship. Kristina was an intern who has been here for a year and she is such a beautiful person. She has a great heart for kids, especially those with disabilities and she has spent almost every morning there for the past year. In only a year, it is so obvious how she has made an impact on those around her and her departure on Thursday was hard even though I have only known her for three weeks. It is a big comfort that she will come back because Inimi Deschise is the perfect place for her to use the gifts God has given her.

So that was my week, some prayer requests would be that preparations for camp would be just what was needed and for the health of everyone on staff. 

la multi ani!

Everyone say Happy Birthday to my mom!!!

New team

This will be a short posting as I have to leave for the Rehab center soon. By the way, I am sorry there have been so few photos of orphanage time but I have been spending a lot of time at Rehab and pictures aren't allowed. This last week was very restful, and we needed it after the Shafter team left. We took a day off for ministry on Wednesday to go to the graduations of Luta and Victor who both graduated with a Sociology degree, it was a big accomplishment for them both and we are all very proud of them. The Bakersfield team arrived on Friday, praise God for safe travel! The boys on the team will be playing soccer with the boys and the girls on the team will be spending time with girls and younger children. I will continues to go to Rehab on Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday in the mornings. It should be an exciting week!

The end of week one (and a half)

I feel so much more settled in now and I am LOVING my time here. It is nice not to be in a fog of jet lag (I almost fell asleep during church last week, I felt like my dad). The Shafter team has been here all week and I really enjoyed getting to know those I didn't know so well. The projects they brought with them were fun too. The girls at Chitila (an all girls orphanage) had a great time doing a dance routine for the music video and so did kids from an apartement who came to the center. I have to say though. My favorite time was at number seven (an older co-ed orphanage with a bit of a crazy reputation). We brought the trampoline and had a center for dying or painting t-shirts. I was in my element of Romanian and I was able to give directions about how and were to put rubberbands on t-shirts and and what color to dye them in. Honestly, I was trying to avoid the dying center as I still have pink fingernails from the t-shirt making at Chitila, but I am so glad that God put me there because my confidence in my speaking abilities must have gone up ten points and I cant wait to try out my language skills again on Monday. I will have language lessons with Florina on Tuesday and Thrusday and a new team is coming on Friday. Everyone has Friday off as a rest day after this team and we might go to Brosauv (I totally spelled that wrong) on Friday or Saturday and on the other day we are going to prepare a meal to hand out to street people. I am looking froward to another great week and I am feeling great! By the way, I downloaded all the pictures I have taken since I have been there and you can see them if you follow the link. I have pictures from the Rehab trip to the park and our Saturday outings to the park at Aviatorilor and to Sanai as well as other random pictures. Enjoy!

Sunday

hey everyone, i have been in Romania for days now and and getting settled in and comfortable. on Friday we went to the Rehab orphanage and I got to hold the little ones and we talked and sang with some of the older ones (all girls). Then we went back to the center to plan for camp in the afternoon. That will be really fun and I am excited about it. Yesterday we went walking around a huge park. It took almost four hours to traverse the whole thing, but it was beautiful and so worth it. The Shafter team arrived safely and I saw them after I got back from the International church today. Sorry there aren't any pictures yet I forgot my USB cord at the apartment so I will try to come and upload them as soon as I can.

Arrival

I am here safe in Romania. It is the end of my first day of ministry. Inimi Deschise helped to put on a kind of party for kids from the summer day cares in Sector 2. If anyone has heard, I had an eventful plane ride. I threw up once on the way to Denver and once on the way to Munich, but I feel better now and have been eating well. I will post some pictures later. Thank you for your prayers.

The day before the plane ride.

I feel so excited right now, (and a little nervous). I turned 18 today and I am doing some last minute errands and packing. everything seems to be falling into place. My duffel bag to carry the keyboard came today and that was a big answer to prayer. I can't wait to get started in Romania and my next post will be from there!

Leaving

I leave for Romania on June 10th, 2008. Keep checking for updates!