Servus. . .Finally, I have some quiet time to sit down and get to Virtual Romania. I truly don't quite know where to begin. I've been in Romania since September 15. A young man from our church, Mark Bentley came with me and is staying with my friend and translator, Radu Cristea. Things have fallen into place and I am dealing with and feeding two separate groups of homeless street kids as well as one other boy, Gabi, who is homeless but stays by himself. The reason why he is alone will become quite obvious in this update. If I had to give this installment of Virtual Romania a title, it would be, "I'm Hungry On Sunday Too." I've also been going into Gherla Prison once a week with social workers from the church. More about that later.
The Sunday after arriving in Cluj, I went with some Romanian friends to find the "cave kids." We found a few of them across the street from "la gara" the train station, high as kites from huffing chemicals, but they were also hungry. I went immediately to a nearby store and purchased some "crenvusti" Romanian style hotdogs, "paine" bread, and "suc" juice. I told them I would be back Tuesday, and to meet me around 1:00.
As I was leaving Luci (pronounced Luchi) one of the wilder boys of the group, asked me for 5,000 lei, about 25 cents, telling me that he had to "pay off a debt." I looked deep into his half-drugged eyes and I said, "Luci, I will love you. I will feed you. But I will not support your. . ." and I put my hand in a fist to cover my nose and mouth, simulating "huffing" chemicals. Luci gave me a rather disgusted look, then his eyes turned to pleading. I shook my head "no." He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
On Tuesday Mark, Radu and I found the kids waiting for us just where they said they would be, behind a kiosk selling all sorts of odds and ends across from la gara. It's a busy intersection where Horea Street, a main road, dead-ends at the train station. I jumped out of Radu's car and headed over to them and was immediately surrounded by five or six of the "cave kids." Ani, indistinguishable from the boys with her closely cropped chestnut hair, wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. This little girl who is around 16 years old, needs love and attention. The boys were a little more aloof, but took my hugs and kisses. Radu and Mark brought the food which we began distributing. Hardboiled eggs, four liters of fresh "lapte" milk, "crenvusti", bananas and of course the essential "paine" bread. Gabi, one of the original "cave kids" from my summer here in 1997, was there and looked better than I've ever seen him. His dark, sandy hair had grown out some and his eyes looked a bit less glazed.
Emil who is in his early 20's, came strolling up with a big grin and gave me a hug and the traditional kiss on each cheek. I was rather shocked at Emil's appearance! He looked truly lost. His eyes were glazed and he appeared to be totally "out of it." Such a change had come over him from only a few months ago in April when I first met him.
As we were getting ready to leave, I spotted a short, dark complected boy with jet-black hair striding confidently toward us. He sported the biggest smile I think I've ever seen, and his black Gypsy eyes seemed to dance as he recognized me. Gradually it dawned on me who he was. "Marius?" I asked. "Marius?"
"Da," he said, his grin never diminishing as he hugged me.
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It was so good to see all the kids again, but I was sad to realize that their ranks were growing and they are constantly huffing drugs. There was Csaby, the young man stricken with a degenerative muscle condition, sort of the "mascot" of the street kids. They take turns pushing him around in his beat up, blue wheelchair. He also collects a lot of money by begging in the streets. Iosef was another one I met in the spring. I learned he's Csaby's nephew. He's also a very dark complected Gypsy. Iosef's large, dark eyes droop, giving his face a melancholy demeanor. I also met Florin, an upbeat but unruly boy who has deformed legs that make him look like his body is put together backwards! His knees actually bend backwards instead of forward. I've seen him literally "galloping" on all fours to get across a street. He somehow manages to stand up on his legs but it seems quite awkward for him to posture himself that way. Then there's Tibi, a small boy for 17 years of age, and when he's high on drugs, foul words flow like a river from his mouth. As I get to know these kids, I come to love them for their individuality and believe it or not, for their strength that keeps them alive on these brutal streets year after year.
After a few meetings with the "cave kids" only Marius and another new boy, Gabi, about 15 years old, began showing up for dinner. Gabi Pop is of slight build, brown hair, large brown eyes, and a smile that brings out the sun! He's had 5 years of schooling and speaks some English.
We began feeding Marius and Gabi on an every-other-day basis just as I had in the summer of 1997 with the original "cave kids". Each time we brought food to them at the appointed place and hour, we would hang around and talk with them. I found out that Gabi's mother was in prison. She had had a nervous breakdown over a year ago and killed Gabi's younger brother. She won't be out of prison for 17 more years. His real father is dead, or so he tells us. A sister is with a stepfather, a brother has been adopted, another is in an orphanage, and Gabi is on the streets. One Saturday early on in our relationship, Gabi asked when we would be back to feed them. I told them we'd be back on "Luni" Monday. Gabi looked very thoughtful at this then said, "Zan, mi-e foame si duminica ," I'm hungry on Sunday too. Well, that did it for me! I hit my head with the palm of my hand, "Duh, Zan! Of course they're hungry on Sunday too. What did you think?" So I said, "We'll be back on Duminica too.
I suppose we began centering in on Marius and Gabi because they appeared to be the only ones not on drugs or alcohol, and they didn't seem to like hanging out with the rest of the street kids. The more we were around them, the more I began to realize that both of them, in particular Gabi, had the potential to be pulled out of the streets and could have a bright future. I even took Marius and Gabi to Christiana School for Dropouts, run by the Orthodox Church, for interviews to see if they could be accepted to study there. The counselor spoke with the boys for about an hour and said that Marius and Gabi could both attend the school, but they had to have a place to live. We're still working on that part for Gabi. Marius proved to be a different story altogether!
After working with Marius and Gabi for several weeks, it became quite evident that Gabi was getting the "short end of the stick." It began to dawn on Mark, Radu, Doris and me that something was terribly wrong. We were able to separate Gabi one day from Marius and that's when we learned that Marius was treating Gabi like a "slave". We knew the time had come to help Gabi get away from Marius. But it would also mean that we would be responsible for Gabi's daily existence for a while.
In the process of liberating Gabi entirely from Marius, I nearly caused a mini-riot between Marius and a couple of different translators I had with me at the time. A few days earlier, Marius had made it perfectly clear that he wasn't too pleased with Mihai, one of my translators. We set out around 10:00 one night, trying to find Gabi because we hadn't seen him for nearly two days since he found another place to stay. We scoured the city, and around ll:00 headed for the train station. Hoping we wouldn't find Gabi at la gara with Marius, we got out of the car and began peering through the windows into the waiting room. Nothing. We walked past some other broken windows and all of a sudden I recognized Marius. My heart sank when I realized Gabi was back in his company. I knew we had to get Gabi away from Marius again.
They both came running out to greet us then we went across the street to purchase some food for them. This allowed us to separate the two and quiz Gabi about why he was hanging out once again with Marius. Essentially it was need of money and protection, but he still wanted and needed to get away. Mihai then began walking down the street alone with Gabi. In a flash, Marius was racing down the street after Gabi. I hopped in the car with Doris and we speeded down the road to intercept everyone.
I bolted out of the car toward Gabi and tried to get him into the car but Marius was on one side of the street, threatening Mihai and the rest of us with his knife. Instinctively I knew if Gabi got in the car, things would not get better. By now, it was nearly midnight and we're back on Horea Street, the large one that goes to the train station. I thought for certain that people living in the apartments above the street would surely call the cops because things were getting pretty noisy. I was praying fervently that no one would get hurt. Marius kept lunging and making these threatening motions at us with his knife.
Fortunately I had built a decent sort of relationship with him from 1997 as had Doris, and so I was really glad that she was with me. I crossed the street toward Marius and put my hands out toward him. He backed away. Doris crossed the street too and together we were able to defuse the situation, but it took a lot of talking. I was finally able to put my arms around this 15 year old kid and tell him in Romanian that I was sorry this was happening and that I loved him. I kissed his cheeks and it was then that I knew everything would be ok because he gave me a sign of a little smile.
Since that night, Gabi has stayed away from Marius but for one other major incident. Try to imagine how filthy these street children get simply from living on the streets. They do not have easy access to running water with which to bathe. They don't have washing machines to wash their clothes. Even if they did, most have but one set of clothing that they wear day after day. They do want to be clean however, and consequently ask me to take them to a public shower where for 9,000 lei, about 40 cents, they can get a hot shower. We started doing this with both Gabi and Marius. But once they parted ways, we usually took Gabi once or twice a week for a bath. One day shortly after our midnight incident, Radu, Doris, Mark and I took Gabi for a bath and while he was in there, Radu and I spotted Marius strolling into the showers. Radu became really concerned and went in to find Gabi. It was then that we realized the full extent of the abuse Gabi had been enduring from Marius. Radu overheard Marius threatening Gabi, telling him that he was going to crush his head and cut him to pieces with his knife. He even took money out of Gabi's pockets and told Radu that Gabi "owed" him the money. When Radu and Gabi got to the car, Marius was dogging their heels, demanding to know where we were going and what we were doing with Gabi. Gabi kept looking straight ahead, trying to ignore Marius' threats.
Gabi is a good boy who is caught in circumstances beyond his control. My heart breaks for this boy in particular. For several days, Gabi had been complaining about a tooth hurting. It's no wonder these kids teeth bother them. It's not like they carry a toothbrush and toothpaste with them at all times! Anyway, we found a dentist to take him to. We had gotten him some antibiotics a couple of days earlier because his cheek was swollen and it was obvious an infection was setting in. The dentist took one look at Gabi's tooth and told us that it would have come out. He took it all like a man. But afterward, Gabi was near tears because the pain was so bad! We bought some aspirin for him as well as more antibiotics. Then Radu got the bright idea that he and Mark needed to distract Gabi's mind off the pain and do something fun, so they decided to take him to drive go-carts! I wasn't able to go with them, but the report was that Gabi was absolutely stunned and delighted with this new adventure!
Sadly though, a couple of hours later, Gabi was let off in front of the market where we normally meet him. It was beginning to rain and I imagined him cold and miserable, trying desperately to forget the pain. It's times like this that cause my heart to shatter from the grief of not being able to help anymore than I've been able to. I know what it's like to have a tooth pulled. I do not know what it's like to have to sleep on the streets after having a tooth pulled. Fifteen year old Gabi knows.
Periodically the streets will be swept clean of the homeless kids. I learned that the police will round up the kids, put them on the next train out of Cluj and send them on their way. I think the kids get sort of a thrill out of it and generally they make it back to Cluj the same way they leave. The police are continuously harassing these homeless kids who have no place to go. I know it has to be frustrating for them.
The street kids also become easy prey for perverted adults who are looking for a little pleasure for a little bit of money. Radu and I were feeding the kids at la gara and we noticed a new girl in their group. She was quite slim and looked cute in her jeans, and she had short blond hair. She seemed shy and standoffish. I was handing out bags of food when I also noticed a man who appeared to be around 35 40 years old. He was dressed nicely in a sweater, the shirt underneath was opened at the collar, and he had on nice trousers. I wondered who he might be, and I simply figured that he must have been helping the kids also. We finally got everyone fed and were heading off in the car when I noticed this man going over to the new girl as she was walking away from the group. It was then that Iosef caught my attention. Iosef was indicating with his face and hand gestures that this man was trying to "come on" to the girl. I told Radu what was happening and he brought the car to an abrupt halt and both of us bolted out to get in this man's face!
Radu confronted the man and asked him what he thought he was going to do with the girl. He told this man, "It is illegal for you to have anything to do with minors sexually, and you could get up to 3 years in jail if you do."
The man tried to worm his way out of this confrontation with weak excuses and Radu continued, "I'll be watching you. If you touch this girl I'll see to it that you get caught by the police."
Radu then turned to the girl and introduced himself. He asked her name. "Ioana," she replied. "How old are you?" Radu asked. "Sixteen," she said.
Ioana trotted merrily on her way as we drove off, but not without getting the license number on the man's car. We then drove around the block and returned to where he was standing beside his car. He saw us pass by and hopefully realized that we were serious about turning him in if he so much as touched that girl!
We realize these hardened kids are not angels by any stretch of the imagination, but to have adults victimizing these street kids who are already victims of circumstances far beyond their control is despicable!
I told you in the beginning that I have also been going into Gherla Prison once a week. We're working with 12 boys, some of who have also been homeless and on the streets. But I will save that for next time.
Pray for the street kids. Pray for Romania.
Cu mult drag. . . (With much love. . .)
Zan