Servus. . .The bitter bite of winter is bearing its teeth, snapping heart and soul into Romania. "Finally," people are saying, "winter is really here." Winter means the street kids at la gara are going to suffer the most. Their kiosk is carpeted with layers of filthy blankets, clothing, and rags. There is nothing to fend off the wicked wind whipping through the kiosk they call home. Late one night I couldn't resist my curiosity any longer and decided I had to see what was happening at the kiosk. Not surprisingly, the boys had built a small fire. A couple of them stood nearby to warm themselves. The fire's light cast eerie shadows on the concrete walls in back of the kiosk as the others danced with the plastic bags to their faces, inhaling deeply the fumes of chemicals dulling their bodies with a false sense of warmth, while numbing their insides to the pangs of hunger. Driving away, I couldn't help but marvel at the strength these kids must possess to survive the bitter winds and snows of Romania year after year. How do they do it? What keeps them going? I don't know if my questions have any answers.
If I didn't see progress in dealing with these kids day after day, it could become discouraging. But in the past two weeks, miracles have been the order of the day!
We have gotten Gabi off the streets and into the Child Protection Center. A young social worker named Dan is in charge of Gabi's case and we couldn't have asked for a better advocate for him. Plus, Gabi has been admitted into Christiana School for Dropouts. He has to be brought up to fifth grade standards, but at least he's going to be in school and moving forward with his life!
Radu and I had contacted the Child Protection Service about Gabi and after their interview with him, they agreed to take him in with our promise that he had been accepted at Christiana School. Christiana School had promised to take Gabi in only if we found a place for him to live. So for over a month, we played "phone tag" with the people at Child Protection Service. When at last we made contact, the ball began to roll.
We were afraid that Gabi would have to be sent back to his home county of Hunedora. Gabi had already been through the "system" in Hunedora and his records showed that he was a runaway from the programs there. The woman interviewing him at Child Protection Service in Cluj stressed to Gabi that this would be a final chance for him to crawl out of the streets and make something out of his life.
Gabi was hesitant to go into the center because the kids on the streets consider the center to be a prison. I can't say I blamed him because in 1997, I went inside the center and it was bleak to say the least. There wasn't much to do, boredom would set in and many of the children ended up running away. Realizing though that this was a last chance for him, Gabi finally agreed to go into the center as long as he could go to Christiana School.
Next, Dan was assigned to Gabi's case and he too stressed the importance of Gabi becoming busy and involved with school. Dan is new there but ready to go up against this government run center to keep the kids active both mentally and physically. He actually wants the center to be a place where the street kids will desire to come. He has some wonderfully progressive ideas for the Child Protection Center. He wants to get some good programs going for the kids, weight lifting, sports, etc. Right now, the only "programs" the kids have to occupy themselves is a TV and puzzles. Dan told us, "TV and puzzles aren't programs. These children need physical activities and school."
Dan also told Radu, Ole and me that he was going to "work the system" to keep Gabi in Cluj and that he needed to go to school. He even gave us permission to come and take Gabi out of the center any time we wanted so we could take him to the go-carts, to have a pizza with us and go to movies. What I really want to do with Gabi is to take him with us to feed the kids at la gara! My vision, come true! Granted, in miniscule, but still my vision! A street kid, turning around and helping other street kids!
And, as for getting Gabi up to 5th grade level, Doris, the young girl who loves the street kids and works so hard with me, is willing to tutor Gabi during Christmas break!
Gabi's venture has been a series of minor miracles to bring about this major miracle in his young life. Thank you for all your prayers!
A wheelchair, another miracle! It all started when I was here for a month in the spring. Csaby, the young, homeless man with a degenerative muscle condition, kept asking me for a new wheelchair. I told him I would "see" what I could do.
Since arriving here in September, Csaby continued asking about a new wheelchair. I'm certain I'm not the first, nor the last person Csaby has asked for help in obtaining a new wheelchair. The one he has is about two years old and its condition is pitiful. The last time he asked me about getting him a new chair was nearly two weeks ago. He was on the filthy sidewalk in front of the kiosk. His twisted body was layered in even filthier clothes. Csaby's soft blue eyes were looking up at me and his snaggle-toothed grin was asking me, no, begging me to at least get a tube for the front wheel on his wheelchair. How does anyone say, "No" to that? Thus began the saga of getting a brand new wheelchair for Csaby.
Csaby told us which hospital to go to and purchase a new tube. Radu, Mark and I drove to the hospital the next day, not knowing what to expect. We approached the large, gray, 7 story, cement building. There was no information station, no directory on a wall, nothing whatsoever to direct us to where we could possibly find a tube for the front wheel of Csaby's wheelchair. We were finally directed to go one floor below and this only lead us to a maze of hallways and doors with no signs. At last we found the room we were looking for.
We knocked on the door, cautiously opened it and came into a room where there was a young man sanding on a wooden leg. Quite a greeting! We told him about our quest and he pointed to another door. At last we were face-to-face with a woman who at first appeared stiff and business-like. Radu began to explain our plight and aboutCsaby being homeless and on the streets, and how he needed a tube for one of the wheels on the front of his chair. All of a sudden, her whole demeanor changed and she softened dramatically. Her eyes seemed to be taking in every word Radu was telling her and she genuinely desired to help us.
She then explained that all we needed to do was to get Csaby's "bulletin" (ID), make a copy of that, purchase insurance for him for a period of one month, and we could have a brand new, 5,000,000 lei (about $200) wheelchair in less than a week!
I thought there had to be some "catch 22" to this scenario, but she assured us that it would be no problem once all the papers were put together, she would "walk" everything through for us and we would indeed have a new wheelchair for Csaby. The only "catch" was that Csaby's bulletin had to be from Cluj County.
Need I tell you how elated we were? We nearly floated back to the car. We immediately went to look for Csaby at la gara, but he wasn't there. No problem, he'd be there that evening when we were scheduled to feed the kids at the train station.
When we arrived later with the food, we could scarcely contain our excitement as we told Csaby about the possibility of getting him a new chair. "Do you have a bulletin?" Radu asked him.
He reached into a pocket in his flannel shirt and handed the ID to Radu who immediately scanned it for the address. My heart sank as I heard Radu say, "Oh no! His bulletin is for Satu Mare, not Cluj.
"Do any of the street kids have a bulletin for Cluj?" I frantically asked.
The ones that were there shook their heads.
"What in the world are we going to do now?" I nearly wailed.
"Calm down, there are other ways to approach this," Radu said. "First we need to call the woman from the hospital and get her advice."
There was nothing else could we do right then but give the food to the kids and head back to Radu's place and make that call.
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Keep the homeless kids in your prayers as winter sets in. Pray for Gabi these next few months. Pray for Romania as she enters a crucial presidential election.
Cu mult drag. . .
(With much love. . .)
Zan