2010 Day 4

This morning we visited the baby orphanage in Chisinau. There are 87 boys and girls in this institution and they were all smiling and in great form when we went around to the different groups. Unfortunately when we left they weren’t as happy! I made the mistake of picking up one of the kids and although he was beaming for the 10 minutes that I cuddled him, it wasn’t worth it for the tears that followed when I put him down. I should have rememberd from last year but they’re just too gorgeous for their own good!

Angel Number 1

We walked around the orphanage and met a few different groups of kids. They were all beautiful and were delighted with the lollipops and bubbles that we brought with us. There were only three children that I recognised from last year and two of these have illnesses that don’t put them on the top of the adoption list. It sounds terrible but when families are interviewed about the children they’d like to adopt they don’t often answer yes to the questions “Would you accept a child with Down’s Syndrome” or “Would you accept a child with a learning difficulty”.

I think around 80% of the children in the Chisinau orphanage are adopted each year, going to families in Moldova, America, Italy, France, the UK and more… At the moment it isn’t possible for Irish families to adopt Moldovan children. This is for a number of reasons but one of them being the fact that there is no Irish embassy in Moldova. So even after going through all of the red tape and legally adopting a Moldovan child, it’s not currently possible to obtain the right visa without travelling to Romania. And that’s not the easiest thing to organise.

Angel Number 2

After we played with some of the younger children, we brought a group of 5 and 6 year olds to the play ground and pizzeria around the corner. All 11 kids, 1 interpreter, 1 nanny, 3 volunteers and 1 driver piled into a van with 9 seats and we drove to the pizzeria. The others followed in another van and on foot. The 5 minute journey was mayhem but their excitement was infectious and we were as hyper as them by the time we got there.

It was hard to keep up with the kids in the playground. They were running, screaming, sliding, pushing, swinging, chasing, climbing and best of all – laughing! They were so good and so kind as well. I was pushing two of them on the swings for about 10 minutes and when they were finished, they insisted that I get on the swing so that they could push me. They were angels. It must have looked like some sort of child labour with the two 5 year olds pushing me but they were having none of my protests! When the pizza and chips came they ate as much as they could fit into their tiny bodies. At the end they all sat back and stuck out their bellies – full to the brim!

After delivering the kids safely back to the orphanage, we made our way from Chisinau back to Hincesti. On Monday I started writing about the journey from Chisinau airport and gave up after half an hour of struggling coz there was just no way to accurately describe what it was like. Hopefully this attempt will be more successful! Our driver, who is a very nice man, is also the most terrifying demon behind the wheel that I have ever met. To be fair, it’s not just him, it seems to be the driving habits in Moldova.

More Angels with some weirdo

When we left the airport on Monday, it took me a few minutes to figure out what side of the road people drive on here, since he was driving on both sides – as was everyone else. There are nearly no road markings, sometimes there is a white line in the middle but not often. Also it seems customary to beep the horn at people as you over take them, especially if they have been in your way for a few seconds. Speed cameras? No. Speed sign posts? No. Speed limits at all? I think the physical limit of your car is all the limit that is imposed. I’m probably exaggerating, there’s bound to be some sort of limit but I couldn’t work it out! There were several points during the journey that I said my prayers and closed my eyes. Driving to and from Chisinau today was no different but I am very happy to report that we all arrived back to the orphanage safe and sound (but maybe a little shaken!).

This afternoon we were back to normal in the orphanage. We went to group 4A who we affectionately refer to as “the little demons”. They’re some of the cutest girls in the place but also some of the boldest! We seemed to get them on a good day though and suffered no injuries worth reporting. J We brought some of them out for a walk and brought them down to the trampoline. I was nominated as the volunteer jumper and my strategy was to keep jumping and prevent them from getting up at all! It worked too and they were laughing till their sides hurt coz all the jumping was too much. A couple of them were chasing me around the trampoline and they did manage to catch me a few times. When they were all tired out we brought them back to their room at the front of the complex. I’d say they’ll sleep tonight!

Swinging Angels (one of the cheekier ones!) and fellow volunteer, Tim

On the way back to the volunteer quarters we stopped and played with all of the girls that we found on the way. I ended up promising to buy shampoo for three of the girls on Sunday. The girls are so funny… towards the end of the week they all start asking you for presents coz they know that our day off is Sunday and we’ll be shopping. My plan is to play dumb as much as possible, otherwise I’ll have a list as long as my arm! The girls are really clever coz they ask all of the volunteers for presents. Some of the most popular items are photo albums, ear rings, radios, ear phones, batteries, shoes and shampoo. Most of them have these things already though so it’s hard to know whether or not you should buy them at all. And there’s also the issue that apparently some of the nannies take things home with them or convince the girls to ask on their behalf. You can hardly blame them when they see the girls here with nicer things than their own children have. Poverty doesn’t always bring out the best qualities in us.

I have to say though that all the nannies that I have seen treat the girls really well. You might think, well why wouldn’t they? That’s what you’d expect and that’s what they’re getting paid for. But the attitude here wasn’t always the same and it’s down to the work that ORM do. One of the toughest challenges that face most charities is changing attitudes. ORM have done a brilliant job of changing the attitude here in Moldova. If you want to see what it was like before their work started you should try to get hold of a documentary called “Convoy to Moldova”, shown by the BBC and RTE. It’s pretty appalling so if you’re easily upset, then I wouldn’t recommend watching it. Thankfully it’s all changed now.

Tomorrow is another full day so I better get some kip. Night night.

The two Angels who insisted on pushing me on the swing

Lots of Angels