2010 Day 6

Larisa and a pumpkin!

Today was our last full day with the girls so we made sure to spend time with groups that we hadn’t gotten to before. We started with group 1 who are a really quiet group. All of these girls are in wheelchairs and have several disorders. They also have a range of different intellectual disabilities and don’t really interact a whole lot. Rodica is one of the girls in this group (I wrote about Rodica last year, on day 3). She was really sick earlier in the year and developed a condition where her skin was literally falling off. She got really bad at one stage and the doctors weren’t sure if she would recover. Thankfully Rodica did recover and was looking fantastic today. She’s loves having her tummy rubbed and even broke out in a few smiles.

Next we went over to the grass at the side of Blocks A & B, where groups 7 and 8 were handing out. All of these girls can move around and fight for your attention. I made a lego house with some of the group 7 girls and did some exercises with group 8 – now that was a lot of fun! The girls were knackered by the end of it.
We then had a quick coffee and gathered up the new toothbrushes that some of the volunteers brought over. Every girl in the orphanage has their own toothbrush with their name on it, in a holder in their bathroom (each group has their own bathroom as well). A good portion of the toothbrushes aren’t in great shape so we replaced them and wrote the girls names on them. Sunday is our day off here so we’re going to buy some more tomorrow to replace the rest. I’ll get a few pictures on Monday before we leave for home.

Birthday party

This afternoon we held a Birthday party for all the girls in group 5. As you can guess, it’s impossible to have a party for each girl on their actual birthday (and for some of the girls, we don’t even know their date of birth as they were abandoned by their families) so during the summer, we hold parties for each group. For the girls who know what’s going on, they love it.
A lot of the girls in group 5 are severely autistic and didn’t really understand the idea of a party. They did however, understand the sweets and cake.  Sveta is one of the ones who knew exactly what was going on. She’s 34 years old, 4 foot and has a disorder which means that she’s never develop as a woman, as well as a range of intellectual disorders. None of that stops her having fun though! During the party she was so excited we thought she was going to burst. She munched down her sweets, biscuits and fizzy drink as fast as she could. When she got her cake she started munching into that too but then grabbed it and started jumping around the place to the music. She was so excited that she just had to get up and dance but she didn’t want anyone taking her cake so that had to go with her too. It was so funny. We were all falling around the place laughing. Sveta got so into the music that she was in danger of dropping the cake so we convinced her to sit down and finish. Watching her dance was the highlight of my day!

The birthday party took us right up to dinner time. A few other volunteers and I treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures tonight – I know, I know, we’re supposed to be working! We convinced ourselves that we’re still doing good by supporting the local economy… I got a manicure and pedicure for 250 lei, which is around €15. Now how could you say no to that?
Night night.

Asea blowing bubbles

Gulea - butter wouldn't melt but she's got a mean right hook!