We took some of the babies outside again today. They let one of the little boys go that they wouldn’t let me take out yesterday. I finally learned that his name is Alexi. I've just been calling him "Little Maimuţă" because he hangs like a monkey with one arm from the crib bars and is always moving. They wheeled him out in his seat, and I took him out to let him move around. He’s never held by anyone, because he is so squirmy and hard to hold onto. He also doesn’t like to interact. I think he has pretty severe attachment disorder. I also discovered that is almost completely blind. He only has one eye that can kind of see and he kept holding my hand up really close to his face to see it.
I took him out of his seat, and carried him around outside, having him feel the texture of leaves and bark. After a while, one of the orphanage workers told me to put him back in his seat and said, “He is blind. He can’t see.” I couldn’t see how being blind was reason for him not to be able to play. He needs to be able to explore the things around him, but I obeyed the worker’s wishes and put him back.
Even though Alexi couldn’t be outside his seat, I wanted to interact with him some and let him know that someone was there. I noticed Alexi hunches far forward whenever he is in his seat and rocks himself really hard. I tried placing my hand on his cheek and allowed him to rest his head on it. Then I started lightly rocking his head in my hands and would pat his head lightly every few minutes. I couldn’t believe how well he responded to this. He started rocking with me and even placed his hands over mine on his head. When I stopped, he put his own hands where mine had been and tried rocking himself. Then he felt around and found my hands and placed them back on his face. I rocked with him for about ten to fifteen minutes and loved every minute of it. I am so excited that I found a way to connect with this little boy.
After carting some of the babies back inside, I took Alexi out of his stroller and rocked him a little longer before putting him in his bed. While he was rocking, he kicked his foot out and accidentally knocked over a baby bottle that a worker had set next between us. She was feeding one of the infants next to us. The worker got really annoyed and acting brashly, she raised her hand up to hit Alexi really hard. Luckily she stopped her hand right before touching him, but probably would have, had I not quickly made light of the situation and laughed and said, “Opa!” (which means “oops”). I don’t know what I would’ve done had she smacked him, but I know it would’ve been hard to just sit there.
It’s only taken a couple of days to discover a distressing truth about the orphanage here. It has become more than apparent that the workers have their few favorite children that they hold and love and devout all their time and attention to. Ironically enough, these few children happen to be the youngest, and most adorable infants in Isolation and have no mental or physical impairments. There are about four babies that have won this sort of affection with the workers. The other children are completely ignored, never held, and never talked to. They are only given attention long enough to be quickly fed and changed. The workers also handle these children differently. They are not carried and held delicately like the adored ones, but are sometimes grabbed by a single arm and are jerked around violently. Yesterday, I even saw a worker fling one of the severely handicapped girls into her crib by one arm. It made me so angry.
It’s no wonder there are so many non-functioning children. They are never nurtured and held. It was a sad realization for me today, knowing that if it weren’t for the BYU volunteers, some of these children would never leave their beds at all. It’s hard with only three hours to get to every child, but it’s so critical that they all get out at least once to be held and their muscles moved around. I look at Cristi and David and want to cry. Their limbs have completely deformed and their backs feel as stiff as boards, because no one bothered to give them the time. The damage has already been done to these two, but there are so many others who await the same fate if something does not change.
I met two more amazing patients at the hospital today. There are so many incredibly strong children I come across. It just blows me away. We went to visit with a boy a few doors down from Marios and Fluorine who has been hanging out in halls and waiting for the American girls to come see him to. His name is Alex and is ten years old. He is the sweetest boy and has the most beautiful bright blue eyes. He is having some problems with his lungs. We talked with him and drew pictures. We also met another boy staying in the same room named Andrei who is seventeen. Andrei speaks English very well and was able to inform us of Alex’s situation. He said Alex is very sad a lot, because his mother recently abandoned him. He had siblings and everything, but because of money or whatever reason, she left him and never came back. Alex lives with only his dad, who works and lives very far from the hospital where he has been staying and doesn’t come to visit.
Alex (playing Alisa's DS)Andre’s situation is a little sad as well, but I was very impressed by his maturity and for looking out for Alex, even while he is the hospital himself. Andre’s appendix recently exploded and he had to have it removed. He just had the surgery three days ago and was very weak when we were visiting with him. Andre’s parents both live in Italy, because they were able to find better jobs there, while Andre lives with his aunt and uncle in Romania. He does very well in school and wants to finish high school in Romania really bad. His family wants him to move to Italy to live with them though. I was touched when he said, “I don’t want to go to Italy and leave Romania, but I have to stick with my family through hard times.”
AndreTonight, we walked to the Villa to be set apart for our callings. Elder Meilkie laid his hands on my head and gave me a blessing while setting me apart. He said that my family members are always praying for me and for my health and safety and to trust in their prayers. He also mentioned my ability to be an example to the ward members here, particularly the young, and the other interns as well.
