The following is written by Anton Osoinach, whom, with his family, works with Hopes for Others in Arad, Romania. Anton and his family, due to their day-to-day interaction with the people, have an insight to the needs there that most of us never know:
Laws have changed in Romania:
In January 2005 the laws changed, and in theory people are not allowed to abandon or surrender their children under 2 years of age to the state. The fact that some people still do not want to (or simply cannot) care for their children has caused there to be an ever-changing number of children in the hospital, where they can stay without being considered wards of the state. Some have been truly abandoned, and the state tries to find foster parent for these children. Others are in the hospital alone because their parent cannot stay with them because they have no one to stay with other children at home.
Help is needed:
Whatever the particular situation is with each child, there is a need for more workers in the hospital to help with changing, feeding, holding and stimulating the babies so that they do not stay in their beds all day. At this time, there is an open door for volunteers to come and help with children. At times, there have been as many as 15 short-term volunteers. To be truthful, that is too many and thus creates more problems than it helps. But there is a need for three to four people each day.
Currently there are two types of workers needed:
There is a need for nurses that would actually work for the hospital staff. Unfortunately, the hospital does not have the funds to pay them. Should you care to be a part of this, the cost would be approximately $300 per month to hire someone fulltime.
The other option where you can help is by assisting volunteers. There are those – normally high school or college students – that would like to volunteer, but do not have the money to receive the medical testing required before becoming a volunteer. Several medical tests are necessary in order to be sure that the volunteer does not expose the children to anything contagious. Should you care to be a part of helping Romanians be able to be a volunteer, the cost would be approximately $20 for the one-time medical testing.