From Jurnalul National May 29, 2006

By Adriana Popescu, Ionela Gavriliu 2nd Installment

Second half of Atrophied Adolescents

ISOLATION UNIT

"Isolation Unit" is what is written on a plaque mounted above the door of the last room. It is here that children with severe disabilities are kept. There are seven of them now. Not one of them is a paraplegic or affected by some form of muscular dystrophy. Six of the seven are in cribs with metal bars, but white sheets are hung around the crib to camouflage the bars. When they see us they begin to make a lot of noise. Mamaia is a 20 year old girl who is the most recent arrival here and is also the most agitated. We were told, "She has not yet become used to this place." Next to her is Bogdan. He is 16 years old and his skin is transparent. He reaches toward you with long and translucent fingers and he smiles. Also in the room is a 14 year old girl named Princesa; she looks to be about 4 years of age. She is dressed in a white blouse made of lace. She doesn't weigh even 30 pounds. Next to her is a 13 year old girl Narcisa. She is lying in a twisted position across the bed. Her spine is at a 30 degree angle to the mattress and her legs are straddling the bars of the crib. "That's how she likes to sleep," said one caregiver. However, after a few minutes another caregiver gave us a different explanation, "If we put her another way, she hits herself on the bed and injures herself." On the right side of her face near her temple are bruises from where she recently hit herself, but now in the area of her head are numerous pillows. The muscles of all the children are atrophied. The director told us that, "We have a fulltime physical therapist." The fact is that this physical therapist is a nurse who is on two years leave of absence from her job because she had a baby and is staying home to raise him.

PLANS

Children never leave this isolation unit. The director of the center maintains otherwise, but when we asked him to show us the wheelchairs with which these children are taken outside he forgets to answer. However, later he did say, "We will soon receive 7 of them from Odobesti." Once children have entered the doors of this institution, they will never again leave the center except on their way to the cemetery. Several years ago, a child in this unit died and was buried in the village cemetery, due to the kindness of the priest.

Local officials are optimistic, however. It was told us that these children will be moved into a center which will be constructed especially for them in Focsani through the sponsorship of the SERA (Solidarite Enfants Roumains Abandonnes) foundation. It's just that the project will take a long time. Ground must be bought and the building constructed. Even in the most optimistic case, this isolation unit in Cotesti will remain occupied till the end of the year.

Also, on the level of 'plans', is the moving of 16 of the children who have mild deficiencies into a building next to the main center. This location has been renovated and has blue tile on the floor and thermopane windows. This is where Mariana and Ramona, for example, will live. However, they have to wait as well. The beds which are supposed to come from Odobesti still aren't finished yet. After a lightening visit on May 11 by Bogdan Panait, head of the National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights and by Toader Ghetu, director of Child Protection Services Vrancea it was determined that, "In a maximum of 5 days, at least 15 children will be moved."

On May 10, the international organization "Mental Disability Rights International" published a report which described the inhuman conditions in which children with disabilities live in Romania. On May 22, a working group constituted at the request of Prime Minister Tariceanu, went about to verify the data from the MDRI report. This group made public their own report which negated the information and image presented by the Americans. However, we will present the situations that we met with in centers from Vrancea, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures and the Buzau. We will omit personal impressions and commentaries. We will allow you to tell your point of view and in the end together we will draw some conclusions.

THE SERA REPORT

The orphanage in Cotesti also appears in the report of the French organization SERA which was published in October of 2005. This document which was not distributed to the media is available at www.carefrance.org .

At this orphanage the French were accompanied by Romeo Postelnicu, the General Secretary of Vrancea county and by Toader Ghetu, director of CPS Vrancea county. At that time, there were 49 children in the center: 24 recuperable, and 25 "severely retarded". The report says, "We began our visit in the section for recuperable children. The children were all in one room, both boys and girls, and they were indistinguishable from one another, reduced to the status of animals. They rocked back and forth, they hit themselves and they howled. Not one of them are schooled. The director Mr. Zisu, excuses the situation because of the lack of personnel. Of the 45 employees of the orphanage, there are only two educators and the psychologist comes only twice a week. The conditions in the orphanage are deplorable. There are 18 beds for 24 children and there are no nightstands. The conditions are even worse in the building where 25 children with severe retardation are housed. There are only 14 beds for them, wood heat and one sink. In a small room at the end of the hall, we found five small beds with metal bars where 7 children were crowded together and some of them who were of larger stature are curled up in fetal position. Both Postelnicu and Ghetu are conscious of the fact that this center needs to be closed. Their proposal for resolving the problem consists in placing the 24 'recuperable' in foster care with 'maternal assistants' and the transfer of the other 25 to the orphanage in Focsani where they are supposed to be put in groups of six in small apartments. These are supposed to be apartments which will serve as day care centers for children with disabilities. Unfortunately, Vrancea county has not included any of this in their budget for 2006, but Postelnicu is not afraid to ask whether we can help financially."

WE HAVE A PERSONNEL CRISIS

After the publication of MDRI's report, the first reaction of state secretary Bodgan Panait from National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights was to say that the data presented by the Americans isn't valid anymore. He said, "We can no longer say that in our country children with disabilities live like in Auschwitz." Panait declared that at the moment Romania's fighting a mentality which believes that children with disabilities should be kept hidden. Thus many children and especially those in rural areas do not have access to different services. He says that the solution is for these children to be kept in rehabilitation centers in the County Seats. With regard to a program for reintegrating children with disabilities, Panait described the construction of a campus costing $480,000 consisting of 3 family type houses and a rehabilitation center. Asked whether he thought it was sufficient for these children to merely have their primary needs met (like food and shelter) Panait replied that this was not sufficient. "But at this moment the institution which I lead is confronted with the crisis of a lack of qualified personnel," he said. According to official statistics, in the Romanian system, there are approximately 4,000 children with disabilities.