Characterized
by 12-hour days and long drives as we crisscrossed the
country, the spring trip to Romania (our 13th visit
since 1998) was both exhausting and exhilarating. Interviewing
the directors and social workers who staff the six programs
LIFT supports, Joyce Mitchell and Jennifer Whitney listened
to the impassioned stories behind each child–the
families they never knew, the shameful neglect of officials
who didn’t care, the longing to feel “normal”
in a society that turned its back on more than one hundred
thousand of its own children.
We blinked back tears when Casa Speranta Director Marieta
Drogeanu pointed out the photos of the children who
have been lost to AIDS. Relating small details about
their short lives, Marieta’s voice cracked with
the emotional intensity of any mother who grieves for
a child.
At the Reaching Out shelter for victims of human trafficking,
we were outraged by the story of deceit and greed that
made the sale of human beings a nightmarish reality
for 16-year-old Carmen, recently rescued from Spain.
Carmen was sold for the first time at age 13.
Standing in the former dorm bedroom she shared with
seven other girls in the Sighisoara orphanage, LIFT
foster child Kati Gabor recalled her feelings of despair
and hopelessness through ten years of institutionalization.
We
walked silently through the hospitals and orphanages
as directors pointed out the many
improvements
that have made them better places today. But let’s
be plain–no amount of paint or plumbing or stuffed
animals can turn an institution into a home or an employee
into a mom.
Yet this trip wasn’t really about sadness and
loss. It was a journey of hope through the LIFT-supported
programs that dramatically change lives. The children
with sad histories now live in a world where adults
love and nurture them.
The older youths assisted in the Absolvent (Graduate)
program have left the orphanage and are learning to
engage the world independently. I can say with confidence
that they will never abandon their own children.
Three teenage boys from Casa Speranta proudly led us
through the transitional house LIFT purchased last summer.
They are turning it into a home that will help them
integrate into a society that once hid its HIV+ children
and waited for them to die. But these children didn’t
die–instead, they flourished in the family environment
of Casa Speranta, overcoming the fear and ignorance
that once made them outcasts. They taught the community
a lesson in understanding and tolerance.
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In
the Toy House pre-school, some of LIFT’s youngest
children are well fed and eager to learn and play. Once
at risk of abuse and abandonment, they remain in their
natural families as social workers help their parents
cope with the pressures of unemployment and poverty.
The parent-child bonds have been strengthened.
Young children in the Me & My Family Together program
in Bistrita, many with special needs or developmental
delays, have moved from the orphanage into the care
of foster families trained to help. They enjoy advantages
only a loving family can provide.
This
unforgettable trip helped all of us see the thread linking
the programs sponsored by The LIFT Foundation. At one
end of the spectrum the Toy House preserves and strengthens
families so the cycle of abandonment never starts. At
the opposite end, the Absolvent program turns the oldest
victims of institutionalization into survivors as they
exit nine months of counseling and training with the
skills and confidence to build independent lives.
Producer Joyce Mitchell summed up her feelings.
“As I finished viewing all the videotape and
writing the pieces for KOVR 13 News, I was a little
overwhelmed as I looked back at all the ground we covered
and all that we saw during our trip to Romania. I was
so impressed with the LIFT Foundation programs and the
work they are doing. The need is so immense that I could
see where it could be almost paralyzing. But child by
child, it’s evident that LIFT is committed to
helping and making a difference. It was great to see
that in action.”
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