Romanian Trip, May 1999.

This trip saw us making a stop-over at Budapest so that the new members of our party could see this beautiful city. The new drivers were Geoff, from the Wirral, Carl from Wigan and Paul from Liverpool. Paul (a professional painter) volunteered when he heard we were off to paint a Hospital for the Mental and Physically handicapped in Brasov.

There was a brief stop-over at our centre in Cluj were we dropped off four Dialysis machines which would be put into working order by Lori, from Cluj City Hospital Renal Dept. Lori had volunteered to join us to work at Brasov and he was made very welcome (he proved to be a very hard worker)

We then made the final run down to Brasov where we met up with the two Marys. Mary MacVeigh, an ex nurse, who sought our help with the hospital and Doctor Mary, who oversees all the medical establishments in the Brasov area.

The two Marys guided us to the hospital which is situated high in the mountains amongst the pine forests. The ski slopes were on the mountain sides opposite and the snow line was not too far above. Although it did snow during our stay and rained, it was mostly hot and sunny, as the lines of washing blowing in the breeze testified!

We booked in at a hotel close by the Hospital at £5 a night B&B! The meals turned out to be excellent. The evening meal 3 courses and included cokes and coffee cost under £2.50. After working at the hospital from 8am to 7pm we 'famished and weary lads' needed a good meal.

That same evening we had a look at what the job was going to entail. The first thing that greeted us was the smell! The place had been neglected for a long time and very overcrowded. To go into details of what the place was like would, we feel be unfair to the newly appointed principle, an ex army Major, who is making an valiant effort to turn things around.

Up to a short time ago there were only two staff on duty at any one time to look after 80 patients. How they even attempted to manage is beyond understanding. The Physically handicapped are mostly leg-less and the mental patients in most cases need close attention. The new principle has taken on more staff, but it was obvious that they need a lot of training to care properly with the range of infirmities.

We started work on one block of the hospital under the control and guidance of Paul our professional painter. Paul set our tasks, taught us the art of 'cutting in' and followed on, rolling all the spaces in-between, (unless he allowed one of us to roll!)

It was like a rabbit warren, 15 rooms, short corridors, long corridors, stair wells, landings, toilets/shower rooms and the staff room. We painted them all, walls and ceilings with emulsion paint and the doors and windows received gloss paint. Those patients that could not be moved were covered with dust sheets and we painted over and around them! The place not only smelt different but looked a lot brighter with blue, green, and pink rooms and magnolia washrooms, but the effect on both staff and patients was noticeable. The patients stopped rocking and the staff were far more cheerful.

When we arrived in the mornings we were greeted by patients eager to show us the bits that we had missed or needed attention, there was no shortage of experts!

We are so grateful to the paint manufacturer who supplied us with eleven 25 litre drums of paint without which we would not have been able to contemplate taking on this job. Our thanks also to the manufacturers who supplied all the paint brushes, rollers and dust sheets, in fact all the items needed to complete the work.

The time passed too quickly and it was obvious that we would have to plan for a longer stay next trip. So sadly we said our farewells to staff and patients and hit the road back toward Cluj via the castle and village of 'Vlad the Impaler' (Count Dracula) where we purchased our souvenirs and presents to take home.

Once back in Cluj we delivered the baby food to the Clinic and indulged ourselves with the cups of Romanian style coffee, thick and sweet presented by Dr Popovitch and her staff.

From there it was back to the 'Oasis' centre for the church meeting. On the Sunday afternoon we set off for home.

The only incident we had on the way home was a stone that instead of being content with lying in the road, decided to take flying lessons, it made a low pass over Jim's van and shattered the sun roof glass. This caused a bit of a hold up while a plastic sheet was taped over the hole left by the departed glass. We are well prepared for this kind of accident, as the other year Ernie lost his van's windscreen due to an aerobatic stone.

We arrived home with the contented feeling that we really had achieved something worth while and hopefully had improved the quality of life for the patients if only by a small amount. We also realise that this hospital will need our attention for at least the next two years.