The tooth saga goes on. Sunday evening we went to Debrecen , Hungary . It is just across the Romanian border about an hour away. We spent the night and called the dentist the first thing in the morning. He did not answer his phone! We tried every 30 minutes and no answer. We came back to Marghita with no consultation on the tooth. We will try again on Thursday.

 Tomorrow is the big celebration for the 10^th anniversary of Casa Alba. Seems just like yesterday that we moved about 15 or so little kids from that awful wing of the hospital. I wasn’t sure Casa Alba would work, but it did. We now have 17 toddlers and preschoolers, down from a maximum of 25. Soon, some will go to foster families and the numbers will be smaller.

 

Unfortunately, we have seven babies in the hospital. Most are abandoned. According to a recently enacted Romanian law, children under two cannot go to institutions, so once again babies languish in the hospital. It is good that we have an employed caregiver and a volunteer with the babies during most of the daytime hours.

 My job in preparation for the Casa Alba celebration was to find gifts in the FCE depot (warehouse) for 36 kids. We have all the gifts ready and packaged in nice cloth bags. The finishing touches are being put on the Sports Hall for the big gathering. Inger and her friend are coming tonight from Sweden . We have worked with Dr. Inger Bostrom for 16 years. Iorela Karlsson and her adopted son, Gustav, will also be here. Iorela was the first director of Casa Alba and served for six years. Several other old time volunteers have come for the big day. I will send you  pictures in another letter.

 Today was a special day as a new family was formed. We have found a good home for Pamela. Today, Pamela signed the papers that she wants to live with Alina and Ghita (Gheetza) in Abram until she is grown. For the last month, I have been working with Alina and Pamela in their adjustment. This couple has no other children. But, Alina’s mom died when she was very young, just like Pamela’s mom. In the beginning, the placement was very shaky, and I did not think it was going to work out. This is Pamela’s fifth placement and she is a very angry girl. She did not want to live in a village because she thought it would be boring. However, Cireasa and her three sisters live close by, so Pamela has some girls to play with. We met today at the family’s house. I spoke for a while with Pamela about how she is feeling about her family. Since she is over 12 she had to sign some official documents, I explained those to her as did the social assistant, and she willingly signed. Now they are a family of three.

 Fred and I are becoming more involved in the leadership of FCE. For some time there have been leadership positions that have gone unfilled. We will accept those positions until there are others who can replace us. Then, we will gladly pass on the responsibilities to them. These leadership roles are with the volunteers, child sponsorship, and the ministry with the Popesti orphans. I continue to meet with two volunteer foster parents and their kids and we are available to advise Romanian foster parents.

 Soon, we will have five retired persons here. Some have commented that the older volunteers add stability and maturity to the volunteer team. We are 32 volunteers now. And, we also have what seems to be a steady stream of short-time visitors.

 Fred and I are trying to find times when we can just relax, but there is always some child on our minds. We are trying to get medical care for a foster child who is losing the pigmentation in some areas of her skin resulting in several patches that are white.  And, we are looking for surgeons who can correct a 11 year-old boy’s scarred smile, the result of a terrible accident. The injury happened some time ago, but it is really affecting this boy’s view of himself.