Three mornings a week we spend time at the hospital giving love and helping with development and socialization.
During our first month, we focused on getting to know the kids and staff, assessing the needs of the different kids and seeing how we can help most effectively. For the first few weeks we had 5 toddlers. In the baby area there were about 5 babies, now there are 10.
Every child has a different story and reason for being at the hospital. Some families don’t have the conditions to care for their child, and others just choose not to. Some babies were abandoned there at birth or in their first few months, others were brought there because they were sick, and some kids go back and forth between the hospital and home whenever the parents decide.
Sebi is one of the toddlers, and while he is able to speak and communicate, his language is hard to understand at times. He has been at the hospital since he was 5 months old; now he is 2 ½ years old. He is so cute and everyone at the hospital loves him.
Simona is around 4 years old and has been at the hospital for a while as well. She has difficulty speaking, and it is hard to get her to focus or concentrate on anything for any amount of time. Alina has been doing a great job working with Simona to develop some language skills this month. Simona can now say “Mona”, and if she really focuses, she can say her full name.
Daria is younger than Sebi and Simona, and she is such a precious and cute little girl. When we first started going, she was starting to take her first steps. She was persistent, even when she would fall, to get up and keep trying. Daria can now walk alone without help.
This month another girl named Samuela came to the hospital. She is very cute and smart. She understands what you are saying and loves playing with the others, running and doing what the other kids are doing.
There was a little boy named Remus, about 18 months old, who had been at the hospital. He is active and able to connect and focus on you, but he lacks the strength or development to sit up on his own, and he is still eating out of a bottle. We were working with him to develop and gain strength, and using a baby walker he was able to walk. He was so happy and we loved working with him, but recently he was taken by child protective services from the hospital.
Gheorghe is also in the toddler area. While he is 2, he is unable to walk and has some other problems. However, when someone talks to him he connects and smiles and laughs. He is precious, and needs love and affection like all of the kids.
Stefan was recently moved from the baby area to the toddler rooms. He has learned to stand alone without help. Now he is exploring the room, and he loves crawling around just to discover something new.
It is so sad to know that these children are not receiving love from a parent every day. We are blessed with this amazing opportunity to love on each of them and help them with development during our mornings there. Pray that these children would be blessed and that they would experience the love of God.
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