Wards of the State
Nachtwey's striking photographs chronicle horrible conditions of poverty and suffering. One specific photo of a naked, emaciated Romanian orphan, huddled on the cold springs of a cot with no mattress tormented me. I could not fathom the suffering that this photo conveyed.
As the mother of a beautiful, healthy, happy son, I felt compelled to learn more about Romania’s intolerable treatment of these innocent children.
I was appalled to learn that this suffering is the direct result of mandates by Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu (who was executed in 1989). Ceausescu required that women have four children — later increased to five — by age 45. His goal was to increase the population of “pure” Romanians and to build a “robot work force” out of the “impure children” (Hungarians, Bulgarians and Gypsies). Because parents of all nationalities could not afford to feed their children during Ceausescu's regime, it became an accepted part of Romanian culture to simply give one's children over to the state-run orphanages.
The Concentration-camp-like conditions occurred because Ceausescu theorized that it was the “Impure” children that ended up as wards of the state, so food, medicine, blankets, clothing and other necessities were not “wasted” on them. Citizens who complained about the treatment of orphans would be imprisoned and their children sent to the same institutions.
Heart of Darkness
“Heart of Darkness,” a Spokane Spokesman-Review special report from October 1996, is a graphic expose of the horrifying conditions of an Orphanage in Targoviste, Romania. Unfortunately, the “Heart of Darkness” website has been Shut down and the articles have been moved.
The report tells the story of 13 American volunteers who visit a Romanian orphanage to make repairs. What they find were 49 starving children aged three to eight, naked. The volunteers had arrived unexpectedly, at which point staff members scrambled to find the children some clothes. They found the orphanage to be a place where not even older children are potty trained; many suffer from chronic diarrhea due to malnutrition and illness. The children do not wear pants, even in the winter. The building has broken windows and often, no heat. Children sleep four-to-a-cot or on the floor, sharing blankets that are soiled, wet with urine and lice-infected.
There is no disinfectant, soap or hot water available in the facility. Illness and infection run rampant. Scabies — the itch mite — torments many of the children. They are under the state's care, but the state does not provide medicine. The younger and weaker children are prey to the older and stronger children, who routinely steal their food. Younger children eat whatever they can — banana peels, crumbs from the lunchroom floor, even other children's vomit.
Making a Difference
Why are orphanage conditions still so horrendous this many years after Ceausescu's death? The answer is that Ceausescu impoverished the nation with an array of grandiose projects and starved his people in order to export food. Economic conditions today in Romania remain stagnant, with over one million adults unemployed and the rest underemployed, making the U.S. equivalent of approximately $30 a month. The Romanian medical system is outdated, with minimal infection controls, needles re-used on patient after patient, and nurses trained only in high school. Many adults and children are treated at clinics for a less serious illness only to become infected with the AIDS virus as a result of treatment. Romania itself has no civic tradition, no model for community activism or volunteerism due to communism and the remnants of Ceausescu's tyranny.
In Romania, the orphanages are simply not a priority. Many Romanians are so poor they resent the attention given to the orphans. There is still widespread prejudice against Gypsies, so many Romanians do not wish to adopt or even help the “gypsy orphans”. Most of the “caregivers” in the orphanages are members of the old Ceausescu regime and don't recognize the need for any change in the system. Even in the cleaner orphanages — the ones with new directors and adequate staffing — there is no bonding with the children, no contact, no holding. Babies are swaddled with a bottle propped in their mouth.
Many children stay in Romanian orphanages and are not adopted because their parents have yet to give them up formally. As long as a parent visits once every six months, the child cannot be considered abandoned. Some parents promise to come back when the children are older, but statistics show only about 10 percent actually do.
Experts say, however, that foreign charitable organizations are making an impact and that the situation is beginning to improve as a result. Your involvement will make a difference. Please visit our website at www.operationhelpchildren.org.
