The
first problem we had on the Dudesti trip was on the way to the hospital.
In România, we went over a railway crossing too fast and the
trailer axle broke. We spent the night in the car waiting for the
breakdown truck to arrive from Bucuresti, which took the trailer to the
hospital. The men at the hospital very soon welded it all together.
Dudesti
Hospital is very different to Pátárlagele. It is small and
used mainly for old people with chronic diseases and is in a very poor
condition, as you can see from this picture of the front of the hospital
( this was in February and -20 C).
The
first person we met was a doctor named Jan, who spoke very good English.
He lived at the hospital, which meant that he would be called on in
emergencies, even when he was off duty. Although he reminded me of
Rasputin, he is one of the nicest men I have ever met in România.
It
was dark inside the hospital due to only having light bulbs in all the
rooms. The bulbs just hung down from the ceiling, such as this corridor,
the fire extinguishers have not been checked for many years.
Its
amazing that these hospitals can survive with very little money. As you
can see from the storeroom, the shelves containing very little in the
way of medicine. This was the total stock of drugs they had, this
situation repeating itself in most of the hospitals in România.
You can understand why the doctors get so frustrated when the do not
have the necessary supplies to help the people.
The shower and bathroom were even worse. The plumbing
had broken down and they did not have the money to repair it. The
patients had to go home for a proper wash.
When
Jan showed us the delivery room I realized that all it had was a light
bulb and table, there was no heating. It was nearly -20 in this room.
Because we new of this before we came we had brought along two infra red
heaters, and these were fitted on either side of the room. This allowed
the room to be heated in a matter of minutes.
Many
of the buildings were in a poor state of repair. This is a picture of
the mortuary, not the sort of place you would want to put your relatives
body in until it could be buried. If you do not have enough money for
basic medicines then building repairs take a lower priority.
When
the Trust visits each hospital, we
always stay in what ever rooms the have free. Many of the wards are not
used so we usually stay in one of them. As you can see, this means we
have a chose of several beds to sleep in. Staying in the hospital makes
it easier to keep an eye on the work, and to give a hand when it is
needed. There are always problems to be sorted out, and these can take
ten time longer to solve in România than in England.
When
ever the Trust visits the
dispensaries the car always attracts attention, especially from the
children. You have to keep everything locked out there or things will
disappear. These children outside Ciresu dispensary kept kicking the
tyres of the car to set of the alarm. Once I had given them a Frisbee to
play with they actually looked after my car for me.
The
villages and many small towns do not have mains water, sewage or other
services. Because of this they have to get their water from the well.
You can also find these wells along the side of the roads, used mainly
for giving the horses ( that pull the many carts on the road) a drink.
This well is just outside Ciresu and gave me quiet a fright on night.
When the wind blows across the road, the bucket swings out into the
middle of the road just at windscreen height. Driving late one night I
suddenly discovered the bucket only a few feet in front of me, and I
only just missed it.
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