Our first exposure to Romanian orphanages in 1991 led us to understand the difficult conditions. Understaffed and underfunded, the women working in the orphanages had lost hope, themselves. Care was difficult when there was one staff person to care for every 30 children, and there was little money to heat the orphanages.
We were not in a position to change the system, but we did begin a long series of shipments of modern cribs, blankets, warm sleepers, bright decorations, and play equipment (not previously available). We worked with orphanages in Brasov and in Bucharest, and sent teams to those orphanages to assemble and install the donated equipment.
Further, we were able to fund some preschool and kindergarten activities in one of the orphanges in Brasov, to provide at least a minimun amount of stimulus to the little children in the orphanages.
After the reform which moved many children from orphanages to foster care, there still remain facilities for the more serious cases, where help is still needed.