Day One

Greetings from Romania! My name is Jane and this is my ninth trip with Global Volunteers, all in Romania. This team we are 12 strong. Ages range from 18 to 63 and from all walks of life- laywers, writers, nurses and a student. We also have a fantastic guy on our team, who is keeping us all in stitches! Our teams are mostly made up of women but we really need more men to join us. Working with babies is very manly and fun! It is important for the kids at the clinic to be exposed to both women and men- it is crucial for their development.

Our first day is mostly orientation. We all got to know one another a bit more, set individual and group goals, learned about Global Volunteers policies, had a Romanian language lesson (the other diners at the restaurant where we had our lesson got a kick out of us trying to roll our "r's") and received our room assignments- either the non-mobiles or the mobiles. We also were able to spend time over at the Failure to Thrive/Pediatric Recovery Clinic. I was last here in November 2009 so I was anxious to get over to the clinic and see my kids! This is the first time that I have been here when there hasn't been a team for the three weeks before us and I was surprised at what a difference I saw in the kids. Many of them seemed withdrawn. Caroline, who is a current volunteer and was also on a team last month, said that she noticed regression in some of the kids. If ever I needed reminding what a difference we make, this was it. I may not, specifically, make a difference to these beautiful children but having the continuity of volunteers here does have a huge impact on their lives. Of course, I would like to think that I personally do make a little difference. They sure have all made a difference in my life.