A trip out - Targa Mures

Cold!

Front garden of the house one morning
Look at the overhanging vines
Can't wait until Spring

Did I mention that it is cold here?  Last week saw the night temperature dip to -22 on one occassion, although during the day it rises to a whopping -14.  Also, plenty of snow to keep things looking fresh and christmassy.  A lot of Christmas decorations are still up - maybe they take them down for Easter? 


By the way, I only figured out the other day that if you click on the images you can get a full sized version.  Therefore I will only embed the smaller sized images.

A street in Tarnaveni - even the sun
looks cold

The cold is very different to that in England.  More pleasant in a strange sort of way.  You don't get chilled to the bone - its more a sharp pain.  Absolutely necessary to wear hats and gloves etc as well as a thick coat.


A trip out

A Romanian train at Tarnaveni station
more interesting than a picture of
a coach

Myself Kiki and Corina (see previous blog for details of who all these people are) decided to take a trip out to Targa Mures (I think there should be a diacritic on the last 's', but I can't figure out how to do it) which is the nearest large town.  One hour on the coach (12 Lei - about 2.40 pounds).  Very foggy.  I was slightly slightly concerned that we couldn't see anything out of the driver's window, but he seemed happy enough; and we got there safe and sound. 

A rare shot of Kiki and Corina not
shopping in Targa Mures.

The central bus station is quite a walk from the centre.  There is a modern Shopping Mall just off the centre of town and loads of shops in the town itself.  However much I had prepared myself for Romania, I hadn't prepared myself for the sheer agony of clothes shopping with Kiki and Corina.  I swear that time actually stood still at one point.  Anyway they enjoyed it. 

Not a bear cage.
Female public toilet Targa Mures

Targa Mures also has a massive supermarket which we visited just before returning. 


It is a lovely town which is well worth a further visit.  I might just give the shopping a miss next time though.

This is self explanatory

National Theatre
South Bank

People


We are starting to get to know the patients in the club a bit better now.  We also notice the difference when we see them heavily medicated.  This can be very upsetting when you have a really good session with someone one day and they are full of beans and enthusiastic about an activity.  Next time their eyes are half closed and conversation is very thin.

Several Churches - Targa Mures

We are also starting to realise what a huge spread of patients and conditions there are in the hospital.  We have a mixture of patients with Learning Disabilities (Difficulties, Differences), Attachment Disorders, Depression, Bi-Polar, Psychosis, Alchoholism, Epilepsy, effects of physical head trauma and Autism etc etc.  There are also a number of people who seem to have no underlying conditions at all.  They all suffer from the effects of an institutionalised based hospital system that is very medicalised in its approach to 'Mental Health'. 

Romanian buildings
Targa Mures

One thing patients all have in common is that they don't really have any ownership of their own lives.  A small, but important example.  At one men's session,we noticed that all the men had had their hair cut.  Now,maybe its the fashion and they all decided to get an ultra short crew cut; but somehow I doubt it.


We have a regular weekly meeting with the head nurses in each of the wards.  They were interested to know how we felt about the patients after having now worked in the club for a few weeks.  Without hesitation, both Kiki and myself said that they were lovely and that we really enjoyed the sessions in the club.

Romanian buildings
Targa Mures
(spot the difference?)

Although I moaned a bit about the shopping expidition earlier, there is a parallel.  Romanian women tend to devote a lot of care and attention on their appearanch; clothes and makeup.  It is such a huge contrast with the women patients in the hospital.  For many of them the hour in the club is the only chance they get to spend any time on their appearance.  Hospital clothes could best be described as shabby.  Their therapeutic space is to get a fresh coat of nail varnish and sometimes sometimes some lipstick.  I am sure that any one of them would love to spend some time clothes shopping in Targa Mures - makes me feel quite guilty about winging so much about my own shopping experience.


Assorted

No idea what this means

The 'rabbit man'(see previous blog) turned up at the house - I think he might have had a few sherries.  I also think that we had forgotten to tell Corina about him.  She rushed in extremely concerned saying that there was a strange drunk man in the garden waggling his fingers over his head and asking where the 'Americans' were.  I think she was even more concerned (and confused) when Kiki and myself simply commented, 'Oh, that's OK its just the rabbit man'.  - Rabbits are doing fine by the way.


By the way.  I am begining to absolutely fall in love with this country and the people.


Pe Curand


Paul

Settling in

Erratum


Whoops, sorry.  I gave completely the wrong address for the charity website in the previous post.  I have now corrected it.  It should be;
www.vfmh.org.uk
Also, sorry about all the spelling mistakes.  My spell checker has switched to Romanian which is not terribly useful.  Also, the formatting seems to have gone a bit strange this week.  No idea why, but the more I try and fix it, the worse it gets.
Snow

Romanian snow

Now that the heating in the house is working we can enjoy the weather a bit more.  The snow in Romania must be very different from that in England as it doesn't stop everything dead in its tracks.  It looks and feels just the same - Quite a mystery.


We took the shortcut walk into town which involves crossing a rather iffy bridge.  Its actually a narrow railway bridge over a river with just enough room at the side to walk across.  Because it was snowing, we assumed that no trains could possibly be running.  Mistake - we have a lot to learn about Romania. 

The path into town

You can really tell that you are in valley. The hills surround you on all sides.  Hopefully we will get out and about a bit and explore some of the surrounding countryside.

The Railway / Footbridge

'Health and Safety Gone Mad' is not a phrase that has reached Romania yet.  Long may it continue.  People just seem to get on with things. 

Look over the right shoulder of the chap in front
you can just see the train coming (whoops)

Actually the bridge is not as safe as it looks.  The pedestrian bit is only really designed for maintenance people to stand on.  It is made up of lots of seperate metal plates.  Some are missing and have been replaced by wood - the snow made it difficult to see what was safe and what wasn't.

It may only be doing 10mph, but at least its is still moving
in the snow.  Eat your heart out South Eastern Trains!

There is another route into town along a main road, but its nice to get out into the countryside a bit.  Also, this route takes you to the market which is wonderful.  More of that another time.










The Club


I wanted to write a bit about the day-to-day activities in the club.  It is a great shame that I will not be able to post any photos of patients (should I call them club members?) doing activities in the club.  Obviously I need to respect their privacy and confidentiality.

Corridor looking from the club
there is actually a lot of work
going all.  The pipework in the
ceiling will be covered

The club room is in a semi-basement along a long corridor.  It does have natural light and quite a good view of the hospital grounds.  There are three good sized tables that can seat 6 at a squeeze.  There is also a full size table tennis table - this is excellent and well used.  There are a number of cupboards and a small work surface for making coffee etc.


Patient groups are decided by senior ward staff, although our suggested groupings based on interest and ability will be considered.  A typical session starts off with a cup of coffee and some fruit for each individual.  We then ask what people would like to do.  We also provide a number of options as some people really don't know what they want to do, or are so phased out by the institutionalised life they lead that making any choice is a real mental mountain to climb.

Club Room with some of the finished art work on show

Last week we ran a themed day and set up two tables for painting projects. - Painting pots, plates, stenciling etc.

Some patients were a bit unkeen at first but then threw themselves into the activities with real gusto.  One patient said that he would happily spend all day in the club. - If only that were possible.  Patients get one hour per week.  I am beginning to understand more and more how this small amount of 'therapeutic space' is so absolutly vital for patients and absolutely must continue.

Other end of Club Room with more work on show
Kiki, Paul

Groups are arranged by Ward.  There are two 'closed' women's wards and one 'closed' men's ward.  There are also a number of 'open' patients who come to an open session which we run once per week. - I'll cover 'open' and 'closed' at a later date; it is a difficult subject. - the Wards are a difficult subject.


One of the women's groups really did not want to do the painting.  They were really keen to get their own nails done and not keen at all on getting their fingers covered in acrylic paint.  This was no problem at all.  We really want to give patients as much control over their lives as possible during the club sessions.  Little though it is, it is more than they get on the wards.

A wonderfully decorated plate

Simple stenciling - but effective

Two Romanian psychology students on placement joined us at the end of the session and really rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in.  This was lovely to see as they will be the new generation of Meantal Health Professionals in Romania and will be key in starting a new paradigm in Mental Heath practice.

A one-off original design

We have planted a bulb in one of these
and plan to present it to the Hospital
Director

One of my favorites

Assorted

Both mine and Kiki's Romanian is getting better very slowly.  By coincidence we both speak German which has been very useful as there are a number of German speaking Romanian patients (more on the Saxon towns etc at a later date).  Also, one of the security staff at the local supermarket speaks German which is great as I am sure we must look very suspicious wandering up and down the isles with handfulls of stuff off the shelves having never remembered to get a trolly.

A 'buf' Romanian Dacia with a very treasured number plate.

A very local Romaian word is 'Buf'. This is not used anywhere else in Romania and has no English equivalent.  It roughly means 'good' or 'desirable' and is considered very positive and lucky.  It can be heard all the time in the Plevnie area.

Kiki becoming too attached to Gertrude and Hans

We got home the other day and there was a man coming out of our back garden.  He made the universal sign for 'Rabbit' by wiggling his fingers over his head (although I initially mistook this and thought it was a fellow member of the Tuffty Club).  He had put two rabbits in the hutch in the garden.  Babies expected in March.  Kiki has already named them Gertrude and Hans and become fond of them.  I have a feeling that the little ones are not being bred to be family pets.  This might not end well...I will keep you posted.


Pe Curand


Paul

First Impressions

Here we go; the first test.  Can I post a real blog from România complete with photos?

Statistics

In the last week; I have traveled 1,500 miles, met approximately 70 new people, stayed in 2/3 houses, been told, "I love you" (in English) twice, been beaten at chess 3 times and table tennis twice, painted nails, given someone a shave, laughed at least 50 times and nearly cried once.

The journey

Journey was reasonably smooth.  One of the previous volunteers had generously donated a wheelchair for use in the club.  It was boxed up, quite heavy and quite large.  Wizz Air were very generous in allowing us to book it in as luggage at no cost.  My arms were getting decidedly tired lugging the wheelchair and my case - although this got easier when I met up with my other two travellers (Kiki and Victoria) and we could share the load.  We decided not to take it out of the box in case there was some assembly required and we might be left in the middle of Cluj with a load of bits and no spanner. - Just as we got near the house. the cardboard at the bottom finaly disintergrated and the wheels poked through making it very easy to wheel along - doh!

The house - accommodation



The house - getting warmer by the
day thankfully



The street - snow melted away nicely



The volunteer house is a decent size.  Basic, but totally adequate.  Unfortunately the outside pipes had frozen meaning that there was no heating and no water at all.  In fact the house was markedly colder inside than it was outside.  I decided to boil a kettle of water and after pouring out the water was a bit worried that something was rattling inside it.  I tipped out a massive block of ice.  Corina works part time for VfMH and is the only paid employee of the charity.  She is Romanian and speaks excellent English.  Corina met us at the house and very generously took us all to her flat along with bedding and matresses taken from the house.  Next few days were spend trying out different combinations of rooms based mainly on who snored the loadest and who was disturbed least by the snoring.  We then moved to a friend of a friend of a previous volunteer who simply gave us rooms in her house.  Amazing generosity.  Straight after work on Friday the plumber seems to have fixed the water and heating, so hopefully we move in next week...we shall see...

We

From Left to Right - Paul (me), Kiki (not me)
Note Christmas decorations are still up in România

There are two volunteers starting off this January, both of us doing 6 month placements.  I have promised Kiki (the other volunteer) that I will let her check out anything I write about her before I post the blog.  This is a shame as she seems to have a natural ability to create 'interesting' situations around her (see below).  - I will see what I can get away with writing as the weeks go on.  I think we both wondered how we would get on - two total strangers who are very different in lots of ways.   However, we are both already passionate about the work the charity does in the club and I think that easily overides everything else.

People

We met with the head nurses of the varous patient wards on the first day and then visited the wards to meet with the patients.  By the way, I don't particularly like the term 'patient' (or service user, or client etc) but will use it here to reinforce the fact that this is a large psychiatric department in a hospital.  The ward visits were quite difficult to cope with on both an emotional and professional level as they are just so very different from anything we experience in the UK.  Very large wards with lots of beds tightly packed together.  About half the people in bed, the other half milling around.  It is actually very difficult to know how to describe the ward situation.  I don't want to write anything that is simply lurid and shocking; I think it would be disrespectful to the patients to describe their life as in any way being a lesser one.  Also, I don't really want to describe the lovely warm smiles and embraces from people I am just begining to start to get to know as individuals; although true, this would not give a true reflection of the harsh reality of their situation.  I suggest a good read through the charity website which will give a much better idea of the conditions and what we are trying to achieve to bring some happiness and worth into peoples lives:
Volunteers for Mental Health
I will try and cover some more details on day to day activities in the club room on later bloggs.  Patient confidentiality means that I will have to be quite restricted on details with no photos of patients.  Suffice to say for now that the club sessions have been a joy and that the patients are a delight.

The town



Sometimes with a 'hatted' I as the second letter
old spelling



Not an unusual sight

Not sure, but I think the cat in the little roof cave thing
might have kittens - the two big cats were having a
very loud argument way up on the roof

So many churches in town - most of them quite spectacular



The chickens on the left were actually in the red train
on their way to market, but decided it would be
quicker to walk





Thanks



Corina and Victoria



A real big thank you to Corina and Victoria.  Corina is supposed to work three days a week, but has been a constant help over the last 7 days - including Saturday and Sunday.  She has done loads of translating, let us use her flat and generally gone above and beyond the call of duty.  Corina will be working 5 days a week over the next fortnight to help Kiki and myself settle in.  She has a fabulous relationship with both staff and patients at the hospital and is really helping to accelerate progress in all areas.  Victoria is a director of the charity and and did the training for Kiki and me.  She came over as placement leader to show us the ropes and ensure we could get off to a flying start.  She used her annual leave to come over and had a shocking cold throughout.  Victoria is flying out today (Sunday) and both Kiki and myself will feel a big gap when she has gone.

Assortments

Little known fact - Women don't eat biscuits in România.

The mixer section at a local store



 Things in Romanian shops are displayed strictly by category, for example 'mixers' - you will see a food mixer next to a cement mixer - very logical.



When a doctor asks you to 'loosen your scarf', it actually means 'take off your trousers'.  Well actually it doesn't, but this is how Kiki interpreted it when she went to check out a small blemish on her neck.  Apparantly the poor doctor was horrified and valiently tried to stop her.  - We were really worried when we went to the local disco and avoided the coat check in case Kiki was asked, "can I take you coat and scarf miss" - goodness only knows what she would have done...





Well that's is probably much too much for this week.  Loads of other stuff that could have been included.

Paul

The First Post (and the first pun - sorry)

Welcome to this first blog where I will attempt to record some of my experiences on being a volunteer with VfMH (Volunteers for Mental Health) in Târnăveni, România.  This post is being written two days before I travel and is a bit of an experiment to see if I can actually make the blog technology work.

Firstly, I want to make sure you can link to the VfMH website which is http://www.vfmh.org.uk/

Have a read of that and the following might just make some sense.




Not Romania but Rochester, Kent where I had been living
It will be interesting to compare castles - and cathedrals

 Although I have been thinking (and preparing?) for this placement for the last 4 months or so; am I really prepared? and do I really know what to expect?  In truth, probably not.  I hope to try and give a flavour of the day to day experience - assuming I can get the blog technology to work - which I hope will be useful to other prospective volunteers as they ponder over whether this could be the placement they are looking for.  I also hope that it will encourage some people to visit the donation part of the charity's website and feel proud of themselves for helping to finance and keep such a worthy venture going.





I met up with quite a few of the previous volunteers from the last 20 years at a recent VfMH reunion.  It was great for me to hear their experiences first hand to help me understand what I was letting myself in for.  It was also really positive to get a real tangible feel for just how far things have moved forward in that time. 

I am sure that the six months ahead will be enjoyable and also quite challenging.  However, at the moment I can't seem to be able to see past the immediate challenge of getting everything I think I need into what once looked like a very large suitcase, but now seems very small indeed...

One thing I am determined to do is to pick up some Romanian language skills.  So I will sign off for the moment with,

Pe curând!
(which I hope means, 'see you soon')

Paul