FAQ's
Why did F.R.O.D.O. start work in Romania?
Despite considerable effort by the Government and charities in Romania after the overthrow of Ceausecu, Romania still has the highest abandonment rate in Europe. According to a survey supported by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF and carried out in over 50 medical institutions, around 4,000 newborn babies were abandoned in Romanian maternity hospitals immediately after delivery in 2004, or 1.8% of all newborns. Many of these children are abandoned in hospitals where, with the inevitable combination of little stimulation and love, they can develop terrible disabilities.
Romanian institutions have a legacy of housing disabled children with no strategy for seeking the treatment which could transform their lives and enable them to fulfill their potential, living happy lives. The problem is a huge one but it can be tackled with determination and collaboration.
What are you doing to help?
F.R.O.D.O. is working to stop these children being abandoned and, where they suffer from disabilities that are regularly treated in the West, give access to appropriate treatment on a one child at a time basis.
We actively work with Child Protection Services to identify children in their care with such disabilities and our Treatment & Training programme sends volunteer medical teams to work in local hospitals, bringing these children treatment for the first time.
We also work to identify groups of children with a disability and encourage a fresh look at their treatment within the Romanian health system. We are currently working with Romanian neurosurgeons on a project to identify and arrange treatment for children born with, or developing, hydrocephalus (water on the brain).
Surely what you’re doing is just a drop in the ocean?
Possibly, but we believe that you need to start somewhere. We have just completed (in March 08) a Treatment & Training mission to Alba. The Director of the Hospital where we worked said, in a press conference, “Although the mission will not solve the whole problem of vulnerable children in Romania, it will certainly set an inspiring example to Romanian doctors, who should pay more attention to disadvantaged children, particularly those orphaned and abandoned.”
How do you recruit your medical volunteers?
Raising our profile means we can recruit more medical volunteers. So far we have been very lucky to have gained the support of orthopaedic paediatric surgeon Deborah Eastwood from Great Ormond Street Hospital who has been inspirational in getting our Treatment & Training programme off the ground. We now have Bruce Bowman, a Physician Assistant from Connecticut, USA, on board. We will be approaching individual doctors and other medical professionals in key specialities to ensure we can continue to make a difference to the children that need our help.
What are the benefits of the Treatment & Training programme?
Firstly, we are able to give life-transforming treatment to children with disabilities.
Second, we facilitate relationships – often for the first time – between hospitals and Child Protection Services. Children with disabilities are often invisible and we are bringing them out into the open.
Third, the Romanian doctors and other staff benefit from exchanging skills and treatments with the UK and USA teams (the Training element) and they, in turn, have a chance to learn about the Romanian way and encourage efficient use of equipment and resources. For example, we have identified that physiotherapists do not have the same relationships with their orthopaedic surgeons as in the UK and the States that benefit the children in their care. We are encouraging more respect and self-respect for physiotherapists.
Fourth, relationships are also being developed not just with the UK/US teams and the Romanian hospitals but between Romanian hospitals as surgeons and doctors from one mission, join us on another mission.
In March 08 we completed our Treatment & Training mission in Alba. The Director of the Hospital where we worked said, “Although the mission will not solve the whole problem of vulnerable children in Romania, it will certainly set an inspiring example to Romanian doctors, who should pay more attention to disadvantaged children, particularly those orphaned and abandoned.”
How did you get started on your projects in Romania?
For the Treatment & Training programme, with the help of charity partners in Romania, we contacted Child Protection Services, who have responsibility for abandoned and orphaned children with disabilities. Their response was fantastic –identifying, over 300 children.
We then contacted the major hospitals in these areas and asked if they would like to join us in helping these children. They responded positively. From then on it was a question of working together to get everything the children needed, and the team of mission volunteers.
How many children are abandoned and disabled in Romania?
See the Facts & Figures section for this information.
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