A new side of things

Today I went with the missionary couple from Canada to help deliver some supplies to the TB hospital here in Bacau and up into the mountains to get some information about the flood victims.

The hospital was like a step back in time.

The first place we went was the place they do laundry. Right now the motor on the washing machine was broken so they had a huge vat full of steaming hot water and a big stick to stir it around. Think Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971 version) where the mother is singing Cheer Up Charlie... However, the ladies that worked there were really excited to show me around and told me all about what they did. I didn't understand a word, but they told me, lol.

From there we delivered a few more supplies to the lab and then drove off towards the mountains. I'm sure most of you have heard about all the awful flooding in Europe recently and Romania got hit pretty hard by it as well. We drove around and saw things and then stopped at some town halls so that Don could get some information about the supplies the government was providing and what was still needed. The government is helping a bit but only enough to get people started on their houses. They'll supply the cement for the foundation and a few doors and windows and stuff but the rest the people have to do on their own. And a lot of them really have nothing left, no house, cattle, clothes etc it was all just washed away. I was able to take some pictures of the damage...it's really sad...


sand bags that didn't do a whole lot of good...


a makeshift bridge



another half gone house...

All the villages we drove through were like that, some houses half standing and others just piles of rock and debris, roads completely washed away...it was really awful and they've only just started digging things out. The process of rebuilding will probably takes months and months...

After all that it was time for lunch so we took a back little road and crossed this:


it looks pretty ok here but in reality it's world's scariest bridge to drive across. No joke, the boards were not nailed down and it creaked and a quarter of it was already partly detached! I've never been so close to plunging into an icy cold river in my life!!!

It was worth it though. We had a really nice picnic lunch at the top of the a hill overlooking a beautiful valley. Romania has several different sides, some very sad and poor and others beautiful, rich and colorful. But all the sides together make it a truly beautiful country.