Sick kids and renovated castles in Romania

Imola and Viorika are two little girls who have tuberculosis. Their hair is cut short to avoid lice. Tuberculosis affects many countries in Europe, but especially Romania. In this small center for TB in the Transylvanian Alps, 18 children are being treated. Most of them are gypsies. I am still confused about gypsies. There are many who have integrated into the societies where they live, but others seem to live precariously in temporary, dirty shelters with very little family structure. Tuberculosis of course loves such conditions and these poor kids suffer. Many times all the children (we were concentrating on children, but adults are also badly affected) in a family are sick. The staff at the center really dedicate themselves to the children, trying to find the resources to take care of them.

Kids are great and can get through many hardships without even complaining. They sing and smile and take hundreds of pills over a six month period to kill the disease. Kristina, at right, is 13. All her siblings are sick and her older sister died last year from TB. I gave her my little camera to take some pictures and she is a natural photographer. She took the picture above and framed it very well. I asked her and Imola and Viorika what they wanted to be when they grew up. I think the arrival of a TV camera crew influenced their decision... they all want to be photographers!

Romania is a beautiful country. We didn't have much time to see it on this trip, but on the way back to Bucharest, we briefly saw Peles Castle. Built by King Carol I of Romania, the castle combines many different European styles. Some call it the most beautiful castle in Europe... maybe because everyone can see a style from their own country as French, German, Czech, Turkish, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian workers, architects and craftsmen all joined forces in its construction. Ceausescu, the communist dictator, of course didn't like it very much and the castle degraded durning the communist period. It has since been renovated and is open to tourists from all over.