What became of Romanias neglected orphans?
A BBC investigation has uncovered appalling conditions and abuse in adult institutions in Romania, 20 years after the fall of Nicolai Ceausescu exposed conditions in the country’s orphanages. As the care worker unlocked the door and pushed it open, a musty stench of body odour and urine filled the air. There were 10 people crammed into the room, bed-bound on rotting mattresses and lying in their own faeces, some two to a bed. Among the dirty, scarred faces peering above the duvets were the orphans whose plight roused the international community when Romanian orphanages opened their doors to Western journalists in 1990. Staff at the Recovery and Rehabilitation Centre in Carpenis had no idea how old the latest arrivals from a children’s orphanage were – they guessed 18 but they looked much younger. The three boys cowered under their dirty duvets, escaping from the wrinkled faces of the disturbed men and women they shared a bed with.
