We drove down through
Germany into Austria, through Hungary and into Romania. At every
stage outside the EU, administration raised its ugly head. Nothing
was easy and it dampened our otherwise high spirits.
It was necessary even to
'bribe' border officials at times, to hurry things along - and the
bribes invariably worked! Apart from a few minor mechanical
problems, the journey was otherwise uneventful and after 3 days we
arrive in the provincial city of Ploesti, where customs officials
waited to inspect our cargo. This is where the REAL problems
began.
Nothing was right for the
officials, paperwork was missing and although more bribes were
offered, the process was unbearably slow. This was all filmed by
the TV crew, later to be shown on Yorkshire TV to epitomise the
folly of officialdom. We left after about 9 hours from the
customs hall, having to leave some supplies destined for the
youngsters with them.
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What
follows is the personal feelings of one of CopDrops's team and
taken from his diary on the first trip to Romania.
'The entrance hall
was dark and dismal. We shuffled along, gritting my teeth and
prayed I would not let the team down. Thirty boys greeted us and
were almost guarded by 3 or 4 fierce looking ladies. There was
not a toy or a scrap of paper to be seen anywhere. I opened my
mouth to speak but the lump in my throat prevented anything
coming out..... With tears rolling down my face, I turned
away.... some rooms contained small children who, we were told,
were suffering from terminal illnesses. In one corner of the
room was young boy of about 2 or 3 years of age. I tickled his
tummy and he began to laugh. It was not until I was leaving the
room that someone informed me that this poor little fellow was
likely to die within a few months. One of the Matron type ladies
pulled a pretty little girl up from the floor and began telling
her something in Romanian. PAPA is the same in all languages and
it was my belief that this little girl was told that I was her
father.'
Images like this haunted us all and we could only look on
helplessly, thinking of our own families at home. Nothing
prepares you for the scenes like these.
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