GloVo in Barlad

Today was the first “official” day of the newly repurposed Global Volunteers program, moved from the village of Tutova and its small clinic for special needs infants and toddlers, to the city of Barlad and its more numerous, larger facilities.  So far the plan is for GV volunteers to work in one or all of the following three facilities, depending on the volunteers’ preferences and skill sets and the facilities’ needs: 

• The Children’s Hospital, which is a fairly modern, large four story acute-care hospital for premature infants through teenagers
• The CPS Placement Center, which is a residence comprised of nine apartment-style units housing children ages 12 through 23, where they learn life skills so that they can make the transition to independent living as adults
• The Primary School, which has 950 students ages 7 through 15, and which is considered the best primary school in Vaslui County.

I see myself working in the hospital, with the smallest children, but the emphasis here is on flexibility, as the program will no doubt evolve as GV becomes more established in Barlad, and I am willing to go wherever they want me to go.

In the meantime, we are staying in the Occident Hotel in Barlad, which is fairly new and quite comfortable (except for the sewer-backup smell in the bathroom; somebody remind me to buy some Glade tomorrow!)  The food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner was very good, and there's a supermarket across the street for sodas and snacks, and diapers and yogurt for the kids.