Transylvania
Recently I was invited to a world that lies on the border between fantasy and Eastern Europe – Transylvania. There is a mysterious underworld beneath, the Turda salt mine.
This trip was about meeting and helping a mindful leader in setting up a care home as part of a community enterprise to address a significant problem over there. This is where many of the young have disappeared off to a better life to avoid the growing pains of a region trying to shrug of the effects of a national tragedy during the communist era. The country was left with a leadership vacuum, still much corruption in government, where many of the working age more ambitious population voted with their feet to leave. This has left the care of older people in a parlous state with low aspiration, little provision and ghetto type lonely living in their declining years.
Cluj is full of declining castles, from its previous glory of past century fortifications.
There are many medieval castles, many of which have gone into decline, the most famous castle is Bonffy Castle – the Verailles of Romania
Climate is continental with warm summers and cold winters. It has orthodox Christian roots. Cluj-Napona is the capital of Clu county with 15 districts which are laid out in a radial form.
There is a local government with a major and 27 councillors including one central government appointee. It is one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial business centres. About 400,00 Romians live here and about 16% of the total local population are Hungarian, which goes back to former historic ownership of the area. It has the largest university in Romania.
It terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, life is tough for many older people in Romania.
On visit to a thriving day centre near to Cluj the staff opened up about the lives of the people they care for. It seems that this place is a life line to them. There are a number of cultural deeply rooted tensions between the Hungarians and Romanians. This was founded by Dr Dan Bacau whom I was visiting, set up in 1998. 70-80 people attend daily with about 12 volunteers to support activities, including leisure, support groups, literary circles, cultural and artistic activity, advocacy services, health and educational trips and a distribution of donated goods. There are social and traditional evenings and even greening days when some people go out to litter pick in their community.
Life in a Box
Here are a couple of the people I met, one a retired professor. His life is now centred around the Day Centre which gives him purpose and connectivity. He has been part of a reminiscence project where boxes with relevant life symbols and memorabilia were used to put their life into a box. This was inspired by the work of Age Exchange, Blackheath, London, where I have visited on many occasions.
The day centre was originally set up with 3 nurses and 2 social workers and a co-ordinator working there and one doctor. Emotional care and counselling formed an important part.
There were 2 care workers known as ‘caretakers’ for palliative care, and the sponsorship at the time allowed staff to deliver monitoring of vital signs regularly, provide injections, wound care and catheterisation.
The day centre made links with Age Exchange Reminiscence centre in London and developed a number of projects as part of a partnership project. They are partnering with the Princess Marguerita Foundation and wish to promote best practice and many learning opportunities. Currently the funding has been reduced but core staff are working hard to keep the place going as they realise its importance and the preventative and pro-active work it had delivered in the past with a full team of staff.
There is a sense of gloom and dissatisfaction with the post-communist government which all the people I met reported to be corrupt and they were living hand to mouth. A number of the younger workers I spoke with including care staff and taxi drivers said they decided not to have children or only have one as the world they were coming into was so depressing – they cannot see a way out. Workers are few in this field and many have left the country. One member of staff said ‘ we are so tired, we have worked so hard’. But we don’t want to be silent. They still feel the government use fear to scare people, such as food running out which frightens people. If one shop runs out it is difficult for some to travel to an alternative.
Many of the older people live alone in an isolated society where many live with neglected illnesses. The staff told me many older people sleep all day in small apartments, often part of the brutal, soulless architecture imported during the communist era, which does little to lift the human spirit. Much of this was built between 1965 – 89 with architecture imported from North Korea. There is little sense of wellbeing. They say people have said when asked ‘why should I listen to music or dance?’ indicating the switching off of the higher order things that celebrate life and being alive. Everyday is about finding enough food to live on, ‘ everyday is about sustenance’ . Many don’t have families nearby to visit them. Many have gone to settle abroad. There is no family to eat together with or share their lives with.
It made me think of the film Awakenings- about the drug LDOPA and how it transformed lives. It seemed that people came to life when they attended the centre- a huge feeling of espris de corps. This self organising group were a delight and were proof of their Romanian culture and to share this with visitors. There is a sense of ownership and people coming and going.
The communists encouraged people to move from their largely agricultural villages and offered jobs in factories. They were given appartments. Orthodox Churches were only allowed in a village. People feel cheated out there and see little hope of change. People have become cynical and some are still suspicious. With passive acceptance. They love visitors who give a different perspective and listen to them.
When funding was more available Dr Bacau had the vision for what good care would look life to keep people well in the community to give hope and raise expectation of how life could be lived, providing a socio-medical model of care . They appointed 30 community nurses working from the centre which now has 4 staff. However students still visit and learn much from this service.