> Bucharest, Romania -- In a drab dormitory, small children old enough
> to walk and talk grip the rails of their cribs in frustrated attempts at
> locomotion, silently rocking back and forth. A playroom filled with
> toys, a paradise of imagination and exercise donated by foreigners,
> remains locked because the children's caretakers consider it too much
> trouble to supervise. The caretakers, women in white uniforms, sit a
> few yards away in the corridor, smoking and chatting.
>
> In one crib, the oldest child, 6-year-old Gheorghe, his hair a tousle of
> dark curls and his eyes wide and brown, lies on his back,
> occasionally managing to pull himself up to peer out of his little prison.
> Until a few months ago, when an American volunteer visited,
> no one had bothered during Gheorghe's six years of institutional life
> to encourage him to sit or stand. Even the volunteer's interest has
> not enabled him to overcome his stunted development.
>
> ... despite Western help from dozens of charities and some
> governments, Romanian babies are still abandoned at alarming rates.