Cighid

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty, than the person who has nothing to eat."

[Mother Teresa]

This story starts with a history lesson, that is not too much unlike that of many other countries at some point in their histories. It starts with a people group, those with mental and physical disabilities, and ends with them locked away in an institution to be forgotten. There were many of these Asylums in America past, and we witnessed first hand the effects of the communist hand during our visit to Cighid.

Cighid today is not what Cighid was a mere 15 years ago. When the orphanage was discovered, it was a picture of what Mother Teresa was speaking of with the quote above. The children were tied to their beds, lying in their own filth, abandoned, and left to die. Again, not much unlike the Asylum days we learn about in American history. 

To get to the orphanage, we drove about an hour into the deep Romanian countryside. We then turned down this straight road that ran for about 2 miles. As we continued down the road, getting farther and farther from civilization, you could feel the loss of hope that one being taking to Cighid in the communist days must have felt. The road was ragged and difficult to drive down. And then, after passing a line of trees, you come upon the gate of the orphanage. Completely hidden from the world and abandoned. 

The main building is a privately owned castle that was seized by the communists, no doubt for it's remote and forgotten location, and turned into the institution of which I spoke about above. 

But now things are much different. The residents there are roughly between the ages of 15-35. They almost all die before the reach the age of 35. Many of them were there, tied to their beds, as babies. But now, they live in houses. They have freedom to roam about the grounds. They have nurses and staff that assist them. They attend physical, occupational, and educational therapy. They play and have fun. All of the residents have various stages of mental handicapps. Some have very high levels of functioning, and some less so. 

We had the privalege of spending a day with the people at Cighid. I won't lie and say that it was easy. This was definitely the hardest task our team of 3 faced. But it was definitely a growing experience for us, and a profound glimpse into Jesus' ministry. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures, so unfortunately I cannot show you the colorful rooms and artwork that adorned all the walls. Or the smiling faces of the residents there, and the friends that we made. 

One of the challenges for us, was that no one spoke English, and we, obviously, don't know Romanian. Our contact there, Claudia, was a wonderful lady who really did her best to work with us. Even with the language barrier, it was very clear to see her love and passion for the people that she worked with. 

I spent the morning helping one lady, Leonata, color some pictures, and make bead necklaces. She would show me what color to use, and then would tell me that I did a good job after coloring a section. "Ah, bravo, Ali" she kept saying to me. 

In the afternoon, we just played with the people more, and just spent time hanging out with them. By the end of the day we were exhausted, both emotionally and physically, from the day we had. 

A huge challenge for me, and a way that God definitely stretched me was that the people at Cighid loved to touch us. Basically for the entire 8 hours that we spent there, we were touched in some form about 85% of the time. For those of you who don't know me, let you clue you in. I do not like to be touched. I much prefer to keep people out of my personal bubble. But there was no such thing there, and that was very hard for me. It took me a couple of days to process everything, but my mom reminded me of Jesus' ministry, and how he let the lepers touch him, and about the ministry of Mother Teresa, who has been a great inspiration in my life. 

And that is why I chose to begin this blog with that quote. To the people at Cighid, it didn't matter that we colored pictures with them, or that we kicked a ball around the yard. What mattered is that we were there. That we smiled at them. The we let them take us by the hand and pull us along to see the baby calf. That we spent the afternoon just hanging out in their living room enduring back rubs. It wasn't about us. It was about them. And ultimately, it was about showing them His love. 

And that is the place that God had to bring me through these past few days of processing the uncomfort that I felt. He needed to remind me again that It's not about me. I'm not here for me. I'm here for Him.

Humbled once again,

Ali