Gabor Georgiana and Cătălina, 18 years old
Despite their 18 years of age, the two girls act as a four year old, if we take into consideration the doctors’ opinions. They were born with a mental handicap and were raised until 16 years old in a placement center in Săcele. Although they say they finished 8 grades in a special school, when they arrived in “Bethany House” in Haţeg they didn’t know elementary things of how to count from 1 to 10 or to communicate with others around them. The staff at “Bethany House” took care of Georgiana and Cătălina and taught them how to talk to the people around them.
The years spent at the Săcele orphanage left a mark on the lives of the two sisters. They are very shy and they try to get away from talking with other people. They have moments when they rock themselves very much, this being a sign that in their childhood they were deprived of the parenthood love. They listen when a duty is assigned to them, especially that the task is an extremely easy one for their age. Out of the two of them, Georgiana is doing a bit better when talking to a person. Catalina copies her each time, in all her gestures. The girls told us, not without difficulty: “We like it very much here. At Sacele they used to beat us and didn’t treat us nice.”
Since the two years they have been in “Bethany House”, their daily program is similar with the schedule of other housemates, but Georgiana and Cătălina want to help with the housework duties. They need to be integrated in an activity on a permanent basis, so that they feel useful. When needed, they are the first who want to weed out the greenhouse vegetables or clean out the kitchen.
Their most ardent wish is to meet their parents. They tell us that years ago they have been visited by their mother and father, but this information could not be confirmed by the employees of the institution. “They are in Păclişa, they came to see us, but we want to see them again. And even if they don’t come, we are ok here. We never want to leave and go to Săcele. It was very bad there.”