2010 Visit Reports

Winter Promotional Report, January 2010

The team consisted of Matt Bigwood and John Anyon.

Matt and John visited Mina at the end of January for a few days.  The object of their visit was to create some promotional media showing the differences at the hospital, school and village since the charity first visited nearly 20 years ago.  It proved an enlightening and successful visit, and a new DVD should be available in the near future.

Spring Survey Report, March 2010

The Team consisted of Peter Tolson, John Roche and Paul Smith

Monday saw us meeting the head nurse who had her list of jobs ready for us. These included purchasing some food for Easter, some ceramic floor tiles, and some printer cartridges.  Her requests for the summer was still centred around the drying shed, and also the purchase and fitting of a window for the sewing  room as the existing window is too small.

We also suggested that with all the investments we have made in the flat area, namely the dentist studio, toilets and showers, and the new wards, then perhaps we should be looking at doing something with the roof.  The head nurse said she had a contact and would get us a quote.  

After the meeting, we did a tour, and found evidence of shrinking in the new building. Splits were visible and set to get worse. The patio area was superb and professionally built with decking and high steel railings.

All around the hospital frantic cleaning was going on. We were told that it was just spring cleaning, but also an inspection by the health authorities was imminent. The kitchen was being washed and cleaned. There were some signs of dampness in the new shower area. We were told that a pipe had failed in the cold winter and leaked into the wall. We will investigate.

We were informed that Dr Grigoriou was expecting us in his office at 12 noon the following day.

We spent the rest of the day getting some basic supplies for the flat, and sorting out where the plaque was going to be sited. 

We chose the hospital for several reasons. Only Garofita in the school knew Phil. And the likely result would be is that it would not be looked after, and even painted over. We chose the entry to our flat area because it was sited on our own partition and was visible by both the hospital inmates, and our team as they passed to get to the flat. This way his memory would live on with the hospital patients and staff, and also the team members. Click here to see the photo’s of the fitting of the plaque.

The following day, we went around the builders merchants to purchase some tiles and adhesive. We also looked at steel and roofing slates. We found some very cheap roof tiles, but after inspecting the roof, we decided that it was not possible for our team to do the work. It would be too dangerous, and had many pit falls.

We arrived at the Brasov Hospital for the meeting. Dr G. was very courteous and thanked us for all our work. He gave us the same work list as the head nurse, but also stated that the roof should be a priority. He also asked us for more of the garden shelters that we built. We explained the idea of a canvas roofed structure on a steel frame for the drying area, and was happy for that to go ahead.

We stopped at a roofing centre, where we were given a contact of a roofer who may consider the work.  We also purchased some materials for the repair of the shower valve. We went in to a new building super centre where we found many things that we would need for the summer.

We met the dentist on the road, and she said that she was low on stock and would make a list of items needed.  

We distributed the Easter cards that we had for the patients, who as usual, were pleased and excited to receive them.

The following day, we toured the school where we found crumbling walls due to the concrete that was laid last year. Anything that we do for the school would be pointless with the concrete in the yard making the structure wet.

We examined the doctors surgery where we met the doctor. She said all was well apart from a stop valve in the corridor. On examination we found that it had cracked through the body and the threaded end was sheared. We replaced this that afternoon. When we finished we had a call from the roofer who said he was in the village. He stopped outside the surgery, and together we went up to the flat.

The roofer made a thorough examination and said he could do the job and gave us a an all-in price. His estimates were in line with our own, and he showed a great degree of expertise which impressed our team. The tiles replaced would also be of a known quality. The price break down will be at the end.

Finally everything was done and it was time for home. We left at 5:00am for the airport where everything went smoothly.