On the 4th day of our trip we visited the TB Hospital just outside the centre of Brasov. When we first stepped off the coach we could hardly see the hospital as it set down in a valley, hidden among trees.

The hospital was split into two buildings, one for the older children up to the age of 18 and the other for babies and toddlers both of these are under the control of Dr Monica. I only got to see the part of the hospital with the younger children as it was visiting day with the older ones and they were with their parents.

Although the buildings were quite run down they were kept very clean inside and the toilet and washing facilities were all reasonably modern. I first went upstairs to see the babies, there was one room we were not allowed to enter as some of the babies were very ill but we were allowed to go into the other two rooms and interact with the children. The babies all seemed perfectly normal and healthy and it was only when you held them close that you heard their wheezy, heavy breathing. They were kept in metal cots and as soon as they were lifted out, they were giggling and smiling and got much amusement from the tiniest of things.

Theyre rooms were very bare and there were not really many toys about, The whole time that I was there I only saw two members of staff, indicated by their dressing gowns?! (This was apparently their uniform.) But they seemed friendly and kind and it was obvious that they cared greatly for the welfare of the children.

Below is a picture of "Issac", or well, that is what we called him, as we had never seen a baby with such huge eyes! The other picture is of a little boy who never stopped giggling and then of course is the picture of all us girls with some of the babies - awh!!

Just at the bottom of the stairs and into the right was a large room filled with about 15-20 kids aged 4-7. As soon as you entered, you were bombarded with happy, smiling faces. The children were very affectionate and were content with just sitting on your knee, although the balloons, chocolate and bubbles we had brought along did go down well. They also loved getting theyre picture taken and below is a picture of just a few of them.

In all, I enjoyed my morning in the hospital immensely and it was definitely one of best places that I visited.

Mark writes about the older children:-

This was my favourite place of visit. The children here ranged between the age of 0 18. All the children here had Tuberculosis or pneumonia. The children were all very pleased to see you and welcomed you with open arms. They thoroughly enjoyed the balloons and at one stage a whole room of 3-5 year olds were singing head-shoulders-knees and toes.

The older children were less welcoming but after a brief period of time they to were joining in with our games. In the girls room upstairs I managed to get everyone in the room to make their own balloon dog. Later on we held a raffle with the aid we collected they were all over the moon about their prizes. I think it was the first time they had ever won something. The boys downstairs were a lot more seriously affected by tuberculosis as they did not look as healthy but none the less they still immensely enjoyed our company.