Aid supplies unloaded at the Casa Tereza orphanage

Day 6: Piatra Neamt (Ro)

Today again we get to enjoy a lovely Romanian omelette for breakfast. The clear focus of today is unloading the aid supplies at the Casa Tereza orphanage in Piatra Neamt. The orphanage also gives us the task of digging up shrubs in the garden. It quickly becomes clear that the shrubs — and their roots in particular — are so deeply rooted that the Mickey Mouse tools we have on hand are no match for them. As a team we therefore decide to organise a rental excavator. No sooner said than done, we thought — until the excavator rental company tells us their machine is currently broken. So the garden project has died before it has even properly begun.

At exactly 12:17, our birthday boy Lukas has to plant the team’s gift — right where he happens to be standing at 12:17 (his birth time). We give Lukas a young pear tree and wish him a heartfelt happy birthday.

And as a thank-you for delivering the aid supplies, the meal kitchen rewards us with a lovely lunch.

Unloading the trailers is delayed until the afternoon due to a small misunderstanding between the customs agency and the orphanage. Once that is cleared up, we empty both trailers and store the aid supplies partly on the ground floor, partly in the basement, and the food items in the meal kitchen. The children watch the proceedings curiously from the windows. Afterwards the customs papers are signed and our first mission — delivering aid supplies to the orphanage in Piatra Neamt — is complete.

At 16:00, two members of our team drive to the garage where SELMA is being repaired to check on progress. The good news puts us in a positive mood right away: SELMA is already fully repaired and we can take her back. She purrs like a young kitten again.

To round off the day, we get to play football and frisbee in the garden with some of the children.

Brief summary:

The sweaty garden work ahead of us is over sooner than expected. The loaded trailers with the aid supplies are unloaded and the supplies stored in the warehouse of the Casa Tereza orphanage. SELMA is repaired a day earlier than agreed.

Your Judo goes Orient – Team