Toys have a life of their own. And if we
\nthink of the mutiny the abused toys staged in the famous Toy Story series, we
\ncan better understand how someone could possibly set up a hospital for toys.
\nSo, if you have toys to repair, Bucharest’s only Toys Hospital has already treated
\nover 20 tonnes of such patients. The toys that end up receiving treatment in
\nthe Toys Hospital are cleaned, disinfected and repaired, to then reach children
\nin foster care and placement centres of the Social Services Directorate of
\nBucharest Municipality. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Toys Hospital project has been
\noperational since March 2013. It has turned out to be successful with both
\nthose who have opted to donate used toys and, of course, among those who are
\nthe beneficiaries of such toys. Valentin Dinu is a ‘toys doctor’ and he told us
\nhow the Toys Hospital works:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Toys Hospital is an idea set forth
\nby the Bucharest Municipality. It stemmed form the wish to create a collection
\ncentre for used, broken and worn out toys, so that they may end up in the hands
\nof disadvantaged children. We started the project two years ago, and it was a
\nzero-cost project, because it did not require more than a storage area and a
\nplace for us to set up the toys repair workshops. In the initial stage of the
\nproject, we received toys from various parts of the country, and after the toys
\ncame to us in various ways, by snail mail or just stored in bags that were then
\nleft on the premises, we started to set up those toys repair workshops. We’re
\nthe ones who run the workshops, while all sorts of people placed under the care
\nof the Social Services, such as the homeless, get involved in such activities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Lots of people seem to have found the
\ntime to take care of sick toys, as in this hospital anyone can be a doctor,
\nprovided they have some time off and the desire to help the representatives of
\nthe institution and therefore bring joy to the little ones. We asked the most
\nexperienced of the toys doctors Valentin Dinu about the treatment schemes they
\nhave applied to their patients: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Treatment varies. There have been cases
\nin which we opted for the washing up or sewing in the case of plush toys, or
\nothers where more complicated operations were needed to stick the toys
\ntogether, using pieces that were a little bit more difficult to mend. Right
\nfrom the start we got parcels from all over the country, so we received lots of
\ntoys, many of which, since we were unable to fix them, ended up in a toys
\nmuseum we had set up ourselves. The toys museum is hosted by the ‘Magic
\nRainbow’ foster care and early education centre. In the museum, children
\ncan have a free-of-charge birthday party, on condition that upon leaving, the
\nthings they used are left as they were. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The special
\ntoys that are difficult to repair end up as exhibits in Bucharest’s first Toys
\nMuseum, just as Valentin Dinu told us. The toys that cannot be repaired or are
\nof no interest for the museum are dismantled and, depending on the materials
\nthey are made of, are sent to sanitation operators. We have also found out that
\nthe most difficult operations performed at the Toys Hospital are the mechanical
\nor electrical ones. The Toys Hospital therefore needs the help of an
\nelectrician who can bring back to life the toys the other volunteers cannot
\nfix. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The amount of
\ndonated toys is impressive. It shows not only that in Bucharest and across the
\ncountry there are a lot of parents who permanently renew their children’s toys,
\nbut also that many of them are willing to help the underprivileged children. So
\nit was that we found out that reaching the Toys Hospital were lots of toys in
\ngood condition, which did not need any repair works. We asked Valentin Dinu how
\npeople viewed such a project. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
They liked
\nthe initiative. After we collected the first batch of toys and fixed them, we
\nstaged various events with our beneficiaries, offering the toys to the children
\nof those who usually come to our canteen. And the reaction they had was
\nunexpected, since some of the children had not received any toys up to that
\nage, and of course were very happy to experience that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And because
\nthe Toys Hospital was and still is a project that is very close to peoples’
\nhearts, Valentin Dinu has launched an appeal to all of us. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
If you have
\ntoys you no longer use, no matter their condition, please bring them to us, at
\nthe headquarters of the Bucharest Social Services, for the children who cannot afford buying them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Just like any hospital that has certain
\nstandards, the Toys Hospital provides around the clock care. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bucharests only Toys Hospital has already treated over 20 tonnes of such \u201cpatients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43118],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-toys-hospital"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n