The short-term therapy camp in Romanian was held in spite of the very low number of participants. The program was postponed for 2 weeks because there were not even 8 people on the list. At the second deadline to register we had 8 applicants, so we decided to hold the program. When two of them stepped back (one of the two was taken to the hospital), it was too late to cancel the camp. The Romanian volunteer from the city of Iasi, who was supposed to attend, did not come either, so Janos Boros and Kalman Adorjan – two Hungarian staff – conducted the 12 day program along with 6 Romanian speaking participants: five men and a woman, all of them addicted to alcohol. Janos led the group discussions and the afternoon seminars, Kalman did the morning and the evening lectures (based on the 10 Commandments and the story of the healing of the man born blind, respectively) and both did individual counseling.

While it is evident that such a low number of participants makes the program very cost-inefficient and the dynamics of the group are also enhanced by a somewhat higher number, yet it had its advantages as well: the atmosphere of the group was very intimate and we could have more in-depth individual counseling sessions, even three times with each person.

The atmosphere of the group-discussions was generally marked by sincerity, which we really only missed in one case--that of a person whose motivation wasn’t deeply developed. In addition he suffered from severe "logorrhea", mixed with religious terminology, which made him almost an outcast of the group. Thankfully, toward the end of the program he seemed to realize this, and at least he reduced the flood of words, however not without frequent interventions by the group leader.

One person attended the camp having already been sober for one year. Yet he considered he had more to learn in order to have a meaningful sobriety. In this he was a good example for the others, showing that not only acute drinkers need assistance and that help is necessary and welcome not only to stop drinking, but for maintaining abstinence as well.

A nice Sunday afternoon visit to the Zoo and the Palace of Culture in Targu Mures made the program more interesting, which was welcomed by the whole group. Yet, some days later, they were not as enthusiastic for another proposal to have a walk in the forest.

Reported by minister and program coordinator, Kálmán Adorján