Note: This Program Won a National Emmy and Peabody Award
Buy Izidor's Fantastic New Book
ABC NEWS March 19, 1993
Produced by Janis Tomlin
(Slight additions were made for
clarification purposes.)
BARBARA WALTERS: I'm Barbara Walters and this is 20/20.
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, around the world the
stories that touch your life, with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, this is
20/20. Tonight, the dramatic climax to 20/20's epic series, THE
ORPHANS OF ROMANIA. Their story moved America and inspired an individual crusade.
JOHN UPTON: For God's sake, let me, let
me help these kids.
ANNOUNCER: A determined American
fights for the forgotten children.
Mr. UPTON: They're kept like little reptiles in an aquarium.
ANNOUNCER: Thousands still trapped in hopeless squalor, frequently
abused.
TOM JARRIEL, ABC News: Why is he tied? Huh? Why is he tied?
ANNOUNCER: John Upton
is their
hope for a new life. He rescued some of their friends. Now they beg for
themselves.
ROMANIAN CHILD: Johnny, I go to America?
Mr. UPTON: ( to Romanian translator) How do you say "I'll try"?
ANNOUNCER: Then the road to a new world, new sensations and a reunion
with old friends. Stay tuned.
WALTERS: From the very beginning it was a story that moved America
deeply- the wretched plight of the orphans of Romania. We followed their story
for three years, returning five times to expose their desperate situation, and
each time the response from Americans was overwhelming. You took all of these
children into your hearts and some of them into your homes. But what of the tens
of thousands left behind? Did world outrage make any difference in their lives?
DOWNS: Well, tonight, one man who was so moved by our broadcast that he
took matters into his own hands. His story is the final episode in what has
become 20/20 most inspirational series. Against all odds, including government
bureaucracy and mind-boggling logistics, this one American spent the past two
years trying to bring some of these children to America because, as Tom Jarriel is about to show you, not much has changed for the forgotten children of
Romania.
TOM JARRIEL This is Romania three years after the world was
put on notice that tens of thousands of children were being warehoused in
substandard orphanages. Children here are still crowded into cold metal cribs.
In this orphanage alone there are 800 children under the age of five, and every
day more newborns arrive. Despite the outcry from the western world, despite the
efforts of thousands of Americans to adopt these kids, the problem is worse than
ever. There are currently more than 80,000 children still living in orphanages
and medieval institutions across Romania, trapped by the bureaucracy.
JOHN UPTON: The Romanian government has put these kids on the back
burner.
JARRIEL: John Upton is an unlikely candidate as a champion for Romania's unwanted children. At 36, the EMMY Award winning filmmaker was living the American dream in San Diego with his wife Suzanne and their three healthy children. His world revolved around luxury cars, the country club, and a residence in an affluent neighborhood.
Mr. UPTON: I grew up as a poor kid in South Jersey, achieved success and thought I had everything under control. And then all of a sudden I see some kids on television and my life totally changes.
JARRIEL: The television screen intruded
into Upton's comfortable life in October 1990, as he watched 20/20's report,
"Shame of a Nation” on the so-called
"unsalvageable" children of Romania. As image after image flashed by
Upton spotted the face of one youngster who seemed to personify everything that
was wrong- 12-year-old Elena Rostas, with one leg grotesquely twisted over her
head.
Mr. UPTON: I saw Elena and I saw the way that she scooted around on her bottom, and I just had an overwhelming feeling to try to do something to help her, to get her out. I started pacing the floor and my wife said to me, ”You're going over there, aren't you?" and I said, “I have to."
JARRIEL: How soon after were you in Romania?
Mr. UPTON: The first day was
overwhelming. The first day, the thing that
overpowered me was the stench, then the misery, and then the need. It's
something that I can't describe.
JARRIEL: He videotaped the children, hoping families back in San Diego might
consider adopting them, but his main goal was to find Elena's parents to obtain
permission to bring her to the U.S. for medical treatment. Day after
day, Upton
was sent on wild-goose chases by the former head of the institution.
Mr. UPTON: The old director was giving me wrong addresses. He didn't want any of these kids out. He was probably thinking it was great, 'cause I'm in this little car driving in these little gypsy villages. It was like a little bit of a nightmare. It was like a big nightmare, as a matter of fact. Finally, after six weeks my wife said, "John, you have to come home, you know. How long are you going to stay there!"
JARRIEL: Unwilling to come
back empty-handed, Upton turned his attention to
Anna Ostas. Blind since birth, she has spent her entire life at Sighetu. Within a
week, Upton arrived in San Diego with 15-year-old Anna. What started out as a
rescue for Elena back in 1990 would soon turn into a crusade. Upton began
showing the videotape
he shot at Sighetu Marmatiei to couples in San Diego, a sad line-up
of hopeful
faces. One by one, families willing to provide foster homes selected children
off the tape.
Mr. UPTON: I'm not an adoption agency, I'm not a placement agency. I'm
not a social worker. I'm not an expert. All I know is, is that people call me
all the time and say, "John, if you can get me an older child that's
handicapped -I'll give him a place to live.
JARRIEL: Eleven-year-old
Izidor is one
of only five children who made it to the U.S. as a result of Upton's videotape
crusade. The young boy quickly began his own campaign to get Upton to return to
Romania to rescue the friends he had left behind.
Mr. UPTON: Izidor doesn't take no for an answer. Every time
he'd see me,
"Well what about Isabella, Hilde, and what about
Cristina? Why can't you help
them?" What did Al Pacino
say in Godfather
III? "Just when you thought
you were out, they pull you back in." These kids pull me back in. I can't
get out. Because you saw the kids in there.
JARRIEL: Upton became obsessed with bringing out more children. He had located
more than 20 families who had agreed to take in kids from Sighetu. He was also
determined to bring out Elena, the little girl with the twisted leg who had
started him on this mission, but by now Romania adoptions were virtually shut
down. According to newly passed law, only children on an official list could be
adopted. The list is compiled by orphanage directors who livelihoods depend on
keeping the cribs filled. Only 200 of the 80,000 children had been put on the
list as available for adoption.
Working alone in a cluttered office
in Southern California, Upton began looking for a legal way
around the adoption roadblocks. He found one. He discovered children could leave
Romania for medical treatment in the United States. He could bypass the
restrictive adoption process by obtaining visas, passports, and permission from
the parents. After two years, he was ready to attempt an elaborate rescue. His
plan began in Hungary, the border closest to the institution at Sighetu
Marmatiei. [interviewing] Why the flag John?
Mr. UPTON: Tom, we need to put this flag up here when get through the border.
Otherwise they could detain us for hours.
JARRIEL: Yeah? So the impression is to make it look like an official entourage.
Mr. UPTON:
Exactly. And
that's what it's going to look like
JARRIEL: The border
between Hungary and Romania is jammed with traffic. We
concealed our camera while Upton told Romanian border authorities he was on an
official mercy mission.
Mr. UPTON: The officials here are suspicious. Incredulous a lot of the
time. “What are you doing here! Why?
For these kids, why?" They
have no context for this.
JARRIEL: Upton clears the first hurdle. They let him into the country.
Mr. UPTON: Thank you.
JARRIEL: He leads his little motorcade across the Romanian border and heads for the institution at Sighetu Marmatiei. Six a.m....Under the cover of darkness, our arrival at the gate of Sighetu had been precisely planned. Security was lax at this hour. We wanted to see how the children lived when outsiders weren't expected. [to Upton] It's morning, they should be just waking up?
Mr. UPTON: Yeah.
JARRIEL: They sleep two to a bed on urine-soaked sheets.
Mr. UPTON: Tom, I could empty this room.
We have foster families. All these kids need medical treatment.
JARRIEL: In room after room we
found children clearly in need of medical care, their bodies emaciated, some
restrained in straitjackets.
Mr. UPTON: This place is not
suitable for animals, let alone for children.
JARRIEL: In the corner upstairs we found a little boy tied to a frigid pipe.
Mr. UPTON: (asking the nurse) What's this?
JARRIEL: Why is he tied? Huh? Why is he
tied?
Mr. UPTON: Look at his arm. His hands are like ice.
JARRIEL: Despite the aid that has poured into this place form western charities
since our last report, not much has changed here. In our first report, nothing
symbolized the hopeless plight of these children more than the prison-like caged
room where they were fed, bathed, and detained for most of the day. [ on camera]
This September, in an effort to change the image of this place, they replace the
steel bars with clear glass windows. The irony of this improvement? You can see
what's going on in this room even better now.
Mr. UPTON: They're kept like little reptiles in an aquarium. Instead of coming
to America, they stay here. This is their life. This is it. There's no heat.
It's cold. I'm cold now. My hands are cold. But there's no heat.
JARRIEL: The children's tattered clothing does not keep out the chill. This
little boy's frail body was no match for the cold. We spotted Elena, the little
girl who triggered Upton's rescue mission to Romania two years ago. She's now 15
years old. Her condition has deteriorated dramatically since Upton last saw her.
Mr. UPTON: (looking at Elena, who is screaming, and upset.) This place has taken a toll on her.
JARRIEL: She just smashed her head into the wall.
Mr. UPTON: She just smashed her head, she's afraid, she's flinching. It breaks my heart, because two years ago I was holding her, I was touching her, but she's petrified now. Her mother wanted money from me to take this kid out. I searched for Elena’s mother for two years. I'm losing this kid. I should have been able to take this kid out two years ago. I would like to just to tell the parents no, you've abandoned this child, who are you to tell me I can't have this child?
Mr. UPTON: (entering another room) This
is where, like, my pack lives. These are the kids that are really with it
mentally, kids that want out.
JARRIEL He's like, friendly uncle he calls them by name and they remember him, the man from America who is their, best hope for a new life. They know he can reunite them with friends who Upton has already gotten out.
Mr. UPTON: This is Christina
Babushi.
Mr. UPTON: (points to a child) Marin Moldovan.
JARRIEL: Marin is proving to be Upton's biggest worry on this trip. He has been assured the boy's father, a gypsy, had at last been located, but the address was wrong. Upton continues to employ a Romanian doctor to search full-time for Marin’s father, knowing the odds are against him.
Mr. Upton: It's a series of
impossibilities, and we just deal with one after another. It takes a lot of
time, it takes a lot of money, it takes a lot of frustration, a lot of hitting
that wall and then saying, "Hey, now what do we do?"
JARRIEL: Time is his enemy.
Everything is taking longer than expected. He knows the Romanian authorities
might try to stop him at any moment.
DOWNS When we come back, the dramatic conclusion of John Upton's personal crusade. Will his determined efforts to rescue the children succeed, and in the end, who will make the journey to America and who will be left behind, stay with us.
WALTERS: So the man the orphans call
Johnny has returned to Romania determined to rescue as many of the children that
he can from that miserable existence, but the bureaucratic roadblocks, as you
saw, are just overwhelming. The Government that still can’t care for it’s
own children makes it extremely difficult for John Upton to help. And while John
Upton struggles with the system, the children wait, their hearts and faces full
of hope.
JARRIEL: Although this is John Upton's first trip back here in two years, word
has spread throughout the Institution
that Johnny has come to take more children to America. Hopes are soaring.
Twelve-year-old Marin Moldovan pleads for what every kid in this place is
dreaming of.
MARIN MOLDOVAN: Johnny [Romanian] America?
JARRIEL: Take me to America.
Mr. UPTON: How do you say, "I'll try." [Repeats in Romanian]
JARRIEL: It seems every child here knows
a lucky few will be getting out of this place.
ROMANIAN CHILD: You Johnny?
Mr. UPTON: I'm Johnny, that's right.
JARRIEL: You've become a Pied Piper to these kids. Do you worry that you may have over promised them?
Mr. UPTON: All the time. That's the
pressure, because it's easy to be anonymous and to send a check and to keep your
distance, but I've crossed that line, and some kids are going to get left
behind, and that's going to be tough. But it's not going to be because of me.
JARRIEL: Inside the Institution, Upton confronts another complication. In the same room with the most profoundly disabled children we find two teenage girls who seem glaringly out of place. Because of their appearance, we had initially mistaken them as staff aides, helping out with the younger children. We were stunned to discover they were patients. [interviewing a translator] Why is she here? Epilepsy?
JARRIEL: An easily treatable condition is the only reason 18-year-old Violetta is here. [ interviewing] Would you like to leave here if another home could be found for you?
INTERPRETER: [interpreting] She would
like that very much if she could be adopted.
JARRIEL: After your parents died. who raised your? Seventeen-year-old Sanda says
her grandfather grew too old to care for her and sent her here, thinking it was
a school. Upton immediately resolves to add these two girls to his list. The
obvious problem, can he find their parents and obtains all the paperwork he
needs?
Mr. UPTON: (conferring with his
staff) All right, so first you’re
going to go here to Gurla for the grandfather and then go down to Cluj.
JARRIEL: Upton recruits a freelance photographer and a young doctor to
drive to the distant village of Turda to find Violetta's parents. Sanda's
grandfather is said to live on the way. The search takes two days, over unmarked
roads, stopping time after time to ask if anyone knows where the families
live. When they arrive at Sanda's grandfather's, they are told
he has moved. He
now lives five hours in the other direction. They travel on to Turda and begin
the difficult task of searching the dark hallways of apartment buildings for
Violetta’s family. Finally, at 11:00 P.M., they find them. The parents sign
documents for their daughter to go to
America. The next day, Sanda's grandfather gives his permission with a notarized
fingerprint. Upton's impulsive gamble has paid off. Another decision is upon
him, what to do about Elena? He has finally gotten the paperwork he needs, but
she's still out of control. Upton fears the long trip will be impossible in her
current state.
Mr. UPTON: I hope that I'm doing the right thing by taking her out of here. Is
it more cruel to take her out and to introduce her to a new environment, or is it
more cruel to leave her here? I don't know. I'm really having difficulty with this
now. (To Elena… Upton has calmed her down and she responds to him) There you
go, that's better. That's better.
JARRIEL: (voice-over) Hours later, Upton finally manages to break through to Elena.
Mr. UPTON: I don't know what kind
of life she's going to lead. I don't know if she's ever going to be quote
"normal" unquote. But I know that responds to kindness
and that she
shouldn't have to be scooting around on the floor, and I know that we can help
her somehow. Elena was the reason why I came.
JARRIEL: (the next day, Upton pulls up to the Institute and gets out of his
vehicle) It was time to go.
[Interviewing] John, you've worked a long time toward this day.
Mr. UPTON: Two years. Now's the moment.
JARRIEL: Are you anxious?
Mr. UPTON: Now's the moment.
JARRIEL: You have your records and files and information?
Mr. UPTON: I've got my records, I'm ready to go.
JARRIEL: The rescue effort has dragged on too long. Upton decides this is the
day he must leave or risk losing it all. First stop, the director's office. In
order to take the children out, he must get her signature on all the documents.
Although the papers are in order, there's no guarantee the director will sign
them. In fact, she can't be found.
Mr. UPTON: Why isn't she here, though!
ORPHANAGE WORKER: I don't know, I don't know.
Mr. UPTON: She knew we were coming.
ORPHANAGE WORKER: I don't know.
JARRIEL: Upton suspects the director is
deliberately staying away to foil his plans
Mr. UPTON: I'm going to take the kids, I'm going to put them in the car, and I'm
going. (walks into a room crowded with hopeful children) Hello.
JARRIEL: Upton decides it's time to cut and run, with no one in charge, he takes
matters into his own hands and announces the news to the kids waiting to find
out if they'll stay behind or go. It's the most difficult moment of all.
Mr. UPTON: Today I will take some of you, but some of you some of you must stay here. Now, I'm going to call some names and I want -when I call your name, for you to stand up, okay? Janina.
JARRIEL: Out of this crowded room, only
five names will be called. Upton tries to conceal his
disappointment. He had
hoped for many more.
Mr. UPTON: Anna Ramona, Christian, Ileana, Christina Babushi. Now these are the children I can take today.
JARRIEL: Little Marin, (sobbing), his
heart filled with hope, suddenly he realizes he's being left behind.
Mr. UPTON: I have a place for Marin, he stays here not because I’m unable to help him…it's because I'm not allowed to. [to Marin] It's okay, it's okay.
INTERPRETER: He's asking if you're going
to take him to America.
Mr. UPTON: Not today, but I'm going to take him someday.
JARRIEL: Obviously, they want to go so badly.
Mr. UPTON: (on the verge of tears) Yeah, and I know, but…
JARRIEL: And you can't walk away from them.
Mr. UPTON: I can't. I can't. And I won't. (to children) Come on, put your shoes on.
JARRIEL: While the children pack their
meager possessions, Upton is confronted by a group of visiting nurses who
challenge his authority to take the kids.
Mr. UPTON: Why are these people trying to interfere with me taking them to
America?
VISITING NURSE: No, it's not normal to…
Mr. UPTON: What's not normal?
NURSE: To take the children from
here without speaking to the authorities.
Mr. UPTON: What people! Do you think that I would just take a child without speaking to anybody! Is this any of your business! Do you work here! [ to Jarriel] I've been frustrated, I get angry. I just want to get these kids out. I had Elena in my arms...It's been two years, and those last minutes, it was just hell, and I was really sweating bullets at that point in time. (He walks out of the Institution holding hands with the children he is taking) I will be back, okay! Be good. Be good. Okay, bye-bye. Let's go.
JARRIEL: This is Upton's reward for two
years of hard work. He marches out with a ragged band of children, now knowing
if he'll be permitted to come back here to get the kids he's had to leave
behind. (Marin clings to him and is sobbing)
Mr. UPTON: Hold hands, come on. Come on, let's go.
JARRIEL: The kids head for freedom. They place their total confidence in him,
leaving behind the only place they've ever known for the uncertainties of a
country they know only as a word, America. The nurses realize the children wont
be coming back.
Mr.
UPTON (to Elena)- It's okay, it's okay. ( to Jarriel ) I finally had this kid in
my arms and I'm ready to put her in the van and take her to America.
JARRIEL: In all, he'll be taking nine children, half the number he had planned.
The staff crowded together outside, uncertain how to react to Upton's unorthodox
exodus with the children. As Upton and the kids pull away in the little red van,
familiar voices cry out to him.
CHILDREN: Johnny! Johnny!
JARRIEL: (shot of Upton and group
pulling into a luxury hotel in London) They arrived bewildered and exhausted,
and stepped into the lap of luxury. Seven-year-old Christian was fascinated by
the automatic doors. They led to a world unlike any he had ever seen.
Mr. UPTON: Within the span of 24 hours they went from being in a prison to being in a hot bubble bath. I knew that they didn't know that they were in a beautiful five-star hotel, but I knew they were happy.
JARRIEL: The next morning, boxes of
donated clothes arrived. Remember, these kids left Romania with only the clothes
they were wearing.
ENGLISH RELIEF WORKER: It's lovely to see. I wouldn't have believed a few
clothes could make children as happy as it has made these. And to see children
like this, it's heartbreaking.
JARRIEL: The final leg of their journey began at London's Heathrow Airport.
Upton had convinced Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Airlines, to fly the
kids to the United States for free. They landed at the Los Angeles International
Airport and boarded a bus for San Diego.
Mr. UPTON: San
CHILDREN : San.
Mr. UPTON: Di
CHILDREN: Di
Mr. UPTON: ego
CHILDREN: ego
Mr. UPTON: San Diego.
CHILDREN: San Diego.
CHILD: Izidor coming! Izidor coming!
Mr. UPTON: Yeah,
Izidor’s in here. Look, everybody's there!
JARRIEL: Their first stop was a surprise
reunion with the five children who had
gotten out of Sighteu two years ago, familiar faces in their strange new world.
The kids from Romania had a surprise for their friend Izidor, the boy who had
prodded and pushed John Upton into going back to rescue his friends. They had
written a song for him. [Children singing]
JARRIEL: Elena is now in a San Diego hospital. A team of surgeons has
volunteered their services to try to correct her twisted leg. The other children
were flown to Norfolk, Virginia, where foster families who hope to ultimately
adopt these kids were waiting.
FOSTER MOTHER: Christian, look. Daddy.
CHRISTIAN: Daddy.
FOSTER MOTHER: Papa.
JARRIEL: As for Upton, last month he
succeeded in getting 10 more kids out, but 12-year-old Marin remains at
Sighteu.
Mr. UPTON: I cannot get him out the way the system is now, but he doesn't
understand the system. All he understands is that I'm taking his friends out,
why can't I take him out?
DOWNS: Oh. God.
WALTERS: Because they can't find his
parents?
JARRIEL: Right.
WALTERS: (visibly shaken) I have to get control of myself. It's the first time…you start.
DOWNS: Okay. You know, why is it up to a
guy like John Upton, now, I think it’s wonderful what he’s doing… but is
there no way to get cooperation of the government over there?
JARRIEL: Hugh, the rules on adoption in Romania have made it more difficult than
ever to adopt children there. And of course John Upton is not the answer he's
but one man. He says himself he's not an adoption agency, he's doing the best he
can as an individual. It's a much bigger and broader problem than just he can
handle.
DOWNS:
Is it possible there could be enough outrage internationally that pressure could
be brought on the government to change those rules!
JARRIEL: Well, it's the system that has these children caught up. It's the
system John and others and parents who go to try to adopt that are fighting.
Until that system which is set up by the Romanian government is changed, things
won't change. And certainly international pressure might bring it about.
WALTERS: Okay, I've pulled myself together. This is the first time that I saw
this piece. There will be people who will want to adopt children, and you say
international pressure. They can't go over now and start struggling with all of
this?
JARRIEL:
No.
WALTERS: But what can they do? I mean…is this a matter of calling a Senator...Is that too small? What do you do? Call a Congressman?
JARRIEL: Any pressure that might come
from the United States Government, from business people, anything that might
cause the Romanian government to say, "Look, we've settled on a system that
the world says is not acceptable."
WALTERS: The idea that parents abandon children and then won't leave word where
they are or put them up or allow them to get out of that terrible place.
JARRIEL: Unless the parents sign, under the present system, they can't get out.
That's why Marin is stuck.
WALTERS: And Marin will stay there.
JARRIEL: Yeah, and others like him.
DOWNS: Yes. Thank you, Tom.
Update #1 (one week later)
BARBARA WALTERS: We're going to
come back and talk to Tom about the Romanian story and the children that he did
last week, wait till you hear what's happened.
HUGH DOWNS: Last week we aired
the sixth of our very emotional reports on abandoned children trapped in
Romania. Tom Jarriel told us about the heroic trip that a private citizen named
John Upton made to one institution, to rescue children Romania considers to be
"unsalvagable" because of their medical problems. But the plight of
these children is so desperate that the Epic Health Care Group is pledging to
take in every youngster that Upton brings out of that institution. It's already
taken in more than a dozen Romanian children, and this week, because of our
report, Congressman Richard Pombo of California raised the subject of these
abandoned children during a speech on the floor of the U.S. House.
POMBO: Millions of Americans
watched last Friday night as ABC's 20/20 aired the heart breaking story about
Romania's so called "Unsalvagable Children", Today I am proud to
introduce a resolution calling on the government of Romania to allow the most
desperate of these children to come to America for the help they so urgently
need.
BARBARA
WALTERS: Well next week Jessica Lange will try to make it a political issue. She
will be in Washington with John Upton trying to enlist Congress in the fight for
the abandoned Romanian children. They also plan a news conference to outline
their course of action. The future of many children is at stake. We'll be right
back.
Update #3
BARBARA
WALTERS: Now an update that we know many of you have been waiting to hear. It's
about Marin, the twelve year old Romanian boy whose dream of coming to America
has been repeatedly dashed for more than two years. As Tom Jarriel reported,
each time American John Upton traveled to Romania to rescue these abandoned
children, Marin had to be left behind because of government red tape. But Upton
and his supporters persisted. And just this afternoon this was the scene at
Kennedy Airport in New York. Young Marin and Anna, another Romanian child from
the same institution were welcomed to America by Actress Jessica Lange and
Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon, both of whom were instrumental in winning the
children's release. Six year old Anna will undergo medical treatment in Virginia (and be cared for
by of Jessica Lange.). As for Marin, tomorrow he flies to San Diego for medical care and for a
reunion with John Upton and the Romanian
children who came here before him. Good news. And we will keep you posted on
their progress. We'll be right back.
TOM JARRIEL: Linda and Joe of Virginia had their dream of a family come true. Thanks to a couple of kids from Sighetu.
LINDA: Well they're very special.
And after being in what we knew to be a very horrible environment, they were
ready to love us and accept us and be a part of our family. And it hasn't been
easy but they've taught me how to love and how to give.
TOM JARRIEL: Eight year old Christian has become a choir boy. Rambunctious and happy. Remember little Marin Moldovan? Oh the hearts that went out to him when he was left behind. This Christmas, Marin has a family in California.
TOM JARRIEL: Remember the three musketeers we met at Sighetu Marmatiei? Well
they now live in the same neighborhood in San Diego and are still the best of
friends. Fifteen year old Christina loves to sing. Twelve year old Ciprian can't
stop riding his bicycle. And thirteen year old Isador has become the
All-American baseball player.
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