Romania, land of strange things....
Romania has changed beyond all recognition in the past decade, but there is one place where life goes on almost exactly as before - Europe's last leper colony at Tichilesti in the Danube delta.
Since 1991 residents have been free to leave the colony's shady grounds, but after spending most of their lives there, few of them have rushed to seize this opportunity.
At Tichilesti, set up more than a century ago, they get food, a place to sleep, clothes and medical attention, so it's hard to make the break.
Besides most of them are elderly and need special care.
Hidden among hills and lime trees, with fresh air and natural spring waters, Tichilesti seem more like a village than a hospital.
Although no longer infectious, the residents are scarred for life: hands with knots instead of fingers, no eyes - just two empty holes covered with black glasses - and no eyebrows or any other kind of facial hair.
But, unlike many old people, the lepers of Tichilesti don't complain about their lot. They are welcoming and cheerful, despite having lived through war, hunger, poverty and isolation.
The lepers at Tichilesti were always treated well by local villagers - it was often the staff who were the least comfortable with the patients.
Medical statistician Steluta Laric has worked there for over 20 years and she admits: "The first time I came here I didn't feel comfortable. The patients used to hold my hand to see my reaction."
She had a one-year-old baby and was afraid of passing the disease on to him.
Since the fall of Communism in 1989, the hospital's reputation and the patients' lives have improved.
What remains the same is the mutual support that the residents give each other. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1639335.stm
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