Field report from Norvell Van Coots, September 28-October 7, 2015

I arrived in Chisinau after an uneventful flight on Air Moldova from Frankfurt, Germany. I was greeted by my Moldovan Goddaughter, Rodica, who has served as my translator since the very first missions nearly 16 years ago. On the ride into town from the Airport, she reminded me that it has been five years since my last visit.

Amazing that time has flown by, but I had difficulty grasping the fact that so many years had passed. But then with my responsibilities at my hospital in Washington, then preparing for deployment, the year in Afghanistan, followed by a busy year at the Pentagon and then my first year in command in Germany, also unpredictably busy, it all added up. Part of the problem is that year in Afghanistan; truly a lost year. As time passes in the combat zone the life that you live is very surreal and normal life is suspended until you return home. It is difficult to reconcile that while your normal life stood still, everyone else’s normal life has gone on without you, and so the time continuum is so distorted that you truly do lose track of a year of your life. For Project Moldova, however, time continued on as monthly, even in Afghanistan, I continued to forward money to the project bank, and conducted fundraising activities and kept the lines of communication open with my country coordinator, Angela. My thanks particularly go to her for keeping the project running so smoothly in country during those 5 years.

We arrived to Angela’s apartment, where she and the family were all waiting to greet me, as was a big dinner and a nice bottle of Moldovan Red Champagne to welcome me back to Moldova. It was at this dinner that Angela informed me that as of the beginning of September 2015 there were some significant changes in the way the government was going to approach the orphanage–boarding schools in the future, specifically to close a number of them, which included several of ours. Her recommendation to me, based on a discussion with our in-country educational advisor to the project, was that we shift the program assets from those schools that had closed, to two new schools in need of programs like ours. That sounded perfectly reasonable to me, and, since it would not affect the funding level at which we have been operating for the past 12 years, I made the unilateral decision to support that course of action, counting on the board approving it upon my return.

Moldova is a country in transition, and not all of it good. In 1999 when I made my first visit to the country there were a little over 5 million in the country with approximately 7 million working outside of the country, mostly in Western Europe, but some in Turkey, Russia, Canada, and the USA, and sending some of their earnings back to family still in country. There were 1.5 million children, and at that time there were 11,500 children as orphans or wards of the State living in 65 Soviet era orphanage boarding schools across the country. Today there are only 2.5 million citizens physically in Moldova, and 700 thousand of them live in and in the immediate environs of the capital, Chisinau. There are only 320 thousand children left in the country, so Moldova as a diminishing workforce for the future. Moldova is a beautiful country reminiscent of Tuscany, but today only 1 out of every 10 acres of agricultural land is being farmed. The economy is poor, and getting poorer, and there are not enough people interested in farming, let alone available to be farmers. Large tracts of beautiful land lay fallow. The government reports that in the next 5 years as many as 50 entire villages may cease to exist due to depopulation.

The country is in transition economically as well. I mentioned that people are getting poorer…in fact prices are not much different today than they were 10 years ago. In a way that is a good thing, but it also reflects that there has been little financial benefit to the average person in the past decade. The country has also recently been rocked by corruption, graft, and theft on a large scale. A former minister of health was sent to jail for stealing $45 Million from the government and using it for a series of massively unsuccessful real estate deals. Then, of course, there has been the theft of $1 Billion from the treasury….without a trace. Several government and banking officials have been implicated, but as of yet neither the money nor the real culprit has been definitely identified. $1 Billion is the annual budget for the entire nation. This loss of money has driven three major banks, two private and one government owned, out of business. The bank in which we had our charity account was one of them, Banca Sociala! Luckily our Angela found out in advance and moved our remaining monthly funds and established a new account with one of the surviving banks. Confidence in the government is at an all-time low. There is a call for the President and several ministers to resign. In fact for several months there has been a form of anti-corruption “occupy” movement in Chisinau with protesters camping out in tents in the square in front of the Parliament. While I was there these protestors grew to more than 80,000 during a massive anti-government rally, very noisy and mostly peaceful it failed to unseat any members of the government.

Prior to this there was much hope in the country. Progress was being made in that many roads were being repaired and improved, and many shopping centers and new apartment complexes were being constructed in Chisinau, although little progress was being made in the other large cities and the smaller villages. Moldova was actively pursuing membership in the European Union (EU), and as such had turned to Romania to help them develop a solution to the large, isolated, orphanage –boarding schools, and begin to reintegrate the children into the local communities which is a requirement of the EU for membership. Romania, now an EU member, was in the same situation a little more than 10 years ago, and had developed a social program that met the EU requirements. This success can be attributed to a program developed in the Bacau Region. It is an elegantly simple plan but still required a commitment from the central and local governments and adequate funding. This program was a hybrid of creating a system of foster care whereby the children who still had living relatives would be placed with those relatives for care. The relatives would receive a stipend form the government for the care of the children, but would receive training from the government on financial management and life skills to ensure that the children were cared for appropriately, and that the money was not squandered or wasted. A social worker would be visiting the families on a regular basis to ensure compliance and that the child was doing well. For those children with no living relatives they were integrated into the community by being broken up into groups of 6-10 to live in a smaller facility with a social worker as supervisor. The children would attend local schools instead of an institutional school and would get involved in extracurricular activities with the local children and thus develop broader social and life skills.

The closing of several of the Moldovan orphanage-boarding schools is one of the first steps in implementing this plan across the country. Several years ago they attempted to create the foster care system, and families were identified and paid stipends, but there were no supervisory checks by social workers nor was there any training given to the families, and so the funds were often wasted on alcohol or cigarettes. The orphanages were not closed as they still provided an education and the children took their meals there and had their extracurricular activities (including the programs established by Project Moldova). The system was less successful than hoped, and many of the children ran away to come back to the orphanages. In one location where the orphanage dormitories were closed the director housed several children in her home for several years. Today, the system in undergoing another transition; this time a bit closer to the Romanian model. The children live in smaller institutions or in pods/clusters in redesigned orphanage living quarters, and attend the local community schools. At our locations, our programs are still providing the extracurricular activities and creative outlets, and vocational training, in those large institutional buildings.

So, now to the specifics of our programs; we are lucky in that the majority of our schools are still open and the project’s programs are still operational. I say lucky, but perhaps I need to find a better word, as I realize that the best thing would be that there was no longer a need for our work. So here is what I found:

Grinautsi-Moldova: This is the school in the far North of the country that was designed to take care of children with “mild mental retardation.” This orphanage will probably close due to a lack of children in that district. When we enquired about our equipment for the programs we were told that it is all gone, and no one knows where it went or who took it. This includes a shoe repair machine provided by a European organization but that we operated and provided the prime materials, the hair care/beauty shop equipment, wood working and ceramics, and carpet making prime materials and tools. Not counting the shoe repair machine, this equates to a several thousand dollar loss. When you add in the value of the shoe repair machine, $7000, the loss is nearly catastrophic since we operate on a shoestring funding stream. Thankfully we fared much better at the other sites.

Ceadir-Lunga: This is the only orphanage-boarding school in Gaugazia so it is not at risk of closing, but its population has dropped off significantly. There used to be upward of 400 children at this site, but now there are only 93. They do receive a few new children every month, however, so the numbers will increase. In this region the director noted that the economic situation is very bad. They are increasing numbers of abandoned children, which to the Gaugazians is reminiscent of the years immediately following WWII! Three boys arrived and had only the clothes on their backs and without shoes. Troubled children are sent there from all over Moldova, and if they only speak Romanian, they must quickly learn Russian which is the regional language. One child, miraculously, was sent there from Ukraine to save him from being a child soldier in the Debalseva region where the civil war is underway. It is here that we have two of our most talented instructors, Mrs. Lydia who teaches carpet making and textiles, and Mr. Andrei who teaches woodworking. The textile and carpet workshop has been moved into a new large room in one of the old dormitory buildings which is a much better lit space than before. Both programs are intact and going well. All tools and equipment are in good working condition. They only need a renewal of prime materials. The wood working here has some of the most intricate ethnic patterns and designs, and the children carve lovely orthodox icons.

Cahul: This orphanage has transitioned to something like the Baku model. The children live in a nicely renovated building which has been divided into pods where 10 children live, separated by boys and girls, each with a central living room and a kitchen and study area, and a supervising instructor. The children go to school in the local community but live and eat in the orphanage. This site also has a new center for older orphans now attending studies in college, called the Casa Mea (my house). There are 9 children living there, boys and girls on different floors. Each floor has a kitchen and a living room with TV. The basement has a study room and library. The children get a stipend and are also sponsored by another international charity, and they receive special instruction in financial management and life skills.

The programs are working well at this site, and about 60 children attend the workshops. Here we sponsor a wood working studio and a sewing center. The orphanage also has its own training program for cooking and kitchen skills. All tools and equipment are intact, but are just getting old and will need upgrades and replacement over the next year.

Carpineni: This institution is small, but it has one of the most dynamic directors whom I have known in the past 16 years. There are currently 80 children in residence, living there and getting their meals there, but they attend school in the city for approximately 6 hours a day. They have several workshops which they all attend; wood working, clothing/textile, and weaving using reeds and corn husks. A Greek organization was so impressed with the woodworking program that the director was able to get a donation of several professional wood working machines. There is a new room currently under renovation where the wood workshop will move in 2016. He was also able to get a soccer field built and artificial turf donated by the Moldovan National Soccer association. He has asked us to consider two new workshops for this site, one in ceramics and one in decorative metal working, both truly vocational training programs. Children used to leave the orphanage at age 16 but now will stay until they turn 18 and finish high school. We had planned to transfer the kiln from Grinautsi-Moldova, but will now have to purchase a new one. The director has done such a good job in providing for the children that I gave him a preliminary “yes” to his request for expansion of the programs. The local vocational training school in the town has closed so we should be able to find two new instructors without any problems.

Straseni: This is one of our very first sites and, while smaller in number, is still going strong. The clinic building is still operational as well. There are 92 children in residence, and they also live and eat there but attend school in the local community. They are under a directive to mix boys and girls in all extracurricular activities, so they are mixed in the carpet/textile and woodworking programs. The woodworking equipment here is reaching wear out. They need new wood burning tools, and carving tools, wood, and frames. The textile program needs all prime materials as well.

Balti: Of the three orphanages in Moldova where Russian is the primary language we have two, Balti and Ceadir-Lunga. The third is Teraspol. This site used to have 300 children but now has only 50 and 5 staff members. The site is shared by the central government and the city, and the Mayor believes that he will keep the orphanage open since there are still children in need. Here the children live, eat, and attend school in the orphanage without association with the other children in the community. It is still operating under the old model. The programs here are doing well, and the children make lovely embroidered and beaded icons.

Leova: This orphanage currently has only 23 children, 17 boys and 6 girls. It is at risk of closing, and this may be its last year in operation, or it may become a hybrid program such as that at Cahul. The children here are in grades 5-9 and arrive at the orphanage with significant social problems. For them, our workshops are a form of occupational therapy. The children live and eat at the orphanage but attend school in the village. Our programs are woodworking, ceramics, and metal working. The director would like to end the metal program and replace it with a weaving program using reeds and corn husks (corn is a major crop in Moldova and so as a prime material husks are plentiful and free). The director is very thankful to us for continuing to partner with her institution as the workshop instructors no longer receive any pay from the government and so their only real income is the $50 per month stipend that we pay! Additionally, we are the only charity still supporting this site. All other organizations have pulled out citing the small number of children as not being cost effective for them. My feeling is different…each child has individual value and represents the as yet untapped future of the country. We will continue to support each child in need at these orphanages.

The orphanages at Orhei and Casanesti are now closed. The tools and equipment at Casanesti are also missing. It is another small catastrophe for us in that we do not have that equipment to transfer to any the fact. Angela did scramble and was able to rescue the equipment from the Orhei workshops. The former instructor for these programs informed us that she would like to continue teaching at anew site. With approval of the Ministry of Education we chose two new sites to continue our work with orphans and at-risk children.

Isacova: This is a community based center, called Arca lui Noe (Noah’s Ark). This village is located near Orhei. It was built originally as a small village hospital but now is shared space between elderly villagers, and at-risk and orphaned children. The elderly use the center three mornings a week while the children are in school in the community. There are currently 60 children, 9 of whom physically live at the center. The remaining children live with their own families or foster families. More children are being identified to take part in the program in the future. Here we have transferred the three Orhei workshops: woodworking, carpet making, and embroidery/textiles. The instructor is truly dedicated to the children, and has such trust in us that she procured prime materials out of pocket out of the knowledge that she would be reimbursed by us. I reimbursed her on the spot and paid her the monthly stipends for teaching three workshops.

Chisinau: While we always knew that there was an orphanage in the capital, it was never our focus as several other organizations had been providing it with support. This support has since ceased. This facility serves Chisinau and several surrounding villages. There are a total of 221 children, 20 of whom are in kindergarten. 60 children physically live in the orphanage; the remainder live in the facility during the week and return home to their villages on the weekend. Here instruction is in both Romanian and Russian. They have plenty of well-lit space for workshops and so the director has asked us to support three; Wood working, ceramics, and Carpet making/textiles/embroidery. Despite the fact that we are currently at a deficit for equipment, with the help of donors I believe that we can equip these workshops soon, and get the programs underway and give the children the creative outlet that they so desperately need.

The trip also included an audience with the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Vladimir, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moldova. I was invited to visit with him by a group of elderly Moldovan nobles who have been providing moral support to the project for some years. Vladimir was pleased to see some of the things that the children had made. I asked him to give a blessing to the project which he promptly did. I flew back home a few days after this visit, and, interestingly, told a close friend about the trip. I mentioned to him how the stipend of $50 per month for each workshop taught was now practically the only income for some of the instructors who had been retired upon the drawdown of their particular orphanages. I mused that I would like to simply increase the stipend to $60 as the extra $10 per month would really make a big difference. He immediately wrote me a check for $3000! So maybe the Metropolitan’s blessing worked. If only fundraising could be that easy and that quick!!!

So to conclude, the country and the orphanage programs are in transition. We are still just as relevant to the wellbeing of the children as we ever were. We have some work to do in order to raise the additional funds to reconstitute the equipment that was lost from two of the closed orphanage sites, and I would like to be able to raise the stipends by $10 per month for more than just this coming year. It currently costs between $20,000 and $23,000 to run the programs each year at our current level. We will need an extra $5000 to buy new equipment to replace the lost items and also $1100 to upgrade and replace some of the worn out tools at the other workshops, above and beyond normal funding levels. Our new steady state funding requirement will be $23,000 to $26,000 per year. Please spread the word about this project, now in its 16th year of operation. We appreciate each and every donation no matter how large or small. It all goes directly to the program in Moldova with the only overhead being banking fees.

Thank you for your continued interest in Project Moldova and in helping the children of Moldova!