Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
Day 36 - July 18th - Moldova (Health Project)
Day 36 – Sat July 18th
– Moldova (Health Project)
It was a much earlier start today.
The Salvation Army van was waiting faithfully for us at 7:50am out
the front of our Aparthotel on the magnificent Boulevarde Grigore
Vieru with young Slava at the wheel and his mother Major Elena
Kotrutsa in the passenger seat, neither of whom we expected. It
turned out that Slava Snr was far to unwell to come as planned – we
were heading out of town some distance to the village of Clisova,
perhaps some 50-60k to the north west of Chisinau to observe the work
of a village Health Medical project that is sponsored by The
Salvation Army. Actually, for Julie it was a day of work – she has
lugged a special Digital SLR camera with her (but I’ve lugged the
tripod) so she can film the project for The Salvation Army’s
Missionary Appeal campaign back in Australia.
Both Elena and her husband Slava
have been Salvation Army Pastors for some 15 years and are very
faithful and dedicated people. It was fascinating to sit in the car
and be part of the conversation, to learn more about their lives and
their service and also the work of The Salvation Army in this former
Soviet bloc country.
The Health Project involves seven
Doctors, a Nurse and a Social Worker who devote 36 Saturdays a year
to attending to the medical needs of people in 12 village communities
– this means that the team visit each community three times
annually to try to meet the needs of hundreds of people each time
they attend. This is a costly project for which funding is sought
from outside sources (and up to about a third internal funding) to
ensure that people in village communities who are normally outside
the reach of much needed medical care get the medical support.
After about an hour’s drive
through beautiful Moldovan rural countryside, we turned off the main
road and then maneuvered our way through a number of gravel roads
into the tiny village of Clisova, the population of which was about
1250 people. With the assistance of the local administration, the
village people had been notified and actually organized into three
‘shifts’ so as to spread the load more evenly throughout the day.
Another bus had brought the participating Doctors (all of whom have
practices in Chisinau but who willingly make their time available for
this project for the 36 Saturdays annually.
As we turned into the dusty side
lane to the run down old building used for the ‘clinic’, there
was already a large crowd of mostly mothers, grandmothers and
children waiting in the sun for the medical team to arrive. First
patients were to be seen at 10am, and then continued all day. Amongst
the doctors was a Pediatrician, and Ear/Nose/Throat Specialist, and a
Cardiologist to name three.
It was actually a sad scene to stand
back and to sense something of the anxiety for remote and poor
village people hoping to have their ‘moment’ with the Doctor and
hoping not to miss out. We take so much for granted when we live in a
country like my own with a Medical Centre in virtually every suburb.
The Doctor in charge was actually a
Salvationist – Dr Nikolai Caraman – and who is a priceless human
being. It was easy to see that this was his love and passion, not
just his profession. He gathered the crowd around him and spoke to
them in Moldovan while Elena translated for me. He told the crowd
about the Medical Project and The Salvation Army, but explained very
nicely that this was not intended to encourage people to change their
faith but in fact he said that the Project had the full support of
the Orthodox Church to which most if not all of them belonged. As was
the practice, he asked the Salvation Army Social Worker to offer a
prayer for the people, and it was amazing how the crowd of
potentially bustling and anxious people fell instantly quiet as the
Social Worker prayed a lovely prayer.
Amazingly, the people were shuffled
into different groups waiting to see different Doctors, and the day
was underway. There were about 230 patients attended to during the
day, with some 28 single mothers with young children (single can also
mean with father’s absent working abroad, and often not returning).
We were able to sit with Dr Caraman for a late morning tea, who
explained some of the challenging medical situations they face – a
number of Mums have fed their children cow’s milk when their own
breast milk ran dry, causing either permanent mental disability or
other complications due to the bacteria in the milk.
Many children are mal/under
nourished, and many people suffer serious conditions which cannot be
solved. One young woman, due to serious dental infections had caused
her to be deaf in both ears. We were present to see the Doctor fit
her new hearing aid and to hear her words of excitement when she
could hear again.
It was very moving to stand back and
to see the continual steam of people coming from all parts of the
village – some very old and moving slowly, others young pushing
prams, others were grandmothers bringing grandchildren – walking in
the heat along the long dusty roads because they had need to see the
team of Doctors from The Salvation Army. If they missed today, it
could be another 4 months before they get medical care again.
Today was a very sober reminder of
the critical work of the ministries of compassion and mercy that are
carried out by people like Majors Elena and Slava. Without them, and
the sacrifice they make, it would be a much poorer world indeed.
As we drove away on a dusty road
that divided the beautiful sunflower fields from fields with sheep
and cattle grazing, the medical work in the now distanced tiny
village of Clisova continued throughout the rest of the day.
On our return to Chisinau, we
detoured slightly to the south east of Chisinau to the border
community of Vadul Lui Voda where a summer camp for school children
was being conducted, and of which The Salvation Army had some 30
children participating along with team members. It was good to call
in and meet some of the Salvation Army youth leaders. These camps are
not dissimilar to the summer camps that are common throughout the USA
during the long school Summer holidays.
The other fascinating aspect about
this is that it brought us to the border of Transnistria, a breakaway
State located on a strip of land between the river Dniester and the
Eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Having declared its
independence in 1990, it was fascinating to see kids from the camp
swimming in the river, but on the far side of the river the region
being patrolled by armed border guards. Although it’s not
recognized by any United Nations member State, Moldova does give it a
special legal status. It’s population is mostly Russian who did not
want to separate from the Soviet Union when the USSR was dissolved,
which actually led to military conflict in 1992.
It is a bit of a puzzle how it
continues to survive, especially as local feeling is that relations
with both Russia and Ukraine have cooled somewhat. As we drove away
and headed for nearby Chisinau, we passed one of the entry gates into
Transnistria with a standing tank and a number of armed border
guards. The nearby capital city of Moldova was as close to
Transnistria as Canberra is to Queanbeyan!
Our day finished beautifully sharing
a lovely dinner with Slava Snr (who was clearly not well at all) and
Elena, and their son Slava Jnr. It was a very fitting way to bring
our time to a close in the beautiful country of Moldova. We will long
hold very fond memories of Moldova, and especially the wonderful
people.
From our humble Aparthotel for the
final evening in the wonderful country of Moldova, we send our love.
KRA
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Day 35 - July 17th - Moldova
Day 35 – Fri July 17th – Moldova
We had a slightly easier day planned for today, and by the way we are feeling we really need a slower day including some ‘down time’. Young Slava offered to show us some sights in the old part of the city and then leave us for some free time during the afternoon. We enjoyed our usual breakfast at the usual place and were ready by 10am for our excursion with Slava.
He took us to the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History of Moldova which is the oldest museum in Moldova having been founded in 1889 by Baron A. Stuart. The beautiful old building was built over 100 years ago, but looked like it was several centuries old. We are not normally keen museum consumers, but this one had a number of quite fascinating features.
Firstly the preserved animals and evidence of archeological findings of animals of past millennia. The very life like boar pigs were waist high with tusks that would make an elephant proud! The bears are always of interest – the one disappointing thing about our pilgrimage to Romania and Moldova was that we failed to see a bear in the wild – stuffed and life-like were the best that we could do. The most amazing though was the actual bones of dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures which obviously walked this ancient land so long ago. The near complete skeleton of something akin to a brontosaurus was found at the bottom of one of Moldova’s lakes. It was twice the size of an elephant.
Julie of course loved the history of the traditional clothing which was on display. How the women managed to make beautiful creations for both men and women stands as a tribute to their skill and their ingenuity. Some of the old looms on display were quite amazing.
We went from the Museum to the “Eternity Memorial” in the heart of Chisinau, the largest War Memorial in the city which was opened in 1975. The main monument is composed of five stylized rifles forming a 25 metre high pyramid, each one representing each year of the WW2 conflict from 1941 to 1945 when Moldovan troops fought as part of the Russian military against Nazi Germany. An eternal flame burns at the centre of the monument with an impressive honour guard of two young soldiers who stand ‘statue’ still for their shift of some 5 hours each.
Adjacent to the War memorial complex is the oldest cemetery in Chisinau, which despite the very impressive tombs and large ornate graves and headstones of marble, was surprisingly untidy with very long grass and scrub that detracted from the otherwise beautiful graves. At the centre of the cemetery was a lovely Orthodox chapel, but due to a funeral service taking place indoors we were unable to go inside.
We visited Chisinau’s answer to the London Borough Market, which was probably just as cramped with fruit, vegetables and wares of all kinds, also fish, bread, and clothing. It was nice to walk through for the experience, and to get a feel for the kind of life that people from the local rural communities live, and their need to carve out a livelihood of some kind.
We took Slava Junior to lunch at ‘La Placinta’. He is a very intelligent 20 year old and fascinating to listen to as a young person finding his way in this country as it emerges from so many years of Communist rule. He took us for a ride on the famous Chisinau Trolley Bus to the top of the main square in Chisinau, where we said our goodbyes for the day. Behind us was the beautiful House of Parliament for Moldova, and across the road at the top of Boulevarde Grigore Vieru (actually the same street as our apartment) stood the magnificent Triumphal Arch. Perhaps not quite the ‘Arc de triumph’ of Paris, but similar and to the Moldovans, just as meaningful. It was built in 1840 to commemorate the victory of the Russians over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish war 1828-29. The huge 6400kg bell was smelted with the copper of the cannons captured from the Ottomans.
The photos will show that just behind the triumphal Arch at the top of the Boulevarde Grigore Vieru is the beautiful Nativity Cathedral (Cathedral of Christ’s Nativity’). Built in 1830, the Cathedral was bombed in WW2, with its bell tower destroyed by the local Communists in 1962. Worship was prohibited during the Soviet period following WW2 with the Cathedral being used as an exhibition centre. It was good to see it once again restored to its original purpose and being so well preserved and used once again.
The day was long and hot. We valued a few free hours to ourselves to return to our humble apartment to enjoy a late afternoon snooze while watching the finishing stages of the Tour de France.
Tomorrow is our final full day on the soil of Moldova, a country and people we have come to love and respect. We will be leaving early to again head north to a small rural village to observe first-hand The Salvation Army’s mobile medical clinic at work. From the security of our lovely apartment at the Aparthotel on Boulevarde Grigore Vieru, we send our love.
KRA
Day 34 - July 16th - Moldova (Soroca)
Day 34 – July 16th – Moldova (Soroca)
The dawned nicely with the promise of fine, warm weather again. We enjoyed the opportunity to linger over the breakfast at the plush Italian restaurant next door to our ‘Aparthotel’, the quality of which still continued to impress us. Both Slava senior and junior were picking us up today for a day of sightseeing at the very northern border of Moldova on the eastern edge of Ukraine.
They called for us at 10am and we headed north out of town, basically retracing the route from the day before. We passed through Orhei and continued on what was a very good highway for another 130k to the northern border town of Soroca. The countryside all the way was flat, with magnificent views of beautiful rural landscapes of sunflowers and other crops. The fields were wide and open, stretching to the horizon with occasional villages.
Soroca is known for its high population of ‘Roma’ or ‘Romani’ people, better known by the exonym ‘Gypsies’. We have seen the Roma people in Turkey and Romania in particular, particularly as beggars in the city areas and also in small communities outside of towns and cities. Originating in India over 1,000 years ago, they have become common particularly in Eastern Europe but also wider Europe and the Americas. In WW2 the Nazis embarked on systematic genocide of the Romani, and were often shot on sight. There is now a lovely memorial to the Romani people in the park alongside the Reichstag in Berlin.
The Romani are most often connected to poverty, mainly due to the sights of beggars on the streets, however, we were amazed at the opulence of some of the housing in Soroca which is owned by Romani which is a whole different story which is probably not the subject to cover in this blog.
Soroca is also famous for the 12th century Fort which takes the name of the city – Fort Soroca. The Fort sits on the edge of Soroca, on the river Nistru which forms the border between Moldova and Ukraine, and was built by Prince Stephen the Great in 1499 as part of a chain of nine forts protecting the northern frontier of the Kingdom. It is built in a perfect circle with five bastions at equal distances. There are beautiful views from the turrets across the city and especially the river Nistru and across the border into Ukraine.
Before leaving Soroca, we made our way along narrow country lanes until we came upon the other great attraction of Soroca – the ‘Thanksgiving Candle’ or ‘Candle Monument’ which includes an Orthodox Chapel in its base. It sits high on a point above a bend in the Nistru River just downstream from the township of Soroca, but with breathtaking views across the river into Ukraine to the north. The monument is 20 metres tall and symbolizes a candle, representing a tribute to the many heroes of Moldova who have preserved the culture, language and history of the country. Although voted on in 1918, it took until 2004 before it was finally constructed and opened.
We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at one of Moldova’s chain food stores – Andy’s Pizzas – which seem to be everywhere and which offer a very good quality of service and also food. The trip home was very long. The day was hot and all four of us were keen for a ‘nanny nap’ before thinking about dinner.
We have enjoyed being able to tune in to the Tour de France at a reasonable hour, the finish being usually about 6pm which is certainly better than 1am back home. We joined Majors Graeme and Helene Carey for dinner at another of Moldova’s chain restaurants – the ‘La Placinta’. The Carey’s are the Regional Commanders of The Salvation Army work here in Moldova, and are due to enter retirement back in England on 1 September. It was wonderful to catch up with them and to spend good fellowship and friendship with them that is not normally possible from our side of the world.
As the sun sets at the end of another long but gratifying day here in this wonderful country of Moldova, we send our love.
KRA
Friday, July 17, 2015
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