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
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