Important
The empty, poor Comrat /REPORT
How is the life in Comrat? With this question in mind we went to the capital of the Gagauzia autonomy. Conscious of the rupture between the Gagauz Autonome Territorial Unit and the rest of the republic, we spent a day on the streets of the city, trying to compensate the lack of information.
We arrived in Comrat on a hot Monday, the only day of the week when the local market is closed. The bus left us at the bus station that is located at the beginning of one of the main streets- Pobeda street (Victory street in Russian). Despite the name, the atmosphere was far from being victorious. The bus station is more a bus stop, with no trace of any platform or limits. Two shops are being built in its proximity, the street is full of dust and noise. 
No market day, no life.
We ask for directions for the city center. “On Pobeda, straight forward”, the passersby tell us. We follow their advice, but, as we advance, we cannot believe. With the exception of some 100 meters of paved sidewalk, a church and a park in the neighborhood, the street looks like a wider village street. Both the road and the sidewalk are in a terrible state. A slightly big part of the buildings look like haunted rural houses. Nevertheless, the locals confirm that this is the center of Comrat. A man, whom we ask as tourists, tells us that Pobeda street is called this way because “in the times of the Soviet Union, the fascists marched on this road and the Red Army defeated them”. “That’s why it looks like this”, we tell him.
Not only the look of the Pobeda street produces mixed feelings. The almost empty streets create the impression of an emergency situation, when the people are hidden in their houses. Here, there, there are some two people, who missed the emergency message to stay in safety at home. “Today is not market day”, we learn from a seller of Kvas (soft drink from wheat). This explains the emptiness of the streets. In other days, the Pobeda street is full of sellers, products and buyers from the entire region. While Comrat has a population of 23 thousand people…
We meet Igor, a car mechanic. “Now people work on fields, do cleaning, they don’t have time to rest. Earlier, Comrat was a Soviet city, it used to look like Tiraspol. Now it’s better, there are different buildings being built, we have all kinds of shops”, he tells us.
-What do the people do in their spare time?
-What do you mean by what? We have three swimming pools, we have discos, parks with summer bars. We have plenty of activities!
-But you can’t just stay under the sun or in the bars. Do you have, say, cinemas?
-We don’t have any cinema.
-But what do young people do?
-The young ones work. Why do you think there is no one on the street? Everyone is on the fields, they work!
-Are there any other jobs, that do not require physical activity, for young people?
-You know, we are in a region, where, if you don’t work the field, you don’t have anything to eat. Surely, there is the services domain- shops, sales, brick producing, says Igor.
The 60 years old pensioner, Veronica, says that she needs to sells tomatoes and peppers at the market, as her 1000 lei pension doesn’t cover anything but the utility costs. “I buy the vegetables from big sellers. The city is good, only the pension is small. We are a separate republic from Moldova. What will happen next, I don’t know. Our capital looks more like a village, no big talk. Nothing is constructed, the roads are not repaired, there is need of lots of money”, complains Veronica. According to her, the pension is not enough for the pensioners, while the young people don’t have anything to do and go abroad, “where the work is paid better than in Gagauzia”.
“Here you cannot afford buying a house, where can families live, how can they feed the kids? My daughter studies to become an engineer-constructor, not an easy job. I worked my entire life in colhoz and factories and I regret I didn’t study. If I had a profession, I would have a pension like other people. If I could turn the time back, I would learn accounting. When I was young, I wouldn’t want to study because I didn’t need it. Then I regretted it”, says the woman. She is a widow, while her daughter went to study in Chișinău and plans to work in France. According to Veronica, Gagauz people usually go to Czechia, Germany, USA, Canada, Russia. Italy and Spain are not popular among them.
Gagauz legends
We go to the park with the hope that we might have missed the beauty of the center. Someone suggests we should visit the art gallery within the Tourism and Culture Department of Gagauzia. It is working for 16 years, now it hosts an exhibition from Chișinău, brought by the International Spiritual University Brahma Kumaris. An employee meets us, takes us in a little excursion and tells us more about the city. “The church is from 1840, but the architect is unknown, because the documents burned in the sixties. One of the legends says that the project was implemented in Comrat because the architect was served with Gagauz meals and wines. Dizzy from the goods he ate and drank, he wouldn’t observe that his project was changed with another one”, she tells. Moreover, we learn that the Glory Alley shows the sculptures of the people who contributed to creating the Gagauz history. “There is Marunevich who helped to gain the autonomy without any bloodshed. Although there is nothing written about this, she was taking care of documents, travelling to countries where she would tell about Gagauz people and the necessity of the autonomy. We are a minority here, but we are still people, not Moldovans, not Bulgarians”, she explains.
Seems like a big part of the Gagauz history is fed by legends. We learn from our guide that another legends for tourists says that Gagauz people had their state in Bulgaria, close to Turkey. “The Turks left us in peace, because we spoke their language, Bulgarians did the same as we were Christians too. But suddenly, when attacks against Gagauz started, General Inzov learned about them and insisted that Catherine II of Russia would move Gagauz people in actual territories. This is a story for tourists. How was it, nobody knows. In those times, nobody knew about Gagauz people, only about Bulgarians”, the guide tells.
Russian- “international language” in Gagauzia
In one of the shopping centers, on the last floor, there is a center for studies of Gagauz culture and language, where everyone can learn anything about this ethnicity, from grammar to customs. “I am Gagauz, but I don’t know much about our people. I know the language, but my mother is Moldovan, my father is Gagauz. The mother spoke Moldovan, father- Gagauz. Until the fifth grade, I used to go to Moldovan school, when it was opened. Then, in 1995, there were big problems, we didn’t have books for studying. We didn’t have enough teachers. That’s why we went back to the Gagauz schools, where we study in Russian, which is our international language”, remembers the guide from museum, whose name we couldn’t find.
The problem of education in Romanian was somehow solved. Although there is only one high school that offers this kind of studies, it became popular in the last years and now the director is searching for new places for new students. “We tried to go to the Moldovan primary school, but it was hard and we renounced. Some went there, because of the prolonged schedule, where students have additional time to do their homework. Even the director of the school told that he was searching for places so that all the students get in. It is comfortable for parents, the children learn the Moldovan language and come with their homework done. If the students plan to study in Chișinău, there is no meaning to go to the Russian school. We wanted that our (kids) to leave from here”, says Ala, mother of two pupils and a kindergarten kid.
“Some say we must speak Romanian”
Walking on Comrat’s streets, we meet Alexandru, a 22 years old young man, sitting comfortably on a car seat next to house wall. In front of him, we find a box of peaches and a piramide of watermelons. A night before he came back from Moscow, where he has a small business. “Yesterday I returned from Russia and started working immediately. I have a small business there, I sell watermelons and vegetables. Everything can be found there, but of course, everything is imported. My mother works at the market for 22 years. My father has a business of watermelons and I help him. We have greenhouses at home where we grow tomatoes”, tells Alexandru.
According to him, the people of Comrat are good, kind, helpful and very hardworking. “Problems are many, the first is related to the bad roads, probably because of the government. I very much hope that the leadership changes and the things get back to their places. I like our Moldova, our country and I don’t want to go anywhere, I want to stay at home. I want that Moldova stays as it is, nor in the European Union, nor in the Customs Union. We can be friends with everyone, but I cannot give up on my country. Moldova is a small, fertile country, we have lands that can be cultivated. If everyone worked without schemes like our government, we would have roads like in Germany”, says the young man.
After we tried to explain the bad situation from Russia, it didn’t take a long time for the young man to ask us which part of the baricade we are, being firmly convinced we are from an European country. We tell him that we came to write about Comrat because at Chișinău, the reality from Gagauzia is unknown. “Of course nobody knows nothing. I am personally very friendly with Moldovans, I have friends from Bălți, Chișinău and some villages. I know that Gagauz people are not liked at Chișinău. Or, if we come to you, some say we must speak Romanian, but we, the people from the south, don’t know this language. What bothers me the most is that you call it this way. Moldova was formed way before Romania. It is a matter of history, you are intelligent people… But let’s go back to what I said. For example, when I go to a hospital in Chișinău and I don’t know Moldovan, I am being objected and some don’t want to talk to me. I would like to be treated normally”, complains Alexandru.
“We live with Russian movies and shows”
Not long before our visit to Comrat, the leader of the region, Irina Vlah, issued a press-release in which she announced that Gagauzia wouldn’t obey to the new rules of the Audiovisual Code of Moldova, that stipulated the exclusion of Russian TV channels. Vlah thinks that it would “be equal with the exclusion of the Russian language from the social sphere of Moldova” and that the modifications are in contradiction with the interests and needs of people of Gagauzia.
“The referendum showed what position Gagauz people have. We don’t want them to take the Russian TV out, otherwise we will live in a reservation. Is French or English closer than Russian? We live with the Russian movies and shows, why would I watch the German ones? I don’t understand anything. On Moldovan TV channels, they only play and sing, no good films are shown. There is no meaning in banning the Russian TV. If I want to learn the news from Russia, I will find them on the internet. Now, even the elder ones have access to the internet, especially those ones with children who work abroad”, tries to convince us the car mechanic Igor.
“Now nobody knows how true is the information told on TV. Everyone is making advertisement for themselves. The truth is that I don’t watch the news on TV, I have an app on the phone that combines international sources of news. If I want to read about Moldova, I read gagauz.info, a local source”, declares Alisa, a 35 years old woman.
At the postal office, we learn that the most newspapers among Gagauz people are the Russian ones. There are only two Romanian newspapers and even those have few subscribers.
Author:Ana Gherciu
Society
“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees
At the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In one corner of the room there is a logistics planning meeting, someone has a call on Zoom with partners and donors, someone else finally managed to take a cookie and make some coffee. Everyone is exhausted and have sleepy red eyes, but the volunteers still have a lot of energy and dedication to help in creating a safe place for the Ukrainian refugees.
“It’s like a continuous bustle just so you won’t read the news. You get home sometimes and you don’t have time for news, and that somehow helps. It’s a kind of solidarity and mutual support,” says Vlada Ciobanu, volunteer responsible for communication and fundraising.
The volunteers group was formed from the very first day of war. A Facebook page was created, where all types of messages immediately started to flow: “I offer accommodation”, “I want to help”, “I want to get involved”, “Where can I bring the products?”, “I have a car and I can go to the customs”. Soon, the authorities also started asking for volunteers’ support. Now they all work together, coordinate activities and try to find solutions to the most difficult problems.
Is accommodation needed for 10, 200 or 800 people? Do you need transportation to the customs? Does anyone want to deliver 3 tons of apples and does not know where? Do you need medicine or mobile toilets? All these questions require prompt answers and actions. Blankets, sheets, diapers, hygiene products, food, clothes – people bring everything, and someone needs to quickly find ways of delivering them to those who need them.
Sometimes this collaboration is difficult, involves a lot of bureaucracy, and it can be difficult to get answers on time. “Republic of Moldova has never faced such a large influx of refugees and, probably because nobody thought this could happen, a mechanism of this kind of crisis has not been developed. Due to the absence of such a mechanism that the state should have created, we, the volunteers, intervened and tried to help in a practical way for the spontaneous and on the sport solutions of the problems,” mentions Ecaterina Luțișina, volunteer responsible for the refugees’ accommodation.
Ana Maria Popa, one of the founders of the group “Help Ukrainians in Moldova/SOS Українці Молдовa” says that the toughest thing is to find time and have a clear mind in managing different procedures, although things still happen somehow naturally. Everyone is ready to intervene and help, to take on more responsibilities and to act immediately when needed. The biggest challenges arise when it is necessary to accommodate large families, people with special needs, for which alternative solutions must be identified.
Goods and donations
The volunteers try to cope with the high flow of requests for both accommodation and products of all kinds. “It came to me as a shock and a panic when I found out that both mothers who are now in Ukraine, as well as those who found refuge in our country are losing their milk because of stress. We are trying to fill an enormous need for milk powder, for which the demand is high and the stocks are decreasing”, says Steliana, the volunteer responsible for the distribution of goods from the donation centers.
Several centers have been set up to collect donations in all regions of Chisinau, and volunteers are redirecting the goods to where the refugees are. A system for processing and monitoring donations has already been established, while the volunteer drivers take over the order only according to a unique code.
Volunteers from the collection centers also do the inventory – the donated goods and the distributed goods. The rest is transported to Vatra deposit, from where it is distributed to the placement centers where more than 50 refugees are housed.
When they want to donate goods, but they don’t know what would be needed, people are urged to put themselves in the position of refugees and ask themselves what would they need most if they wake up overnight and have to hurriedly pack their bags and run away. Steliana wants to emphasise that “these people are not needy, but these people need help. They did not choose to end up in this situation.”
Furthermore, the volunteer Cristina Sîrbu seeks to identify producers and negotiate prices for products needed by refugees, thus mediating the procurement process for NGOs with which she collaborates, such as Caritas, World Children’s Fund, Polish Solidarity Fund, Lifting hands, Peace Corps and others.
One of the challenges she is facing now is the identifying a mattress manufacturer in the West, because the Moldovan mattress manufacturer that has been helping so far no longer has polyurethane, a raw material usually imported from Russia and Ukraine.
Cristina also needs to find solutions for the needs of the volunteer groups – phones, laptops, gsm connection and internet for a good carrying out of activities.
Hate messages
The most difficult thing for the communication team is to manage the hate messages on the social networks, which started to appear more often. “Even if there is some sort of dissatisfaction from the Ukrainian refugees and those who offer help, we live now in a very diverse society, there are different kind of people, and we act very differently under stress,” said Vlada Ciobanu.
Translation by Cătălina Bîrsanu
Important
#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression
The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against the Russian aggression. In a digital world – it is an interactive map of public support of Ukrainians under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.”
„Today, along with the political and military support, emotional connection with the civilized world and truthful information are extremely important for Ukraine. The power to do it is in your hands. Join the #WorldForUkraine project and contribute to the victorious battle against the bloodshed inflicted on Ukraine by the aggression of the Russian Federation”, says the „about the project” section of the platform.
Go to the streets — Tell people — Connect and Unite — Become POWERFUL
Volunteers have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression. In digital world – it is an INTERACTIVE MAP of public support of Ukrainians worldforukraine.net under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.” There you may find information about past and future rallies in your city in support of Ukraine. This is a permanent platform for Ukrainian diaspora and people all over the world concerned about the situation in Ukraine.
So here’s a couple of things you could do yourself to help:
* if there is a political rally in your city, then participate in it and write about it on social media with geolocation and the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
* if there are no rallies nearby, organize one in support of Ukraine yourself, write about it on social media with geolocation adding the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
The map will add information about gathering by #WorldForUkraine AUTOMATICALLY
Your voice now stronger THAN ever
All rallies are already here: https://worldforukraine.net
Important
How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained
From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of Moldova. 33 173 of them left the country. As of this moment, there are 38 186 Ukrainian citizens in Moldova, who have arrived over the past 100 hours.
The Moldovan people and authorities have organized themselves quickly from the first day of war between Russia and Ukraine. However, in the event of a prolonged armed conflict and a continuous influx of Ukrainian refugees, the efforts and donations need to be efficiently managed. Thus, we inquired about Moldova’s long-term plan and the state’s capacity to receive, host, and treat a bigger number of refugees.
On February 26th, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Moldova approved the Regulation of organization and functioning of the temporary Placement Center for refugees and the staffing and expenditure rules. According to the Regulation, the Centers will have the capacity of temporary hosting and feeding at least 20 persons, for a maximum of 3 months, with the possibility of extending this period. The Centers will also offer legal, social, psychological, and primary medical consultations to the refugees. The Center’s activity will be financed from budget allocations, under Article 19 of Provision no. 1 of the Exceptional Situations Commission from February 24th, 2022, and from other sources of funding that do not contravene applicable law.
The Ministry of Inner Affairs and the Government of Moldova facilitated the organization of the volunteers’ group “Moldova for Peace”. Its purpose is to receive, offer assistance and accommodation to the Ukrainian refugees. The group is still working on creating a structure, registering and contacting volunteers, etc. It does not activate under a legal umbrella.
Lilia Nenescu, one of the “Moldova for Peace” volunteers, said that the group consists of over 20 people. Other 1700 registered to volunteer by filling in this form, which is still available. The group consists of several departments:
The volunteers’ department. Its members act as fixers: they’re responsible for connecting the people in need of assistance with the appropriate department. Some of the volunteers are located in the customs points. “The Ministry of Inner Affairs sends us every day the list of the customs points where our assistance is needed, and we mobilize the volunteers”, says Lilia Nenescu.
The Goods Department manages all the goods donated by the Moldavian citizens. The donations are separated into categories: non-perishable foods and non-food supplies. The volunteers of this department sort the goods into packages to be distributed.
The Government intends to collect all the donations in four locations. The National Agency for Food Safety and the National Agency for Public Health will ensure mechanisms to confirm that all the deposited goods comply with safety and quality regulations.
The Service Department operates in 4 directions and needs the volunteer involvement of specialists in psychology, legal assistance (the majority of the refugees only have Ukrainian ID and birth certificates of their children); medical assistance; translation (a part of the refugees are not Ukrainian citizens).
According to Elena Mudrîi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, so far there is no data about the number of Covid-19 positive refugees. She only mentioned two cases that needed outpatient medical assistance: a pregnant woman and the mother of a 4-day-old child.
The Accommodation Department. The volunteers are waiting for the centralized and updated information from the Ministry of Labor about the institutions offering accommodation, besides the houses offered by individuals.
The Transport Department consists of drivers organized in groups. They receive notifications about the number of people who need transportation from the customs points to the asylum centers for refugees.
The municipal authorities of Chișinău announced that the Ukrainian children refugees from the capital city will be enrolled in educational institutions. The authorities also intend to create Day-Care Centers for children, where they will be engaged in educational activities and will receive psychological assistance. Besides, the refugees from the municipal temporary accommodation centers receive individual and group counseling.
In addition to this effort, a group of volunteers consisting of Ana Gurău, Ana Popapa, and Andrei Lutenco developed, with the help of Cristian Coșneanu, the UArefugees platform, synchronized with the responses from this form. On the first day, 943 people offered their help using the form, and 110 people asked for help. According to Anna Gurău, the volunteers communicate with the Government in order to update the platform with the missing data.
Translation from Romanian by Natalia Graur
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