Connect with us

Diaspora

Stories from diaspora / Irina Madan: “I live between two worlds and I try to bring them together”

Published

on

Reading Time: 5 minutes

It’s time for a new story from Diaspora – the series of articles meant to demonstrate once again that there are so many exceptional people from Moldova who can move mountains even though they are far from their homeland.

This is a story of a dedicated and extremely creative woman – Irina Madan who gave a new definition to painting. She blends fashion with art painting and spices it up with traditional ornaments brought from Moldova. Each of her works is a unique masterpiece.

About the path to achieve her biggest dream

Irina is passionate about art and fashion design since her childhood. That was the moment when her talent started to crystallize. “I remember my favourite activity back then – drawing and making dolls’ clothes,” recalls Irina. She always wanted to learn professional painting but was given this opportunity only at the age of 19, when she took her first painting course in order to prepare for the entrance examination at the Academy of Arts in Chișinău. “The art education offered me the possibility to fulfil my childhood dream and showed me the path I want to follow,” she says. During the 5 years of activity, she managed to accomplish a lot of her dreams and tried to enjoy every step to her biggest dream.

“I dream of having my own fashion house, go to the street and see happy people dressed in my painted clothes. I want paintings to be dressed all over the world.”

About leaving home

It wasn’t easy to leave Moldova and to move to San Diego, a city located in California, the Unites States. “I faced many difficulties in the US, but there were beautiful things as well. Every day is a new challenge as one must start it from scratch,” states Irina. “San Diego is a truly artistic city and I am glad that I can live here.” A young artist like her manages to make a living by selling art work, but at the same time, there are many other possibilities for employment.

According to Irina, the hardest thing in the adaptation process is to cope with the internal struggle, not to surrender to the obstacles. “A part of my soul remained in Moldova because that is the place I was born in and that is the place where my dearest people live. That makes me think of home and miss it a lot,” Irina says. She returns home every half a year.

“I really wanted to make my dream come true at home, but from the inability to do it, I had to leave.”

Irina believes that a person that lives abroad can contribute to the well-being of his home country by promoting its values. “Most Americans do not know where Moldova is, although in California it happened several times to meet people who had heard about our country and had known more details about its history,” declares Irina. The thoughts about Moldova offer her peace of mind. “I always try to emphasize the beautiful things about my homeland. Moreover, I feel proud to represent Moldova through my creations that show how wonderful my country is,” Irina states.

About her works

The idea of painting on clothes came in 2013 while Irina was working on her bachelor’s graduation collection. The source of inspiration for her first collection was Venice – the city that helped our protagonist discover her vocation. “I did not know that I was going to create a hand-painted collection. I was sure that I won’t find such fabrics in the regular shops, so I started to produce it myself by painting it,” mentions Irina. In the summer of the same year, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in fashion design. At the beginning of autumn 2013, Irina began to create custom-made clothes and continues to do it.

The today’s stimulus for Irina’s creations are her own feelings. “I’m trying to play with colours and tell a tale through each of the paintings on the vestments. I am also inspired by artistic and vibrant places from nature, and by music,” specifies Irina. She never looks into the works of other artists because that would be unconsciously translated into her creations. Thus, there would be no room for originality.

“I think we can create trends by ourselves because what comes from inside, characterizes us. Every person is unique, and the inspiration can be found in nature and in our inner world.”

A manually painted dress hides a large amount of work and emotions behind it. The entire process lasts for two weeks on average and begins with shaping the idea. Then, the composition is sketched on a piece of white cloth. The next stage is painting. After the painting has dried, the clothing details are cut and the entire process of sewing a garment follows. “I have to execute the entire process by myself. Therefore, it lasts longer,” says Irina. Yet, the result of her efforts and the fact that it is appreciated by people inspires and motivates her to create more. “There is no greater happiness for an artist than the appreciation of his creations,” says Irina with a bright smile on her face. The works of Irina Madan won a multitude of international awards, including the 3rd place at the Top Designer Award Fashion Week in San Diego, in October 2018.

Irina’s most precious work is called “Fata Moșneagului”, a fantastic dress inspired by a Romanian fairy tale character – a hard-working and kind girl that managed to make her dream come true. “That is the work I would certainly never sell. I remember when I was at a presentation in London, in 2015, and a lady wanted to buy this particular dress. She was really insistent, but I did not sell it anyway. This dress reflects my personality and I have a spiritual connection with it,” confesses Irina. Some of her works can be found here.

The dress “Fata moșneagului” by Irina Madan

We are happy that Irina found her vocation and wish her all the best in the future. Her work springs from her soul and spirit and it deserves to be recognised.

More of Irina’s works as following:

Photo source: personal archive

Jurnalistă that speaks English very well. De aia Maria are grijă că prietenii noștri străini să nu piardă nicio informație valoroasă despre actualitatea din Moldova.

Society

“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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

Continue Reading

Important

#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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

Continue Reading

Important

How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained 

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Latest News

Society2 years ago

“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees

Reading Time: 3 minutes At the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In...

Important2 years ago

#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression

Reading Time: 2 minutes The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform...

Important2 years ago

How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained 

Reading Time: 3 minutes From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of...

Opinion2 years ago

Russia And Ukraine At The Beginning of 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes This opinion piece was written by Dr. Nicholas Dima. Dr. Dima was formerly a Professor of Geography...

Culture2 years ago

The man raising children on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutes On the Nistru, near the village of Varnița, a few colored pens with blue dots in...

Culture2 years ago

The village of the first astronomer in the Republic of Moldova

Reading Time: 5 minutes From eight in the morning till noon, every Thursday and Sunday, people lay their merchandise on...

Culture2 years ago

The prodigal son returns and turns his grandparents’ home in a tourist attraction on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutes On the road towards the school, a well-maintained rural house catches your eye, yellow stags painted...

Advertisement

Opinions

Advertisement

Trending