Humanitarian Aid in Moldova - Sponsorship for Older Orphans
OUR WORK IN MOLDOVA
Wide Horizons provides educational sponsorships for orphans graduating out of the orphanage system. Educational sponsorship allows orphans to learn an employable trade thereby preventing them from being forced into human trafficking (orphans from Eastern Europe are especially vulnerable to being trafficked). WHFC also sponsors older children with special needs, enabling them to receive urgent surgeries which provide them with a new lease on life. These children are then able to pursue their educational and career goals.
Educational Sponsorship
"I wish I had a room of my own where I could go to and sleep. I will work with time, and I will figure out something. But at this moment I have nothing, just this room in the dorm that I'm staying in. It has no warm water, sometimes no electricity, and no place to take a shower. I see the other children every now and again; they have a home; they have a family, parents, and anything they could wish for. Then I ask myself 'Why did God give all that to them and not to me? Why did they get everything and I can not have a family — a thing that I want the most? Why?"
Elena, orphan in Moldova
Elena is one of thousands of orphans graduating from Moldova's orphanages who are forced to find a way in life without the support of a loving family. Loneliness, fear, and despair are part of the everyday lives of Elena and the other orphans in Moldova and around the world. Elena's story is happier than many orphans, however. Today she is completing her third and final year in an Information Technology program at Informatics College in Moldova. She is part of WHFC's sponsorship program in Moldova and receives monthly stipends. In May she wrote her sponsors "I have several pictures of you, and they are very dear to me. I just would love to say thank you looking into your face. I really have no one except you to talk to. I love you instead of my parents that I never had and can not have in my life." While vocational training and its accompanying sponsorship cannot take away all the pain that Elena experiences as an orphan, it does provide her with a support system, both financially and, more importantly, emotionally.
Wide Horizons For Children is partnering with Insula Sperantelor, "Island of Hope," in Chisinau, Moldova to sponsor 10 orphans for vocational training during the 2008-2009 school year. Insula Sperantelor provides 8 month training programs to provide 17-year-old orphans with skills to become hairdressers, manicure/pedicurists, cooks, and pastry chefs. These vocations are the most needed in the current economy and 100% of students graduating from Insula Sperantelor find employment. Students receive practical knowledge from trained psychologists, social workers, and teachers to help them in their chosen vocation and in living life outside of the orphanage system.
Sponsorship fees cover living expenses ($150/month), tuition and supplies ($90/month), one-month living stipend upon graduation ($150), and administrative costs ($180). The total cost of a 9-month sponsorship for one orphan is $2,250. Wide Horizons is currently looking for sponsors for these 10 orphans. Sponsors can choose to sponsor one student in full or cover a partial sponsorship. Sponsors are encouraged to write letters and send pictures to the students they sponsor, and in return will receive updates on the progress of the student they sponsor.
Medical Sponsorships
We first met Vadim, a teenage boy, during our 2005 trip to Moldova. Vadim was a serious 14-year-old with a club foot. He had never walked and suffered from chronic pain and recurrent infections. When the group returned to the U.S., several of us posted a picture of Vadim in our offices and made a silent vow to do something to help him.
Fortunately, there were others committed to helping as well. Albrecht Rehabilitation Center and its U.S. affiliate, Tufts University School of Medicine/International Institute for Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Landmine Survivors (IPRLS), formed a primary medical team. Funding was also provided by Rotary International. The result? Vadim's leg was amputated below the knee and he was fitted with a prosthetic leg and foot. After intensive therapy, Vadim is now walking.
Two years later, Vadim had outgrown his prosthesis and was in need of a second fitting. He and his mother returned to St. Petersburg where he received a new prosthesis. When he returned to Moldova, Nina Duca, WHFC representative in Moldova, reported that "Vadim is just like any other boy his age. He was so hard for me to reach because he's so busy and full of life!" Vadim is now weighing his options on whether or not to return to school or to find a job. Unless Vadim has another major growth spurt, this prosthesis should last him for life.