Humanitarian Aid in Moldova
Moldova is a small country bordering Romania and is the poorest country in all of Europe. Results from a recent survey of 60 countries revealed that Moldovans are the most unhapppy people of all countries surveyed. This may be due, in part, to a failing economy. Since 1990, the average annual GDP growth rate has decreased by 3.5%. The worsening economy has led thousands of parents to leave their children and work abroad becaue they cannot find jobs locally. More than 14,000 of Moldova's children live in institutions with little hope of obtaining a loving family. Moldova suspended international adoption in 2003. Since then, Wide Horizons has redoubled its efforts to aid the thousands of children living in Moldova's child institutions.
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Educational sponsorships allow orphans to learn an employable trade, thereby preventing them from being forced into human trafficking, a result seen by many orphans. |
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Packed into poorly heated, porrly ventilated buildings, children in orphanages are faced with a wide range of challenges and deprivations. |
A Better Life
In 2003, a group of parents with children adopted from Moldova, concerned about the fate of orphans, formed A Better Life Moldova (ABL). Over the past five years, this dedicated group has worked alongside Wide Horizons to improve the lives of hundreds of orphans left behind in destitute conditions.
The government of Moldova issued a Master Plan in 2007 as a guide for the implementation of the National Strategy for Deinstitutionalization of Children. The plan seeks to reunify families, and where reunification is not possible, to place children in foster care or other family-type environments. Wide Horizons and ABL are committed to working within the parameters of the Master Plan to provide every child with the best atmosphere as possible in which to grow up.
For more information on any of our humanitarian aid work in Moldova, contact Ali Crandall at 781.419.0340 or acrandall@whfc.org.