As students in Moldova protest the governing Communist Party’s victory in Sunday’s election, CRS Moldova staff and partners have remained safe from violence in the capital city of Chisinau. Since the CRS’ office is centrally located in Chisinau, the protests were very close on Tuesday and CRS staff were sent home early.

Tuesday’s gunfire and rock-throwing killed one person and injured many. “Communications were blacked out several times Tuesday–including land lines, mobile phone and Internet services,” says Michael McKennett, Head of Office for CRS Moldova. “At the moment, everything is back on.” CRS is monitoring the situation, but currently all programs are operational. 

Moldova, a former Soviet republic, is one of Europe’s poorest countries. CRS Moldova runs programs that help employ impoverished people, especially in rural areas. Working with the local church, CRS is also beginning an HIV prevention and awareness program for teenagers in Moldova.

Reported by Laura Sheahen, CRS regional information officer

CRS regional information officer for the Europe and the Middle East was in Moldova recently and sent back photos of children she met at a daycare center. A brief report follows the pictures in this post.

Moldovan children at a daycare center run by Sister Maria Tolledo. Moldova is one of Europe’s poorest countries and people there are vulnerable to being trafficked to other countries. When children are trafficked, they are often forced to beg.
Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

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CRS regional information officer for the Europe and the Middle East was in Moldova recently and sent back photos of children she met at a daycare center. A brief report follows the pictures.

Moldovan children at a daycare center run by Sister Maria Tolledo, a religious of the Order of St. John the Baptist. Some of the 34 children who go to the daycare center each day have little to eat at home. The nuns feed them several meals every day. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

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CRS regional information officer Laura Sheahen was interviewed by Blogcritics Magazine following her visit to Moldova.

In the interview, Laura talks about Sister Maria Tolledo, who runs a day care and school for desperately poor children, who get not only an education, but as important, a daily meal.

From the Blogcritics interview: “Many of the children are from very poor families, so food is definitely an incentive for the kids to come to Sister Maria’s. When I saw the children eating breakfast, I was struck by how many of them really scraped their bowls clean, getting every bit of food. It’s not at all certain they are getting enough nutritious food at home.”

Read the full story here.