COTE Moldova Playscheme June 2010 by Demelza Wallace
The Child and Community Centre in Iargara, Moldova, is a joint venture between the Moldovan NGO Speranta and Children on the Edge. Based on a needs assessment, Iargara was identified as an ideal location to develop the first centre of its kind in Moldova.
Moldova is officially the poorest country in Europe and Iargara is typical of the rural communities in Moldova. Many children in Iargara are vulnerable and at risk due to: poverty, parents being temporarily abroad trying to earn money and parents with alcohol problems. The proximity of Iargara to the border with Romania puts these children at high risk from traffickers who target vulnerable young people.
The Centre aims to protect and support these children as well as build community relations. It is a safe place for children and young people to receive psychological support, a daily nutritious meal, help with schoolwork or simply act as a safe place to hang out, partake in arts and crafts activities as well as games and sports like football, skipping, badminton and many others!
I was fortunate enough to be asked if I would like to volunteer on the yearly held COTE led Iargara Playscheme. This is a week that effectively kick starts the Summer holidays. This week, of what I can only describe as ‘fantastic fun’creates a great start point for the Centre for the year to come, adding vibrancy, fun, enthusiasm and creative ideas in to the Centre, for the staff and children alike.
Day 1
Each day was to be split in to three play sessions, with children’s ages ranging from as young as 4 right up to 17, we were keen for there to be an activity to suit everyone. The first session started at 9:30am, each session split in to Arts & Crafts, Small Games and Big Sports. After a quick piece of ‘bread & spread’, a slurp of coffee and a quick meeting we were all set! The children had undoubtedly been awaiting our arrival in the village and we were met with a barrage of approximately 50 children of varying ages. I volunteered for ‘Crown Making’, cardboard, glue and GLITTER…. Needless to say this was a great hit and we soon got to know lots of new names as we decorated our crowns and wore them with pride around the centre for the rest of the week! I think I am STILL finding glitter on my skin even now a whole week later! Other activities for the day included skipping and volleyball.
Day 2
Friendship bracelet making – a difficult skill to teach it would seem. This activity required a lot of patience but it was soon picked up by the centre staff and it brought a little smile to my face as some of the girls had a ‘light bulb’ moment and suddenly realised how to do it without making it look like a messy web of knots! Seeing the Centre Staff walking around with colourful threads hanging off their trousers or top was lovely to see and I was so glad to have introduced a new skill! Another group made salt dough and created medals and a trophy for the older boys football tournament final. We played games like Volleyball, King Ball, Juggling and Frisbee. A great hit with the smaller ones was the Parachute, I personally had never seen this game before but it resulted in great hilarity and even more dust and mud stained skin! See pics to truly understand!
One of my personal highlights was seeing the childrens faces light up as we handed out little bags of salted popcorn whilst showing the film ‘Chicken Run’, it was delightful and one of those truly heart warming moments.
Day 3
Day three saw face painting and chalk drawing on any available floor or wall. I found myself involved with a lot of skipping and then even turned my hand to making some stilts! I joined a great game of badminton with three little boys, one in particular, Alex obviously had far too much faith in my Badminton playing abilities and thought I should serve, EVERY time! Made me chuckle… The afternoon kicked off with Four Court Volley, so much fun! I then sought some shade from the heat of the day and entertained some of the children’s grandmothers with my friendship bracelet making, they were fascinated by it and were by far my best pupils! The Bodyshop girls brought a bag of lovely nail varnishes so whilst the boys got involved with their football, the girls had great fun painting each others nails pretty colours, despite the fact the mud and grime was so engrained, they were still pleased!
Day 4
Kite making, snake steamers, paper aeroplanes, origami, choosers…all made with paper, all very simple but hours of fun! Ant and Ben were even enticed from the Big Games to partake in a bit of friendly competition where the aeroplanes were concerned! Finger painting and balloon heads….a couple of the children got confused and mistook Bens head for a balloon, hence Ben ended up with paint, glue and wool all over the back of his balding head!! Ha Ha… he took it well! The evening we spent supporting the football, lots of screaming and goading – fantastic fun. We then held a Q & A session so that the children could find out about us and our own home lives. One very astute young man asked us what our idea of happiness was….talk about being put on the spot. After choking down the lump in my throat after hearing the heartfelt responses from the rest of the team, all I could conjure up was ‘My idea of happiness is CHOCOLATE!’ I made everyone laugh…which is the main thing!
Day 5
Our last full day at the Centre. A sad one for us but we knew that we had to pull out our last reserves of energy and give it our absolute ALL. Tonight would be the Football Tournament Final, therefore what better way to celebrate than to make decorative bunting to put around the centre and around the really rather impressive football stadium. We made streamers and of course the Salt Dough medals and trophy that we had made earlier in the week we painted in the Moldovan Flag colours, red yellow and blue! There was a lot to do! By day 5 we were all really getting quite attached to the Centre Staff and the Children, just beginning to build bonds and remember individuals names and stories, this made it all the more real and even harder to say goodbye but we were set to make the most of our last hours at the fabulous Centre that we had come to call home for the week and felt so at ease in. The evening’s activities started with a photo exhibition. Some of the older teenagers had been given the great privilege of entering a ‘Photovoice’ competition, they had shared a camera and had taken photos that best represented their communities and the problems within it. I was very impressed with their skills and insight, we all bought at least a couple of photos each, the funds were to go back in to their photography fund to enable them to do similar projects in the future.
The football tournament final then kicked off, SO much excitement and enthusiasm by the younger children, and great football skills displayed by the older boys – fab to watch! We all had our streamers out and prepared the awards ceremony table complete with salt dough trophy for the winning team and medals for all competitors. The Reds were triumphant and innocently chuffed with their hand made trophies!! Moldovan Karaoke was to ensue….ha ha, strange taste in music and a difficult language to pronounce but I lead the reluctant group in the first song…now I really CAN NOT sing! Oh dear…
Day 6
Last Session - Iagara Olympics! Organised and lead by our fantastic Team Leader Ant – Oh what fun! Three teams, loads of different activities….hula hoop rolling, egg and spoon, skis, basket ball, skipping…the list goes on! Team Photo and it was all over, except it isn’t all over. Although, we, the International volunteers were leaving, the Centre Staff lead by Raiza the local school Headmistress remain to keep up the good work and fantastic ambiance and reputation of being a safe haven. Their work is invaluable in the community and they really are lovely lovely ladies with hearts of gold. The goodbyes were handled well by the experts in the field Ben and Ant, never dwell on a goodbye…keep it brief...minimise upset! Emotions were running high, the fact that we were now leaving the place that we had grown so very fond of, the children and staff who were responsable for making our week at the Centre so memorable and the fact that we were all totally and utterly exhausted all counted. We knew however that every ounce of enthusiasm and encouragement we brought with us were well spent and we left knowing that we had made a small difference to a few little lives.
High Points: The childrens little faces light up when handed popcorn, watching Mama Zena make lunch for 25 children out of a practically nothing, managing to make it appetizing and nourishing – it’s no mean feat!, the faces of a group of hardy boys when a rainbow appeared across the sky, the enthusiasm and selflessness that Ben and Ant brought to the playscheme, a feeling of worth and of course…the outside shower! Bliss! Oh Oh…and the stuffed vine leaves and freshly picked cherries from the tree!
Low Points: Hearing some of the children’s individual home life stories – Gabi whose mother is an alcoholic through no other reason than she has nothing to do with her time – no industry = no work, Catea whose mother walked to Turkey to seek work and who was forced to leave her daughter with a lady from the village, she sends money back when she can, Constanta whose Father left and who is now looked after by her mother who drinks and has taken in a boyfriend who beats her and the children when he feels like it just because he can, snoring, the outside longdrop loo at the school – alien for us, normal for the Moldovans, to be covered in mud, sweat glitter and glue ALL day, total and utter physical exhaustion.
The week was led by COTE’s Ben and a long standing supporter and all round ‘good egg’ Ant. Together with the support of Argi (Body Shop Greece) and the Centre Staff/Volunteers and fabulous team of translators the week was a fantastic success. We all came at it with boundless energy and enthusiasm, which was undoubtedly fuelled by the great reaction from the children we were all there to support and interact with. It was hard on occasion not to show outwardly our fears, worries and just utter physical and mental exhaustion but in the knowledge that the sole reason we were there was for the children it was quickly obvious that all of these anxieties and physical strains were to remain second focus.
A fantastic opportunity that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone – I feel like I have brought a little ray of sunshine back with me to my own life and hope that I was able to add to the children’s lives that I have left behind. If I was able to make a difference to their little lives, even just for a short time then I am overjoyed and will hold on to this feeling for a long time to come.
