Music

Music is a very important part of the Moldovan culture. Accordions are played by buskers in the nearby town of Cahul. The traditional bands also have violins, trumpets and clarinets. Typically very quick tempo and all sounds the same to me! They also have a national dance where they hold hands in a really big circle and do steps in sequence, getting faster and faster.

We are becoming fully acquainted with Bucharest Ikea as they offer a bit of comfort after the airport runs to pick up the volunteers. It always makes me smile as we drive to the airport under the highways of the city as there are always gig adverts. It’s surprising what makes it over to Romania. So far there have been adverts for Bon Jovi, The Deftones, Pendulum and Mika. Small world indeed! 

The village

The people you meet on the street in the village are so friendly. They always greet and embrace us. Many of the old ladies seem to live in slippers, the old-fashioned velvet ones. Some of the old people also have a mouth full of gold teeth. The men love their meat but it’s very expensive for them here. Our driver says he’s not full if he has a meal with no meat! It’s definitely man’s country here.

We arranged for the team to have a ride on the back of a local horse and cart. In broken English we managed to explain to the driver to take them to the end of the road and back. However, something got lost in translation and before we knew it they were merrily heading out of the village with no way of being understood. In a desperate moment our trusty driver jumped on his motorbike and heading in search of them, bringing them home in one piece and finding the whole thing a hilarious adventure!

I love the rustic feel to the local houses in the village. Today we had our meals with our translator and her family. It was such a privilege to see everyday life unfolding and her mother pickling the cucumbers for the winter months. Much of the summer produce is bottled as a pickle for the winter months where it can reach -20°C.

Alcoholism is such a problem here and the corner shops double up as bars as bottles of homebrew is poured out under the counter. The men then sit outside before staggering home through the village. As there is no street lights it can be a bit hairy driving down the main street when they’re wandering. 

Daily life

The teams fly to Bucharest (Romania) which means a day’s drive to the village of Gotesti, where we are working in Moldova. There is such diversity between the cities and the countryside. Bucharest does have a western feel to it. But as you leave the city, the road gradually deteriorates. However, the roads are surrounded by beautiful rural farmland.

There are many stray dogs, especially at petrol stations, but they don’t seem to bother us. The rural villages are so rustic. People travel by horse and cart however there is still the odd flash Mercedes which seems very incongruous to the backdrop. I suppose it highlights what country of inequality Moldova is.

There are plenty of smallholdings and geese, ducks, chickens and turkeys freely wander the streets. It's hard to tell whose is whose but it doesn’t seem to be an issue.

They seem to grow a lot of dill here. The smell often wafts through the air and it is in all our meals. Having never liked it I have quickly had to get used to it!

Thursday seems to be rubbish burning day in the village. There is no rubbish collection so people burn little bonfires in the street.  There is one main tarmac road that runs the length of the village but all the other roads are dirt tracks. They go from dry and dusty to mud-bath when it rains. I have even had to invest in wellies from the market! 

On the road again

The travel bug bit when I went to Zambia. I had been so impressed with the unique opportunity that Mission Direct offered. 2 weeks really does give you a taster of overseas mission work, without having to give up the day job! When the opportunity arose in the summer of 2011 to run a series of teams I didn't hesitate and immediately signed up. For ten weeks I immersed myself into daily life, living with the locals in a rural village in Moldova. ‘Where?’ I hear you muse.

Moldova is Europe’s poorest country and is sandwiched between Romanian and Ukraine in Eastern Europe. It is a country that has been described as Africa in Europe. The capital city of Chisinau may on the surface have similarities to a western city. But as you drive into the countryside the road deteriorate to dirt tracks and you are transported back in time to an era when people got water from the well, had horses and carts and grew much of their own food. This was my home from June-August 2011 as we hosted three teams from the UK. As with any Mission Direct trip, our focus was a building project, in this case refurbishing a lady’s house. Each team stayed for two weeks and I and my colleague had a down week in between each team in order to prepare for the next. That was the rhythm of the summer and these were my experiences….

Looking back. Looking forward...

You will be pleased to hear that the school was completed in the autumn and on the 4th November 2010 the school handover celebration took place. 81 volunteers came from the UK with Mission Direct and were involved in the building. £32,000 was also raised to support Fountain of Hope, Old Macdonald's Farm, Kumbaya, House of Moses and the Home Based Care Volunteers. In addition, two boys who died whilst living on the streets had funerals paid for by volunteers, allowing them to be buried with dignity.

The Mission Direct trips to Zambia are still as popular as ever and we have now branched out into running Medical Teams also. If you are at all curious about these opportunities feel free to ring the UK office on 01582 720056. 

Saturday 17th July 2010

Well, we are on the plane to Nairobi and the whole trip feels a bit of a dream. What an amazing experience this has been and I can truthfully say it has not only been the best thing I’ve ever done but it has also brought out the best in me. I feel so blessed and privileged to have met the people I have and so inspired by what I have seen. It’s going to be so hard to express effectively to people back home how this has changed me. I am half dreading the ‘How was Zambia?’ question as you can’t ever really understand it until you’ve soaked it up yourself.

All I can say is that I wish everyone had the opportunity to see what I’ve seen and meet both a wonderful team and also local people with such strength and trust in God. All apprehensions about the trip have been dealt with and I have learnt more than I could have ever imagined. As I once heard, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, just the belief that there is something more important than fear’. I have felt that with God at my side, trusting is the key to coping with unfamiliarity and challenges. If you just throw yourself into life, then what you learn from experiences will over-ride any fear you had to take the plunge.   

Thursday 15th July 2010

As with any Mission Direct trip, the last couple of days are spent exploring the country a bit further and having 'downtime'. In our case Livingstone! After the 5.30am start yesterday, we piled on the bus for the 8 hour journey. The scenery was beautiful, vast African savannah! Mainly tarmacked road but got stopped at umpteen checkpoints, but that’s Africa for you. I was so impressed by our driver who calmly navigated the last 30km of dirt road.

After a quick settle in and shower (much appreciated!) we were whisked off for a sunset cruise down the Zambezi River. The most civilised thing I’ve ever done! We sat on the top deck, the sun was shining and we had drinks and nibbles. There were plenty of hippos, exotic birds and crocs (apparently we were told that there is a crocodile for every 5 metres of water, can you believe it!)    

Today started off eventfully as I lay awake listening to things crawl about in the thatch roof of the lodge (it doesn’t bare thinking about!) Just as I wondered what was scurrying above my head my mosquito net came out of the ceiling, on top of me! My poor roomie awoke to find me trying to suppress the giggles as I balanced on my bed by torchlight trying to screw the hook back in. Not a pretty sight at that time in the morning, but hysterical all the same!

Anyway, in the morning we headed to Victoria Falls. After donning our lovely ponchos we headed through the forest park. The sheer size of the falls is just mind-blowing. The best bit (that really let you know you’re alive!) was walking across a footbridge over the gorge. As you walked across you are immediately soaked as it felt like you’d stepped into torrential rain, crazy!

We then headed to the other side and saw the Victoria Falls Bridge before awkwardly bumping into a guy skinny dipping in the Zambezi. Whatever floats your boat! We then headed back out to the market but not before being stopped in our tracks by a few huge baboons that seem to have free reign of the place. Anyway, next we were swept off to the country club which was so upmarket!

Afterward a lovely lunch was the safari. Our guide picked us up  before we headed out of the town on the open sided safari bus. A classic African experience as we saw zebra, giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, wart hogs, impala and of course the highlight, the elephants! After such a packed day we headed back to the lodge just after sunset to freshen up before going out to a lovely restaurant. It was really special just to spend time, enjoying the company of the team. I can’t quite believe that we didn’t know each other until last week. When you live like this you get to know everyone so well and have such a laugh, alongside the challenges of each day.