A busy start to 2009!!

It's been such a long time we know!! Last year in fact since we last made a Blog entry. It is Tuesday and we are enjoying a day off after many weeks with very little time to ourselves. Its been a lazy morning...a couple of Skype calls home, a bit of washing and some reading..and dozing in between paragraphs.

We’ll try and fill you in with an overview of what has been happening for us in the last couple of months.

It was a 'black and white' Christmas. We woke on Christmas morning to see the snow gently falling, everything was covered in a white blanket and we may our way to the service at the nearest corps.

We had invited 3 of the young folk who work at DHQ to share the evening meal with us. We were planning to make it as close to a traditional Christmas dinner as we possibly could, so it was roast chicken, ham, etc on the menu, followed by cheesecake. Mid afternoon the electricity went off and did not come back on until 8 hours later..so we had to compromise a little. Fortunately we have a gas oven (albeit with a temperamental thermostat), but it all came together surprisingly well with apple crumble for dessert rather than the cheesecake. The meal was prepared with candle in one hand and cooking utensil in the other!!! The atmosphere was enhanced by the need to dine by candlelight.

Actually, for people in this part of the world, December 25^th is a bit of a non-event, and shops and businesses are still open. The big celebration comes on New Year’s Eve when families come together for a meal..and then Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. The government kindly declared Jan 1st to 10th as public holidays, so it was great to spend these days relaxing and catching up on a few things that had slipped down the page on our ‘TO DO’ list.

New Years Eve Moldovan style

But the rest did not last for long, as from mid- January up until now we have been playing host to many international sponsors who have come to see how their money is being used here in our project work.

It started with a photographer and journalist from Sweden who were preparing stories for Lakarmissionen, a large Swedish Christian Aid agency which partly sponsors our Mobile Medical Clinic. It also sends several semi-trailer loads of humanitarian aid throughout any given year, and at Christmas, provides us with 8,000 gifts, which are prepared by children in Sweden to be distributed to children in Moldova.

Journalist and photographer reporting Dimitri's story of receiving a wheelchair

Gifts being opened in village homes

Grandma helps this young diabetic patient unwrap her gift.

Then came the Norwegians – a representative group from ‘Norge-Moldova’. We have worked with this group in the past, most recently with the ‘Shoe Project’ at the beginning of winter. During their time with us we travelled to various villages, making contact with the mayors and exploring the ways in which the organisation could be of assistance. We have spoken before of Moldovan roads, but winter adds yet another dimension to car travel, especially in these villages!!

In mid February we welcomed a film crew from a Dutch television company who wanted to film the work of the Mobile Clinic. It is intended that the finished program will be screened in the Netherlands on Christmas day 2009 with the hope that many people will donate to the ongoing work of the Mobile Clinic. Such support will be more than welcome as one of our sponsors has indicated that they will be withdrawing from Moldova over the next year or so. It was certainly interesting to observe the whole process, but very tiring as we were up soon after 5.00am a couple of mornings running and not returning until after 7.00pm – all in a bid to get the best ‘shots’. As tiring as all this was, it again gave us the opportunity to observe village life – cold, raw, desperate, hopeless, dark - all are words that come to mind after such a trip. When the Clinic comes to town there are certainly raised hopes and the assurance that their situation is not forgotten.

And then some more Scandinavian visitors with Salvationists from Kristiansand corps in Norway and from Sweden joined us last week. Once again we are indebted to our Salvationist international family whose generosity makes such a difference to the lives of so many in Moldova. Groups from both countries work hard to send us several truckloads of Humanitarian Aid each year. Always included in these shipments are wheelchairs and other items of medical equipment which are gratefully received by many disabled people throughout Moldova. Without such equipment, these folk would otherwise have little possibility of becoming mobile. It was a special thrill for our visitors to meet many of the recipients of this equipment.

Ian taking on 'the locals' in a game of bocce

These two visiting groups also saw some of the feeding programs which they finance, and attended a Sunday service at Ungheni Corps, which is supported by the Kristiansand Corps.

The feeding program at Hinchesti Corps, sponsored by Norway

Corps Officers with the visitors at Ungheni Corps

The ‘spin-offs’ from all of these visits is of course the friendships that are formed, a broadening of one’s outlook, and an ever-growing appreciation of the internationalism of The Salvation Army and other Christian churches and missions in Europe.

In the midst of all these visits we also hosted another Leaders Conference for the Eastern Europe Territory. Good fellowship coupled with good work made for a productive and enjoyable time together.

Of course while all this happens, the day-to-day administration and ‘people’ work happens back at DHQ, so we have a bit of a back log to catch up on before our next guests arrive later this month.

Posted below are some further photos that help tell the stories of the past few months..

DHQ is coming along quite nicely...

Village transport to the Medical Clinic.

A little black and white TV we saw in a village home.
It doesn't work but still rates a place on the table.

Ian playing 'Prince Charming' when we took 10 pairs of size 37 shoes to a village as 'giveaways'

Could this be Cinderella?? Oh no!! It fits!!!

Happy customers.. grandma and disabled grandson.

Time out between home visits for some 'street football'.


Spring has come.. the temperature has climbed to +7c... so it's time to get the hot pants out!!! Moldovan fashion is an interesting beast!

...and of course, it wouldn't be complete without some up to date piccies of our grandkids for you to gloat over...

Megan and Joel on his first trip to the Melbourne Zoo.

..with dad in the butterfly cage...

..and being fascinated by the elephants.

Sadie just enjoys being smooched....

...and helping her dad eat his gelati.

Until next time.... Lots of Love Ian and Viv.. xoxo