FAR FROM ZAPOROJIE
Greblești is a village in the Străseni district, located only 42 km from Chisinau. It is an old settlement in the valley of the river Ichel, in the area of Codri, surrounded by hills and greenery. At the entrance to the village you are greeted by the new Church and the asylum for disabled Ukrainian refugees. 20 people found refuge here away from war and danger.
20 destinies crippled by disease and chased by rocket fire, dependent on the help of strangers. Psychologically it is terribly difficult. And we can assume that, because only they know what they endure and how complicated it is for them. Marina Marian is wating us at the entrance, with a big smile bringing out the joy of some visitors. “Today we have a full day. Our beneficiaries are the first to receive the cards”, she tells us with the joy of someone who is happy for the success of those she supervises. The center includes a series of service providers. An impressive number of NGOs provide various services to these people, from medical assistance to product deliveries. The “Safe space” initiated by UNFPA in partnership with Homecare also operates within the asylum. Marina Marian is a social worker and a psychologist at the same time. She is responsible for the emotional balance of these people. All the stories of these people run through her heart and mind. She lives their stories as best she can, although it’s probably complicated even for her at times. “People are different, and so are their sufferings.” She’s always smiling even though her stories about the people in the asylum make you cringe. Here I met Vasile and Liuda Stasineț, refugees from Zaporizhia.
The Stasinets have been in this asylum since the first days of the war. Both have different forms of cancer and degrees of disability. Vasile endured 11 operations, but he came to the Republic of Moldova with the accordion. It is a thread overflowing with optimism. He likes painting. He looks at the file ahead, with keen eyes and full of courage.
Liuda is a former nurse. Her ordeal began a few months before the start of the war. Now everything is divided until and after the start of the war. First she lost her father. 40 days later her son died. The pain caused her cancer and then the long and painful road of treatment.
She met Vasile through the Internet. They barely managed to start a family before the war started. Their real family life began here, in the Republic of Moldova. They left two houses in Ukraine, they would hope to make a home here.
"Cancer is a common disease in our region. Probably the proximity to the largest nuclear power plant speaks for itself," Liuda tells us. The statistics are indeed alarming. Pre-war data show 379.1 illnesses per 100,000 population in this region, while the Ukrainian average was 333 - 349 illnesses per hundred thousand people. Most of the sick in the region are registered in Energodar and Berdyansk.
The stay in the Republic of Moldova seems to have helped Liuda. She has given up the pills and says she feels much better. "The air is different. It's not the same as in Zaporozhye", she tells us with a smile. Her state of health led her to consider the possibility of staying permanently in the Republic of Moldova.
They have made a plan which they strictly follow. First they tried to find a job, but everything turned into a real adventure. The employment portal they turned to gave them more than they expected. The chance of reprofessionalization and a new beginning. They attended massage classes at a private clinic. Vasile had such a qualification in his youth, but which he did not practice, and for Liuda her work experience in the hospital has been of great help. Moreover, both are learning the Romanian language. "... I have great difficulty conjugating verbs. Those ending in "a" conjugate in one way, and those ending in "i" in another. Plus the short-form person pronouns are a big challenge," Liuda tells us with the same smile. Her pedagogical training helps her a lot. She was a primary school teacher, but quit to work at the hospital. Now take advantage of both experiences.
Slowly, slowly, the first money started to come. The couple provide massage services at home for the residents of Greblești. They also have a massage table. He dreams of a private practice or a position in the hospital in Străseni.
Far from home, from war, from pain, two people try to rebuild their lives in a world that they are just beginning to discover. They are optimistic, but most importantly they are sure that after defeating the disease nothing can stand in their way.
We preferred to walk the way home in silence. Each of the passengers in the car we were traveling in was staring somewhere into space, trying to find a foothold. Only the holes in the asphalt were so important, and neither were the discussions about the trivialities of life. Everyone was trying to find balance on a hair's breadth. That's pretty much what our daily hustle and bustle boils down to.
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