18 German youth will attend summer school in Moldova

18 young people from Germany will attend the German-Moldovan summer school in Moldova. They will study Romanian language, will go on a tour of Chisinau, will visit several cities in Romanian and will travel in Moldova, including the Transnistrian region, Info-Prim Neo reports. The official opening of the school took place on Friday, August 24. The 18 youth met with the partners of the summer school, who told them about Moldova and about what they should learn before returning to Germany. Liubomir Chiriac, director of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”, partner of the summer school since its foundation in 2009, told the youth he knew that they wanted to know more about Moldova and he would do his best to extend the duration of the project, so that more youth from Germany could come to Moldova. Vasile Dumbrava, deputy head of Moldova – Leipzig Institue, told the youth that initially he didn’t believe the project would be a long-term one and that only 20 young Germans applied for the first edition of the school, but in the next years the number of applicants rose constantly, meaning that the project obtained the deserved interest. Carsten Wilms, deputy head of the German diplomatic mission, told the youth about the businesses with German capital in Moldova and encouraged them to apply for internships at the German Embassy in Chisinau. Carsten Wilms also said that the youth would go to the Transnistrian region to learn more about the situation there. The Embassy representative admits that unfortunately little is known about Moldova in Germany and such projects were welcomed. Virgil Paslariuc, dean of the State University’s Faculty of History and Philosophy, also a partner of the German-Moldovan summer school, told the youth that the school’s organizers put a lot of effort into creating an enlarged vision about Moldova for the youth. “We hope that you’ll gather information that will help you gain some solid knowledge about the Moldovans. For us it’s important that you, the future elite of one of the Europe’s most powerful countries, knew more about Moldova, because solid knowledge leads to correct actions”, explained Virgil Paslariuc. Asked why they chose a project in Moldova, the participants answered that some of them planned to study Romanian and when they searched for opportunities to do it, they found about the summer school. Some of them didn’t know almost anything about Moldova before coming here. Others said they studied the post-Soviet space and had some information about Moldova before applying for this project. The summer school takes place between August 24 and September 13. The young men will visit cities in Romania, like Iasi and Suceava, the monasteries Putna, Bogdana, Patrauti, and Sucevita. They will also participate in the festivities dedicated to the Independence Day and the Romanian Language Day. They will attend Romanian classes, round tables and debates on several topics, like the German perspective on Moldova’s process of transition and European integration, about Moldovan mass media and others. On September 1, the youth will visit Tiraspol and Cetatea Alba.