Children with disabilities in Transnistria 'struggle with discrimination'

The children with disabilities in Transnistria struggle with discrimination on the part of society and authorities. They are inhibited and helpless because society neglects them and so do the authorities, says Mariana Tanase, social program assistant at the organization Caritas Moldova. Caritas Moldova implements in the Transnistrian region a project to offer services to children with disabilities. “We encounter many difficulties because people there criticize those who have children with disabilities, which makes those children inhibited, unwilling to participate in the public life, integrate with great difficulty into society. At the same time, the authorities also do little to help them develop and integrate”, says Mariana Tanase. According to her, several years ago, those children would come to the Caritas Center for counseling and assistance given by qualified specialists, but the Center was deprived of premises by the Transnistrian authorities. “For this reason, our specialists visit these children at home. We supervise about 80 children with disabilities, but we can offer services to only 15 children at a time”. While visiting disabled children at home, the 12 specialists of the Center also counsel the parents on how to better take care of their children. Mariana Tanase says that the programs for these children rely solely on foreign donations. The organization Caritas Moldova was founded in 1995.