Equal yet different

A new exhibition held as part of the traditional All Different All Equal Week in Chisinau offered for sale souvenirs and gifts for the Yuletide – applications, embroideries, icons, decorations and even apparel – all of them made by the persons with special needs, Info-Prim Neo reports. The event was dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, marked on December 3. The exhibition displayed the works of the psycho-neurological care homes for adults and boarding schools for children with mental disorders. These persons with special needs live in such establishments practically their entire life, even though most of them have a family or close relatives. The exhibition, along with other events involving persons with disabilities, aim at showing the potential of these people to the general public. And for this purpose workshops are established where the residents of such facilities can do needlework, crochet or have other hobbies, said the directors of care homes attending the event. The visitors had the opportunity to admire the skillfulness of the exhibitors as well as their desire to become useful for the community. The proceeds from the sale of the exhibited objects will go to satisfy the needs of the participants. Attending the event, President Vladimir Voronin said that the quality of the governance is measured by the attitude of the government towards the problems of people in difficulty, and urged the public functionaries to get more actively involved in solving the problems of such people. The exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child. Moldova is home to roughly 170,000 persons with disabilities, including 17,000 children.