Around 200 Ukrainian refugees and their Moldovan host families participated on Saturday in a lunch, themed “Italian food for peace” and held to mark the VII Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. The celebration took place at the headquarters of the Don Bosco Foundation in Chisinau, with the atmosphere being lightened up by performers from Moldova and Ukraine.
“Today’s event is close to my heart, that’s why I left it at the end of Italian Cuisine Week. Italian cuisine is appreciated worldwide for its quality and unique character. The event promotes Moldovan, Ukrainian and Italian families. Italian families contribute by paying taxes to support international organizations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which offered help to the Republic of Moldova in managing the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Families from Moldova, Ukraine and Italy, all together, are part of a big European family”, stated the Italian Ambassador to Moldova Lorenzo Tomassoni.
Francesca Bonelli, representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Moldova, said that food is a sharing of culture and traditions. The event is an act of Italian solidarity with the refugees from Ukraine, the Moldovan people, with the Government of the Republic of Moldova which continues to help the approximately 90 thousand Ukrainian refugees present in Moldova. UNHCR has always been at the disposal of these refugees and the Government, including through the aid provided by the Italian Government.
The initiative to organize the event belongs to the Italian Embassy in Chisinau. “Today’s chefs have prepared a 10-course menu for these people who certainly need a lot of attention and love. Today we try to make the, forget about their daily problems for a few hours and make their lives a little easier. There are 170 adults and 30 children, and for children we have prepared a special menu, more suitable for them, and a playground”, said Franco Sanna, the president of the Association of Italian Chefs in Moldova.
The refugees from Ukraine present at the event said that the war destroyed their lives and they are trying to start all over again here in the Republic of Moldova. Some had to change their profession, not just their job. Even though they appreciate the help offered to them and they like it in Moldova, they hope that they will be able to return home to Ukraine in the near future.
