Ioana Bârsan has lived at the Chisinau old people’s home for invalids and pensioners for 14 years. The 80-year-old woman takes great care of the room she inhabits. She listens to music and likes to have visitors. She had a cruel fate. She didn’t have a home of her own as she was poor.
The woman started to work when she was 14. She served as the manager of the local club in Nimoreni village of Ialoveni district. Her father died in Germany several hours before the end of war, near Berlin. Her mother cared alone for four children – two girls and two boys. Hunger came later and her brothers died. Her elder sister became her main support when their mother died young.
Throughout her life, she worked as an inspector at the socks factory in Strășeni. She didn’t have a dwelling and lived together with the Roma as it was cheaper this way. The woman’s big regret is the fact that owing to poverty and modesty she didn’t marry to the boy who loved her. His was in a better situation. He even worked as an assistant to the minister of education then. She initially accepted, but then changed her mind. She regretted later as she never met a better partner.
The woman related that she had a harsh destiny. She “served” a former secretary of a party organization in Cojusna for two years and then worked in Nimoreni at her relatives for three years. Conflicts arouse between them and she was forced to leave. As there was no one who could help her, she went to the old people’s home in Ialoveni. Someone advised her to go there. The procedures lasted for two years.
At the old people’s home in Chisinau, she wakes up at 6am. She does the cleaning, practices sport and then reads and prays. At 9am, she goes to have breakfast. After breakfast, she daily walks for an hour. She would like to have more visitors next year and the people to be kinder.
“Always at the top in school and in the village”
Another beneficiary of the old people’s home is Ilie Țihon, 80. He came to Moldova in 1966. When he was a student, he headed the evening school. Later, he arrived in Moldova and settled in Bașcalia village of Basarabeasca district, where he worked as a teacher of French and music until there was no one who he could teach. He spent almost all the day at school, worked in three shifts and at the evening school. That’s why he has now a better pension, of 2,300 lei, compared with other teachers of his age.
He worked to ensure a better life for his children. His daughter studied in Bucharest and now lives in Portugal, where she runs a hairdresser’s shop. His 52-year-old son is a building engineer. He has an own workshop and a car wash in Chisinau. His son visits him sometimes.
The elderly man has lived at the old people’s home in Chisinau for almost 20 years. Initially, he worked at the home’s reception desk. After his wife died, he could not endure loneliness and decided to live at the old people’s home. He does not have many visitors. “My daughter visited me last time when I turned 80, this summer,” he confessed.
He always was at the top in the school and in the village. In the village, when he taught music, he managed the school choir and the local choir. At the old people’s home, he is responsible for the courtyard flowers and for the thematic boards there, centering on health and people’s medicine. He now wants to design a big stand consisting of six smaller stands entitled “That’s how life is…” The smaller stands will center on all the stages of a person’s life. Ilie Țihon said he would like Moldova to have a new President next year as the country really needs this.
“The elderly hope to be visited more often”
The Chisinau old people’s home for invalids and pensioners is home to over 170 elderly people and persons with disabilities. Those who can move are involved in different activities. Senior assistant Lidia Vatavu said there are different workshops where the inhabitants can sing, make something or read library books. Regardless of their program, the elderly people hope to be visited as often as possible.
The persons who are admitted to the home on a contract basis pay by 7,000 lei a month. The persons who are sent there by the social assistance bodies have 75% of their pensions retained. The oldest inhabitant has lived there for over 30 years.
Sabina Rebeja, IPN
