The over 100 activities carried out within the National Volunteer Week (NVW) included charity events, flashmobbing, cleanup and awareness raising campaigns and training seminars in different fields. On October 28, the organizers presented the results of this year’s NVW in a news conference at IPN.
Acting executive director of the public association “Youth for Right to Life”, which is doing secretariat work within the Coalition to Promote Volunteering Law and Activities, Nicolae Procopie said that unlike the previous years, this year the NVW was held not only in Chisinau, but also in ten districts. Most of the activities were performed in villages, not in municipalities, as earlier.
According to Nicolae Procopie, the diversity of ages is another novelty. The previous years, most of the volunteers were young people, but this year the volunteer activities involved mainly elderly people who were called senior volunteers. The activities were carried out in close cooperation with civil society, the central and local public authorities and ordinary people. The events were aimed at bringing about positive changes in society.
Victoria Moroz, of the public association “Service for Peace”, said the organized activities were aimed at the vulnerable families. There were identified families from abroad who were ready to provide financial assistance to families in need. These families also benefited from the assistance of such specialists as psychologists in overcoming their difficulties.
Rezina district coordinator Liuba Stavinschi stated that her goal within the NVW was to attract senior volunteers, who turned out to be very benevolent. They organized a number of festive events and invited to them elderly people living alone. Volunteers also went to the home of an elderly woman confined to bed and prepared food and cleaned up there.
Orhei district coordinator Svetlana Taras said that together with the volunteers they staged flashmob meetings to promote volunteering and distributed brochures. The volunteers improvised a mobile library in the street and shared out brochures with information about volunteers to passersby. There were also mounted beauty workshops for socially deprived persons and given free English lessons. They also planned a series of cleanup activities, but the weather thwarted their plans. These activities will be performed later.
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Sergiu Stanciu said the Ministry supports these activities and promotes the Volunteering Law. The living standards in the countries with active volunteers are higher. The people should do good things without waiting to be rewarded. “We are making effort to institutionalize such initiatives that must be submitted by each community apart,” he stated.
The eighth National Volunteer Week was held between October 19 and 26. In Moldova it was staged for the first time in 2007, on the initiative of the Coalition to Promote Volunteering Law and Activities.
