Balti - Laundry Facilities; Northern Moldova (2003-4)                                                                                                        

Replaced nonfunctioning equipment with a new industrial-sized washer and dryer. The laundryroom was also re-tiled with linoleum and painted. This orphanage two hours north of Chisinau cared for approximately 120 children, babies to six-year-olds, at time of aid. Facility: Tempor Si Reabilitare Pentru Copii; Balti Rehabilitation Center. County: Balti Raion.

Provided kitchen repairs: Ceiling section and food storage area (funded May 2004). Provided fresh foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, diapers, clothes, soap (May 2004). Provided food supplies monthly over a one-year period (beginning fall 2004). Replaced 60 children’s chairs and 3 tables (October 2004). Facility size: approximately 98 children at time of aid. County: Chisinau Raion.

Provided a matching gift for donation to this home directed toward urgent needs, specifically food for the children.  The initial gift, matched by ABL, was from a U.S. family who had adopted their child from this orphanage. 

A total of 283 refurbished personal computers donated by North Carolina State University were installed at orphanages, schools, and institutions for special-needs children, for educational use. By paying 50 percent of the shipping costs between North Carolina and Chisinau, ABL was able to direct 100 units to specific orphanages and boarding schools for abandoned and semi-abandoned children. One recipient site was a home for hearing-impaired children, whose residents used their computers to become e-mail "pen-pals" with children at a comparable facility in North Carolina. Joint-venture project. Locale: greater Chisinau area.

Provided pharmaceuticals, formula, fruit to infant orphanage in the capital. Home to 120 children, including approximately 20 special-needs children, at the time of aid. County: Chisinau Raion.

Chisinau Reintegration Center (RC) for Trafficking Victims; Central Moldova (2007)                                                                                                                                                                       

Provided funding for medical equipment for this facility, opened and run by IOM Moldova since 2001 and relocated in 2007.  This landmark center is the IOM's first trafficking rehabilitation center in Chisinau.  It provides medical, social, educational, legal, and psychological support services.  The RC supports vocational training and re-integration of victims back into society. Who is aided: teenagers, younger children, and adults who are trafficking survivors, including Moldovan orphans and survivors with babies.  Capacity: approximately 200.  The RC's recent relocation to a newly renovated facility should result in a 50 percent reduction in operating costs.  This project supports the action plan associated with Moldova's new counter-trafficking laws. The recent move supports efficient institutional development of Ministry of Health and Social Protection counter-trafficking services, assisted by experienced IOM/M staff (International Organization for Migration/Moldova).  Other project donors include: UNICEF, World Childhood Foundation, the Italian and Danish Ministries of Foreign Affairs.  ABL supports this project because of the specific targeting of aging-out orphans in Moldova by international traffickers.  County: Chisinau Raion. 

Provided new beds and mattresses (100 each), wooden wardrobes, chairs (160), and one industrial-sized refrigerator-freezer to Gimnaziu-Internat Cupcini, a co-ed home for abandoned and semi-abandoned children ages 4-17. This remotely located facility cares for approximately 160 children.  New beds created reduction in back problems among the children, caused by sleeping on the floor. Project also corrected health-code violation from lack of refrigeration. County: Edinet Raion.

Provided new commercial oven and new electric water boiler to this underfunded, mixed facility for children between the ages of 2 and 18. Located in the northwest area of Moldova, it was home to approximately 340 children at time of aid.  County: Balti Raion.

Provided 170 pairs of orthopedic shoes to this special-needs girls in this home. The children are ages 4-21. Orphanage is southwest of Chisinau. Also funded 300 vaccinated chickens so that eggs could supplement the children’s diets with additional protein (June 2005).  County: Lapusna Raion.

ABL is researching H5N1 education, prevention, and intervention projects active in Moldova. Goal is to assess whether established avian flu aid programs are including in their service area the harder-to-access rural orphanages/boarding schools in remote regions of Moldova.

Provided funding support for medical intervention for young teenage girl with major face, hand, and skin disfiguration caused by severe early childhood injury from boiling liquid. For this project led by another charity, two doctors from the United States flew to Chisinau in April 2006, to provide surgery for facial reconstruction and preservation of eyesight.  Child is resident of Scoala-Internat Pentru Copii Cu Deficiente Locomotoru. Project Coordinator, Status Reports: N.C. National Guard/Chisinau Detachment.

The Scoala-Internat Pentru Copii cu Deficiente Locomotoru is home to approx. 193 handicapped children. ABL provided urgently needed eating utensils (e.g., plates, bowls, forks) to this facility. County: Chisinau Raion.

For the Scoala-Internat Pentru Copii cu Deficiente Locomotoru, ABL funded procurement and installation of three, 100-liter boilers. Facility was home to approximately 193 mobility and/or mentally handicapped children, ages 6-18, at time of aid. County: Chisinau Raion.

In joint venture, ABL provided Phase-I funding for a brand new heating system for one of the largest facilities for abandoned and semi-abandoned children in Moldova.  The projects involves conversion from an inadequate coal-fired system to a new, reliable gas/hot water system. Facility is home to approximately 460 minors and suffers from aged infrastructure. Phase I: replacement of 26 windows/doors in gymnasium and dressing room; replacement of 12 windows/doors in vocational shop and boiler room; dismantling works; staircase repair; and attendant services - architectural, engineering, contracting, banking, and monitoring. County: Lapusna Raion.  

Contributed funding to project lead by another entity, which substantially repaired and furnished the home of a deaf-mute mother whose two young sons with specially needs were being released to her care from a state-run boarding school. Location: South of Crihana Veche. County: Cahul Raion.

Supported project coordinated by the Peace Corps/Moldova which resulted in modernization of essential kitchen and dining equipment used by orphaned children affiliated with the Zgurita School of Professionals near Soroca. The children (77 minors total at time of aid) receive job training at space leased by the Danco garment factory. Children's ages: 8-18. New equipment comprised freezer and stove; eating utensils; bowls, cups, and plates.  Project goals: 1) improve sanitary conditions for the students and 2) facilitate  a project specifically focused upon job training for teens lacking traditional family support and mentoring. Project implementation and monitoring: Peace Corps/Moldova. County: Soroca Raion.