Otilia Sîrbu, Director of Caritas Moldova, is saying her goodbyes as she embarks on a new professional journey. After 13 dedicated years with Caritas, she shares her impressions about the development of Caritas Moldova, its major achievements and the challenges it is still facing today. From our side, we take this opportunity to thank Otilia for her commitment and wish her Godspeed!
13 years ago I found Caritas Moldova as a child starting its first steps in school. It was an amazing school I must say, because we had dedicated teachers that saw themselves more as friends than as lead agencies and donors – Cordaid (Caritas Netherlands), Caritas Germany, Caritas Luxemburg, Caritas Czech Republic, later joined by Caritas Switzerland, Caritas Vienna, CRS (Caritas US), Caritas France, Caritas Poland, Caritas Sweden and of course Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis. We had a very difficult time, because we were only starting to think strategically of our future, of building a solid structure, of a long-term approach on fighting poverty, and especially of our financial sustainability and identity.
Today we have a strong structure, a very dedicated team of professionals who are committed wholeheartedly, a concept of our self, of our mission and of our own model of social action – we know that we are here not for our comfort, but for the beneficiaries’ welfare.
Todays’ Caritas Moldova is maybe a rebel teenager who likes to dream and to test its own capacity to work at grassroots level. It still needs the support of its parents and teachers, but also encouragement to continue the charity work along the lines of its own vision. And I hope this vision and model of social action will find lots of fellows nationally and internationally, because it brings so much hope and sustainability for beneficiaries. Already lots of people are following this call to action.
The European landscape on funds and grants is changing so rapidly, which obliges us to also be much keener on finding solutions. I hope these changes at the European level will not exclude Moldova from international solidarity, because many people in our country still literally live below the extreme poverty line.
On April 18, we inaugurated a kindergarten that we renovated for children with mental disabilities. The solid support of almost 1 million euro came from Germany and Switzerland. At the inauguration, the Mayor of Chisinau mentioned that 1 million euro is equivalent to the annual budget of the capital of Moldova. And that the city has 130 kindergartens. So, it would take 130 years to renovate all of them. This is just one example of the impact of international cooperation on our country. Of course, besides the physical transformations we do (buildings, etc.), we must also work on transforming people. And this is the biggest challenge in charity and poverty reduction work.
I leave Caritas Moldova, but it is not possible to separate yourself from Caritas. I am very grateful to all people I met in the Caritas family who made my way so beautiful.
I go to Concordia Moldova, which is part of Concordia International, an international, independent aid organisation dedicated to helping children, adolescents and families in need, which operates in Austria, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. As the Country Director of Concordia Moldova, I will continue my mission of assisting the poorest people in our country. I do count on future cooperation with Caritas, as our common goal is zero poverty and human dignity. Let’s bring together a better future for our children, seniors and families, namely for our society.
By Otilia Sîrbu, Director of Caritas Moldova
