Refugee celebrate the winter holidays

New Year and Christmas are two very important celebrations in the Republic of Moldova. Although many refugees coming from different parts of the world don't know much about these holidays, CCR always tries to bring them closer to the Moldavian traditions and make their life more enjoyable, as much as possible.

The celebration of the New Year and Christmas at CCR was not only one of the events we organized throughout 2013, but also a moment of reviewing our entire work carried out in 2013 and to analyze the refugee situation as a whole. Indeed, in 2013 the number of refugees and asylum seekers has largely increased, mostly as a result of the Syrian ongoing conflict. In this sense, of course CCR hopes to offer its maximum support to all the new comers, without forgetting the refugees that we already know for a long

time. Thus, this celebration was a perfect occasion to bring them all together in order to share with them our best wishes for the year to come. The Head of the UNHCR Office in Moldova, Mr. Octavian Mohorea, the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum, Mrs. Ecaterina Silvestru, as well as representatives of other NGO partners and sponsors, joined us in the wishes of prosperity, good health and a smooth integration in Moldova addressed to the persons of concern. Along with that, CCR director thanked UNHCR for all its support in making this and all the other events possible. Some representatives of the refugee community also used this opportunity to thank UNHCR and BMA for helping them in whatever possible, in spite of the difficult times.

A raising awareness exhibition on the Human Rights day

Each year on 10^th of December, the world celebrates the Human Rights day. In the Republic of Moldova, this day is also celebrated through diverse events, the biggest of them all being the UN Human Rights Gala. The latter supposes an awarding ceremony in which different personalities are rewarded for their work in defending the human rights in Moldova and who can be considered role models in this domain.

Broadcast live by the public TV Moldova 1, Radio Moldova and Radio Moldova Youth, the UN Human Rights Gala of Awards brought together high officials, representatives of international organizations and diplomatic corps, civil society organizations and mass media.

Just as in previous years. CCR, as the UNHCR Implementing partner, joined in the celebration of this event by setting an exhibition of various posters and artwork.
This kind of exhibitions is very important for the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) and UNHCR, because they offer a great opportunity to raise the awareness of different categories of persons concerning the potential and benefits of getting the refugees and asylum seekers integrated into the Moldovan society.  This time, the CCR director, Mr. Paknehad Ahmad Djavid, had the opportunity to speak and lobby the interests of our persons of concern with the UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Nicola Harrington, the President of the Moldova Parliament, Mr. Igor Corman, the current Minister of Culture, Mrs. Monica Babuc, and many others. In fact, with the latter state body, CCR is actively collaborating in order to show the refugees and asylum seekers a bit of the history and culture of their host country.

CCR will continue setting exhibitions within the UN Human Rights Gala event, since raising awareness and lobby are two very efficient ways to create a fair society where everyone, including refugees and asylum seekers, will be able to live in peace and understanding. 

Winter Charity Bazaar

In many countries, December is traditionally a month of celebrations. All around the world, different countries prepare the winter arrival and the season’s traditional holidays. Thus, each year in December in numerous places the street illuminations are being set, while in the main cities it is very common to organize winter bazaars, as a way of preparing for the upcoming joyous events and to spread the spirit of the holidays.

In Moldova, a certain type of bazaar, the Winter Charity Bazaar, initiated and promoted by the International Women’s Club (IWC), takes place every year since 1999. In fact the same year marked the start of our activities, as well as the start of our collaboration with IWC. The specificity of this bazaar is that different Embassies and International Organization gather together in other to support a chosen non-profit organization through the sale of local and international products and crafts. This year, Hippocrates Centre, an association that helps disabled children and their families, will receive the amount collected through the Winter Charity Bazaar.

On this occasion, as in previous years, the CCR participated in the Bazaar by representing the refugees and asylum seekers in Moldova through their works and handcrafts. CCR exposed for sale a series of Christmas tree ornaments, cups, bow ties and decorated bottles, all made by children and adults refugees from different countries during workshops. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to offer delicious shawarma that has been prepared by a young and promising Armenian refugee.

During the day, the CCR enjoyed the visit of its partners, including Mr. Octavian Mohorea, the Head of the UNHCR Office in Moldova, and Mrs. Ecaterina Silvestru, the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum. Apart from that, other important figures passed by our booth, such as Mrs. Margareta Timofti, the wife of the current President of the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Nicola Harrington, the UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova, and Mr. Alexandru Tanase, the President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Constitutional Court, as well as some representatives of embassies and international organizations based in Moldova.

We were glad to present all our products to visitors of the Bazaar, as it gave us a great opportunity to raise awareness about refugees problematic in Moldova and lobby the interests of our persons of concern. CCR will surely continue participating in this Bazaar and collaborating with the International Women’s Club because it’s a unique event of this type for bridging closer the refugee and local community in a common effort of solidarity in order to help other vulnerable people in Moldova.

Excursion to Pushkin Museum in the village of Dolna

Taking advantage of good weather, before the arrival of the winter season, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, offered its beneficiaries a special opportunity to visit the Pushkin Museum where the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin lived intermittently during his exile period (1820-1823) in Moldova, at that time being the Besarabia region of the Russian Empire.

           

On the 17^th of November, around 70 beneficiaries joined in to discover this museum, being one of numerous cultural and historical places of interest in Moldova. As the CCR is implementing partner UNHCR under the Local Integration Project, it organizes this kind of trips in order to promote local integration by raising the awareness of its persons of concern about the history and culture of their country of asylum.

The Pushkin Museum is a place worth visiting for different reasons. First of all, the rooms of the museum exhibit different belongings of Pushkin and the family that hosted the poet, which reflect the diversity of cultural influences on Moldova, mainly related to the Turkish and Russian Empires dominance. Apart from that, the beauty and tranquility of the park around by museum are truly inspiring, just as they were two centuries ago, when Alexander Pushkin was enchanted by the Moldova’s countryside.

In the two tour visits, one for Russian and another one for Romanian speakers, made by the guide for the CCR persons of concern, the latter received many interesting information on the life style of Pushkin and its hosting family in the XIX century.

Afterwards, the group could enjoy the autumn landscape all around the museum. Both children and adults were very pleased to have fun and walk around the vast park and its garden.

Of course, this excursion was also an opportunity for recent and established refugees in Moldova to get to know each other and to enlarge their acquaintances, which is really important for the new-comers in finding support for their integration.

CCR wants to express its gratitude for the Ministry of Culture’s support in organizing this excursion and for being open and helpful in their work for the benefit of refugees and asylum seekers.

Refugees and local population united by passion for football

A couple of years ago, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), as the UNHCR implementing partner, organized a football competition, within the Grant programme for Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). The mentioned competition was very important at that time, since it was aiming at building respect of 2 local communities, Mereni and Razeni villages, towards refugees and asylum seekers who were about to move in there to social houses, refurbished under the Local Integration Programme. In order for this innovative plan to be successful, UNHCR and CCR had to prepare the field and create a more welcoming environment for the beneficiaries, thus facilitating their integration in the rural areas.

This year, another NGO – Fatima organized, through the same Grant Programme, a similar football competition, in which 4 teams of children and 3 teams of adults gladly participated. CCR team was one of them, bringing together the best football players within our group of beneficiaries.  The competition was stiff, but our team managed to take the second prize.

This kind of sport competitions will always be supported by CCR, as they are helping build a common ground for people of different ethnicities, religions, skin colors, but with the same passion for sport. We believe that sport is the most valuable common language in a multicultural environment, as it forges the team spirit of the players and allows the people to interact while enjoying themselves. 

Tolerance building in Moldovan schools

In the last months, several families with children came to Moldova in search for asylum and assistance.  When the school year started, the asylum seeking children were quickly enlisted in the nearest school to the Temporary Accommodation Centre for Asylum Seekers (TAC), which is the Galata gymnasium. Considering that this year more than 15 children of our persons of concern are studying there, including some refugee kids, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) decided to renew its collaboration with the gymnasium in order to support our beneficiaries’ integration in the school activities and to raise awareness about the needs and diversity of the refugees and asylum seekers in Moldova.

Eid Al-Adha celebration at CCR

Eid al-Adha is one of the greatest celebrations for all the Muslims around the world. In Arabic Eid Al-Adha means the Feast of Sacrifice, though it is also called "Eïd el Kébir" in North Africa, "Tabaski" in West Africa, "Tafaska" for the  Berber and "Kurban Bayrami" in Turkey and some post-Soviet countries. 

Muslims around the world gathered at mosques to mark the beginning of the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which this year began on Tuesday 15^th of October.

Excursion to Orhei Vechi/Old Orhei

Following one of its integration-related aims, consisting of raising the awareness of refugees and asylum seekers about the culture and traditions of the Republic of Moldova, the Charity centre for Refugees (CCR), as the UNHCR implementing partner of the Local Integration project, organized an excursion for its persons of concern to one of the most important historical sites: Orheiul Vechi (Old Orhei). The latter is a unique natural and historical complex in open air that combines natural landscape and archeological vestiges. It is situated between the villages Trebujeni and Butuceni 60 km North East from Chisinau, in the same location where in the XV-XVI centuries the medieval town Orhei , which means “fortification”, was situated.

First diplomas within the Community Technology Access project

The Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), UNHCR implementing partner, organized on the 25th September an awarding ceremony in order to hand the first diplomas to a group of refugees who successfully passed the computer skills study course and its final test, carried out by CCR in collaboration with the State Pedagogical University Ion Creanga, as part of the CTA (Community Technology Access) project.

Festival of Ethnicities enriched by refugees’ and asylum seekers’ multicultural spectrum

The president of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Nicolae Timofti,
the Deputy Head of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum,
Mrs. Ecaterina Silvestru, together with CCR director,
Mr. Djavid Paknehad,  CCR staff and a group of refugees

Following the annual tradition, the Festival of Ethnicities has once again been celebrated in Chisinau, on 22^nd of September. Under its motto “Unity through Diversity” or „Unitate prin diversitate”, it gathered representatives of more than 70 ethnic groups in the “Stefan cel Mare” Central park of the capital, in a colorful cultural event, organized by the Bureau for Interethnic Relations (Government of the Republic of Moldova), with support from the Chisinau Municipality.

In this festival, each ethnic group had its own booth and introduced their cultures and their cultural wealth. By taking part in this event, the ethnic minorities and communities revealed that they belong to the Moldovan society the same was as they feel attached to their cultural specificity.

Asylum seeking women join the Women Group Initiative

In order to initiate the integration process of the newly arrived asylum seeker families, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), with support from the Bureau of Migration and Asylum and the UNHCR office in Moldova, organized a Women Group Initiative meeting at the Temporary Accommodation Centre (TAC), where many asylum seekers live awaiting the decision concerning their asylum applications.

The goal of this event was to promote the active participation and initiative of asylum seekers, especially women and children, and create a welcoming environment for them. In this way, the women group initiative can be now implemented. The aim of this group is to enable women to be more open for communication and to foster their integration. 

Due to the fact that they are more liable to be affected by poverty and exclusion, women are considered as being more vulnerable than men. In order to prevent those situations, CCR and its partners organize many activities through the Women Group Initiative.

Refugee children conquer the Amusement Park

The last day of summer, 31^st of August, marks two events in Moldova: the Celebration of Our Language day and the last day of summer holidays before the school year. The Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), in the framework of the Local Integration Programme implemented in Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine, used this opportunity to invite the refugee children and their parents to clear their minds and enjoy their day in an amusement park in Chisinau.

This day of fun was of special importance to the asylum-seeking kids who came to Moldova with their parents not so long ago and who will soon face a big challenge in starting their studies in a new country and in a new language.

Eid Al-Fitr celebration at CCR

The Ramadan month ended on 8^th of August for the Muslim all over the world. With it, the Ramadan fast also came to its end. Eid Al-Fitr marks the conclusion of all the Muslims’ fast, thus being a very important holiday for them and for the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), which celebrates it each year. This year, on 12^th of August, CCR organized an event in order to raise awareness about some Muslim customs related to Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr and not only. In the opening part, the CCR director, Mr. Djavid Paknehad, the Programme Coordinator of UNHCR, Mr. Dinu Lipcanu, together with representatives of Ave Copiii NGO congratulated everyone with “Eid Mubarak” and wished all the Muslims and non-Muslims good health, joy and success. The UNHCR support is crucial in these events, where the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and humanity are directly applied in its work with all its persons of concern, no matter their religion, race, country of origin, or political convictions.

Women Group Initiative Meeting in Mereni village

The Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), in the framework of Local Integration Program, implemented in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, organizes different events in Chisinau and outside the capital, fostering communication and cultural exchange between refugee community and local population. Part of these events is specifically dedicated to women refugees, because for them the refugee situation, hard as it is for men, is even harder for women. They are more likely to get isolated, so therefore the importance of integration program is even bigger for women. The CCR always made an effort to keep a group of refugee women active under the Women Group Initiative. In the past, they organized activities like a sushi evening, informal discussions, and many other.

Picnic-celebration of the World Refugee Day

The World Refugee Day is the most important day of the year for the refugees around the world, as well as for those who dedicate their lives saving and protecting from danger those persons who didn’t have any other choice but to flee and seek shelter on unknown lands. This year, UNHCR decided to celebrate in a special way the World Refugee Day with its partners and persons of concern. Together with Charity Centre for Refugees, UNHCR organized a getaway-picnic to a charming place by the lake, in Costesti village, Ialoveni district.

World Refugee Day in Moldova

Each year on 20^th of June, we commemorate the World Refugee Day, remembering those who were torn apart from their families and who were forced to leave their homes and their country. On this occasion, UNHCR and its NGO partners, together with the Bureau for Migration and Asylum, made every possible effort to raise awareness about the growing number of refugees around the world. This unfortunate pattern is no exception for Moldova. Although a small country, it witnessed a record number of people coming to seek protection and peace for them, their families and children.

31st May: Children’s Day at Chişinău Zoo

On 31st May, the Municipal Department of Children’s Rights Protection, with support of the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), Ave Copiii NGO, and others, organized at the Zoo of Chişinău the celebration of the International Day for Protection of Children, shortened to Children’s Day. The event was attended by approx. 800 children within vulnerable communities, in particular the refugee children, as well as orphaned or disabled children, and children with other difficulties. Therefore, the CCR gladly agreed to collaborate in this event and invite the refugee families to take part in it, in order to promote the integration of refugees into the Moldovan society. 

Easter celebration as a step forward for understanding the culture of Moldova

Easter is a very important religious holiday for Moldova as an orthodox country. In the framework of the collaboration with the Metropolis of Moldova, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) organized an event of Easter celebration for refugees and asylum seekers living in Moldova. the refugees and asylum seekers themselves were answering different questions about Easter as part of a quiz made by CCR. The right answers were rewarded with small gifts and many children were very active and eager to take part in it. In fact, the children were a special part of the event as they enjoyed themselves by drawing on real and paper eggs which were later exposed in the same hall room for all the people to admire. Meanwhile, the refugee women have actively participated in the celebration by colouring the eggs, this being one of the most important Easter traditions. 

Visit of the Ambassador of Sweden in Moldova to the Charity Center for Refugees

The Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) received a special visit from the Ambassador of Sweden in Moldova, H. E. Mrs. Ingrid Tersman, and the second secretary of the Embassy of Sweden, Ms. Månstråle Dahlström, in the end of April. They had the opportunity to see CCR office and to know more about the services CCR is providing, as well as about the activities carried out by the Center on its premises and not only. The ambassador was very curious to understand which challenges and problems are the most important for the refugees and asylum seekers residing in the Republic of Moldova. The head of the UNHCR National Office, Mr. Octavian Mohorea, together with the CCR coordinator answered her multiple questions and discussed various issues concerning the refugees and asylum seekers. At the end of the discussion, CCR coordinator expressed his gratefulness for the interest of the Ambassador in the CCR’s activities and in the refugees’ and asylum seekers’ lives in Moldova.

Local and refugee children - together for peace

Charity Center for Refugees (CCR) organized an awareness event in the primary school of Mereni village on the 26th of April. In Mereni live four refugee families from Syria, Sudan and Armenia, whose children are attending the primary school. The event was moderated by Mrs. Veronica Chirita, the teacher of one of the refugee children. It was attended by approx. 70 pupils studying in the 2nd grade, Ms. Margareta Ursu representing the Moldavian Ministry of Culture, the deputy Mayor of Mereni village, Mrs. Aurelia Roşca, together with the school’s director, Mrs. Alexandra Cerî, other teachers of the school and members of the school staff, and also the refugees as parents of the children studying in Mereni.

Nowruz Celebration- supporting refugee’s traditions in Moldova

Nowruz, as well as the International Day of Nowruz (21^st March), is the celebration of the New Year according to astronomical solar calendar for Turkic and Iranian peoples. Novruz Bayram is a national tradition that has no direct link with the Islamic customs.

Traditions of celebrating Nowruz are practically the same throughout the region and are preserved for centuries. Except that, in the last ten years, in the CIS republics of Central Asia, Nowruz celebration was officially recognized as a day off. The main day of the festival is the first day-21^st of March. In the following thirteen days, people use to visit their relatives, buy and plant young trees, get together in cheerful companies on the background of the spring nature. On the day of Nowruz it is used to prepare seven dishes, mainly vegetative, while the most famous festive dish is samanak- dish prepared of germinated wheat germ.

CCR is celebrating the International Women's Day 

Charity Centre for Refugees celebrates every year, the most important national and international holidays. One of the most beautiful and expected event- the International Women's Day- was celebrated this year,  without any exception, at the CCR office.

On this beautiful occasion, CCR prepared an entertaining program for all the guests, which included games, merry dances, songs and poems recited by the most little ones for their mothers, as well as gifts for ladies. The event was attended by about 80 people, both women and children as well as men. Men were actively involved in various competitions designed to entertain the beautiful ladies, while all the children were eager to congratulate their moms with a poem or a little song. The feast was embellished with two Indian dances, one being performed with the participation of the CCR Belgium volunteer.

Refugees in Moldova make Martisors

Martisor is a feast celebrating the arrival of the spring, which occurs in the tradition of Moldovans, Romanians and neighboring populations. On this occasion, the 1^st March, people exchange Mărţişors, symbol of the good and welfare.

Martisor itself is a little piece of adornment tied to a lanyard wove of a white and red thread. People wear Martishors during the month of March, as a sign of the arrival of spring. Besides Martisor, ladies often get early spring flowers, the most representative being the snowdrops.