The Jewish Community of Moldova is immensely grateful to everyone who put aside their affairs and fights for a better future for each of the members of the Jewish communities of Ukraine arriving in Moldova. We continue to tell the stories of volunteers.
I am an Israeli citizen. I lived in Israel for many years, but for the last year I have been living in Chisinau. Knowledge of Hebrew now helps me in my work.
I am in charge of the temporary accommodation center on Feredeului Street. The team consists of 6 adult volunteers, two schoolgirls Yulia and a student Ivan. Together we take care of those who stay at this center and help with logistics throughout the Jewish Community of Moldova.
People do very big and hard work. Every day we take care of logistics in the very center: we help with cleaning, arrange beds, change beds daily and make sure that people always have food.
Many come to our center with animals. People with dogs, cats and even guinea pigs stayed with us. We also help animals – we provide food, fillers for toilets, invite volunteers from veterinary clinics, explain how to prepare the animal for departure.
Recently there was a story that gave me goosebumps. We were visited by a grandmother who has only a cousin in America among her relatives. We could not contact him, and my grandmother was sure that he did not want to help her. She cried and constantly asked: “What do I need to do to die?”.
But I felt that something was wrong. The grandmother also knew the name of her cousin’s son. By one name, I found on the Internet the firm in which he works, called their call center, told this story and left my phone number. Of course, my brother called back and said that he was taking my grandmother to America.
I believe and feel that I am where I should be. To be honest, I put my feelings aside a bit to work and think more about practical things. I don’t expect anything from people, I just feel that I can help and I do.
Tatiana, the teacher, Chisinau