Volunteers in the Republic of Moldova under the SlovakAid brand
The "Volunteer of the Year 2020" award, in the category "Volunteer abroad", as part of the Slovak Republic's Official Development Assistance under the SlovakAid brand, was conferred to Mr. Andrij Dichťaruk by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Ivan Korčok. Andrij received the award for his 12-month volunteer work in Moldova in 2019 and 2020, for the projects of ADRA Slovakia, the Slovak Center for Communication and Development and People in Need Slovakia. During two different missions, the projects focused on development of Good Governance in the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia (in collaboration with the local partner organization Pro-Europa Center) and the support of small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of food industry and agriculture in the municipality of Rîșcova, in the Criuleni region (in collaboration with the local partner organizations Eco-Visio and Katalyst Kitchnes).
In the period between 2018/2019, Ms. Eva Laciková was sent to Moldova as a volunteer. The NGO People in Need sent Eva to help the local partner organization People in Need Moldova, which implemented the "One world (Jeden svet)" educational project and a youth project called "Change Moldova" in the Republic of Moldova. The "One World" project comprised documentary films from the International Film Festival „Jeden svet“, which were incorporated into the educational process of high schools. It was aimed at offering an innovative way and as a means of raising awareness about contemporary social issues such as discrimination, poverty or migration. The "Change Moldova" initiative was focused on helping young leaders improve their skills in the field of human rights protection and democratic values promotion through training and workshops.
The next volunteer that was seconded to the Republic of Moldova in 2019, was Ms. Adelina Kediulych, who worked in Comrat in cooperation with the Research Center of the Slovak Society for International Policy (SFPA) and the local partner Youth of Gagauzia. Adelina worked on youth oriented projects and focused on streamlining the performance of local governments. She engaged in communication with partners and donors, but also helped with training preparation, PR activities and also collaborated on other tasks. During the study visit of the young people in Bratislava, she also worked as an interpreter from Russian to Slovak language. At the local youth center, she also assisted primary school children with their homework.
Mrs. Edita Bednárová, for whom this is already her 5th working stay in Moldova, is currently on an expert volunteer mission as part of development cooperation since February 2021. Currently, Edita has been working in Comrat for three months, in cooperation with SFPA and "Youth of Gagauzia". Together, they are going to prepare three project proposals on a variety of subjects, ranging from arts, through civil society to recycling plastic waste. These activities will also foster the implementation of the current SlovakAid project, focused on "Youth Engagement and Responsible Citizenship".She has also prepared a series of three interactive trainings for local youth aimed at unravelling the region´s potential and testing business ideas. Before the volunteer secondment ends , Edita will help with recruitment of new volunteers, as well as the improvement processes in the organization. Edita spends most of her time in the youth center in Comrat. In addition to the activities she is involved in, she also organizes the so-called "English speaking club", so that local youth practices speaking English, while she herself is learning Russian, now.
