230. Pictures speak louder than words

A man from the village I use to live in while I was in Moldova has a blog I would like to share with you all.  It is SergiuCretu.wordpress.com.  Since it is all in Romanian it might be hard to understand, but this blog post titled Moldova, țara fără de părinți (Moldova, A Country Without Parents) has very powerful pictures.  The post discusses people (children, fathers, mothers, grandparents) who have a loved one(s) abroad.

Note:  This blog post was written in 2011.  While I will not translate the whole post, here is the caption for each of the photos:

1. Three children living alone, their parents left in 2007 for Italy.
2. This girl is solely taken care of by her grandmother.
3. This girl is speaking with her mother on the phone who is in Italy and has been there since 2007.
4. This 16 year old girl takes care of her 9 year old sister, their mother is in Italy and their father is in Russia.
5. This is a first grade class in a village.
6. A gym in the same school as the above photo.
7. This boy has been living under his grandparent's care since 2004 when his mother left to work in Italy.
8. Three daughters are taking care of their mother.
9. A mother speaks via Skype with her husband and son who are in Moldova.

Many stories are difficult to hear and comprehend.  Adults have difficulty finding jobs, or at least jobs that pay very much and are stable, so many travel to other countries to make more money.  Three countries where many Moldovans work are Italy, Ukraine and Russia.  Italy because Romanian is very close to Italian, so it is easy to learn.  Ukraine and Russia because and most Moldovans and Ukrainians speak Russian as their first or second language.

It is true that some people leave for other countries and stop all communication with their loved ones, start new families and never return to Moldova.  But there are also good stories about people working for a few years, saving up money and returning to Moldova to live with their loved ones.  Others make a huge sacrifice by living abroad for a long period of time and sending the money that they save to support their family and parents.

Working abroad isn't always bad, but it can be.  Don't judge those that do, because sometimes it works out for the best or it could literally be their only option to survive.