Bravicea is a picturesque village of approximately 3,700 inhabitants – a population of beautiful hardworking families, generous, responsive, sensitive and welcoming. These qualities are fully proven thanks to a good management and a nice collaboration, which is mentioned by the village’s Mayor, the community social assistant, the priest and, not least, the foster carers themselves.
The present Mayor, Alexei Zatic, says that Foster Care Service had been presented to him by the Department of Social Assistance and Family Protection (DSAFP), as an “opportunity”, so all he had to do, was to accept it. He understood from the beginning the utility and the value of this service, which is a safe form of protection for children without parental care. However, the Mayor admits that every beginning comes with its issues, and all the results they have reached wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the strong institutional collaboration with the District DSAFP, the community social assistant that knows each family in the village, the school and the kindergarten.
Thus, from 2011, till now, 41 children have beneficiated of Foster Care Service. The Mayor is optimistic about the further results. He says that people have already understood the benefits of this Service and he expects that the number of Foster Carers increases in the village, so the number of children taken in placement.
If this numbers keep reaching the top, it is very probable that the village of Bravicea becomes a “Village of Foster Families”, says cheerfully the community social assistant, Nina Uncu.
The lack of a job is one of the biggest problems existing in Moldova that causes child abandonment (including social abandonment). Without a stable source of existence, many parents decide to go abroad and find a job, leaving their children behind. Not to mention that migration had generated a series of negative repercussions on children’s development.
On the other hand, the Foster Care Service, although is a relatively new “job” in Moldova, it creates good opportunities for the citizens that can choose to stay home and work in the same time. They can raise their children home and also, offer a nice example of their family, sharing it with a child (or more children), left without family care.
In this context, the Mayor says that a lot of people in the village are becoming more interested in the opportunity to practice a job and to take a noble commitment to children, who need a family. Still, both the Mayor and the community social assistant agree that a lot of professionalism is needed to choose those “perfect candidates” to become Foster Carers; the Foster Care is a Service, not a “favour”, a “charity act” or a possibility to solve financial problems.
In order to promote correctly this service, there was developed an informative campaign, with the involvement of Media, District Council and with the support of P4EC.
Other less traditional possibility, but yet, very efficient stays in people’s civic involvement, among them: teachers, doctors, other persons named by the priest to sustain a public speech on moral–spiritual themes – one of them being about fostering. This is indeed, one of the further “homework” for the priest, foster carers, or even children, who experienced foster care and are able to share the values and all the opportunities this service comes with.