Republic of Moldova

Confidence from the European Union

The big day, which Elena and Constantin P. of Tiraspol had been waiting for so long with bated breath, quickly turned into a night of horror. Their tiny little baby who they had waited for so long hurried into this world much too soon. He barely weighed 1.2 kg, and could neither breathe nor see the desperation of his parents. After years of painful waiting, years of dreams and hopes, the child was the last thread which led to their fulfillment. And that thread was breaking… right there at the perinatal centre in necessary medical care, but nothing had been promised. Only a miracle could save him. And the miracle happened. The fetus was placed in an incubator designed to replace the mother’s womb. He was the first child to benefit from medical equipment donated to the Perinatal Centres of Tiraspol and Bender under the project “Support for Confidence Building Measures,” funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. The incubator was a warm and welcoming home for the child, so that a few weeks later, recovered from the crisis. Vasile, as the parents named the newborn “survivor,” has tripled his birth weight. The little creature that once was, is now a chubby child, beaming with life. There has only been three 3 months since his birth, but Vasile rewards his parents and the doctors by firmly grabbing their hands, with smiles and cheerful gurgles. Since then, several babies have used his incubator, and just like Vasile, they have had to learn at an early age what fighting for life means.

“These children had barely a chance, not to say they had none at all but chances were minimal, when the necessary medical equipment was lacking. With God’s help and with our skill, we brought them to life, but we cannot keep them alive with our bare hands. The medical equipment donated by the project, including the incubator, enables us to provide high quality assistance and even to save human lives,” said the doctors from the Perinatal Centre of Tiraspol. To have proper conditions in order to use the equipment, the intensive care units of the two perinatal centres were repaired and later endowed with medical equipment worth 460,000 USD. With the help of this donation, the intensive therapy units of the perinatal centres of Tiraspol and Bender were entirely re-equipped.

Nevertheless, the project did not stop here. More than 260 neonatology specialists, pediatricians, nurses, obstetricians from the two centres, as well as other medical institutions from the left bank of the Nistru River, benefited from a number of trainings provided by specialists from the right bank of the Nistru River.

This is just one of the initiatives developed by the project “Support to Confidence Building Measures,” which aims to address the needs of the communities from Transnistrian region by increasing the access to basic economic and social services, and to objective and diversified information sources. The project also aims to build confidence between the inhabitants on both sides of the Nistru River and to work for the benefit of the most vulnerable communities, with particular emphasis made on the Transnistrian region and security zone. Confidence is the word that also characterizes the relationship established by Elena, Constantin and Vasile with their “rescuers.”

Article by Natalia Costas