specific needs of children and elderly left behind as a ... - IOM Moldova

CHAPTER I
dad. It is only me and my sister who clean the house, my father does it rarely.
He bakes bread... When dad is not home I have to feed the poultry, clean the
house, heat it, and cook everything I can. When dad is not home we eat fried
potatoes, eggs. My sister can light the fire” (III_C_16). It can be noticed that
the child at the age of 12 years is forced to light the fire, to cook, which implies
an increased risk for incendiary security, the threat of trauma and
injury in the absence of parental supervision.
When sanitation is left solely in the care of the child, its quality may be
questioned. This emerges from the story from the grandmother of these
girls: “I know they bathe, I see them drying their laundry, but they have lice
anyway. The girl is very smart, she has good marks, but when she returns
from school she plays with all those dirty children who have lice and skin
sores and everything you can think of, and it may be from them that she took
the lice”. Their neighbour says: “I see her playing with their neighbours’ kids.
Especially in the summer I see her running along. You may say she is happy
but the children are a little dirty, their hair is all a mess. Oh well… if mom
is not at home” (III_C_16). Sanitary education and bodily hygiene are
part of parental responsibilities, especially of the mother who needs to
familiarize children with this starting in early childhood. The lack of
maternal care in the adopting of hygiene habits leave a negative impact on
children’s way of living that respectively constitutes an important determinant
of their future health.
3. When leaving parents entrust the organization of living conditions
to children who are left alone without permanent supervision from
an adult, this can lead to certain risks and dangers for their security
and their benefit.
In many cases analyzed during the study, domestic concerns are left on the
shoulders of children who live alone and organize their own living conditions
with the baggage of knowledge and skills that a child can have at 14-
16 years. Children are independently shopping (including sanitary items),
keeping the house clean, washing their own clothes, etc.
The quality of these activities may be questioned, taking into consideration,
first of all, the fact that they are children, with responsibilities that are specific
for their biological age.
In this context should be presented the case of two sisters aged 15 and
11 respectively, who live alone, while the father is at home only on
weekends and the mother has been away for 5 years. The interviewer
describes the scene: “I conducted the interview in the house where the
children live. The house is messy; there are dirty dishes on the table, with
dry food on them. There were rotten pieces of apples on the floor, a lot
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