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

CHAPTER I
Another case is of a 10 year old girl whose mother has been abroad for 3
years, the girl is cared for by her grandparents who live on their pension:
“My mom is in Moscow. I have not seen her since she left... There were periods
when there was no food, we could not cook anything. It happened twice. My
grandfather took a pot with salad that we prepared for the winter, but we ate
it in autumn. My mom sent a parcel once, but I do not remember exactly – I
think it was when she left, she sent some sweets. She never sent anything else,
no money to my grandmother. There were cases when I told her that there
was no food and I asked her to help us, she said she would, but she never did”
(III_C_8).
It is not difficult to assume that, in the conditions of the small pensions that
the elderly receive in this country, this child’s grandparents can only provide
for a minimum existence, while the healthy food necessary for proper
development (meat, butter, milk, fruits, etc. ), becomes an unobtainable
wish for this family.
Nutrient deficiency, especially during physical and mental development
of the organism is one of many determinants of serious diseases (digestive,
skeletal and muscular system, nervous system, blood and eye diseases,
etc.) which may develop later during these children’s life.
Another problem identified here is that providing food becomes
one of the responsibilities the child has to bear once his/her parents
have left. It should be noted that an enormous responsibility
is placed on the shoulders of minors, especially in cases when they
have to take care of their little brothers or sisters, to do a set of
household chores. This is the case of a girl aged 15 who takes care of
her 5 year old sister. “Sometimes I come from school very hungry and
I have to cook and do all the work in the house. It is so hard for me…
the cleaning, the cooking and babysitting my sister and also feeding the
animals… It’s even more difficult during winter – I have to make the
fire, it’s so hard” (III_C_21).
The household responsibilities take up a big part of children’s time,
especially in the morning when they have to prepare their breakfast.
Children have to feed their domestic animals, to make the fire during
winters, to take care of their little brother or sister. The child has no
time to eat in the morning and go to school: “After my mom left, everything
is so hard. I am the biggest one... We have many animals – 7 sheep,
2 goats, a cow and poultry. My dad is coming home drunk regularly, he
just goes to bed and he does not care about anything else... In the morning
I have to feed the animals, to dress my sister, to take her to the kindergarten,
and then I go to school. I did not have time to drink my morning tea.
After school I had to make the fire in the winter and to take care of the
animals” (III_C_19).
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