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

Psychological and social effects of migration
ing the emotional processes that children left behind experience was the
intensity. The power, the force, the profoundness of separation and loneliness
as emotional experiences shown as a continuous longing (in Romanian
language “dor”) was expressed by the majority of children. The
study shows the direct and/or indirect presence of the longing of children
for their parents in most cases. Their answers prove that the intensity of
their emotional experiences depend on the emotional value that parents
have for their children as well as on child’s emotional capacity.
We concluded that some children experience severe emotions derived
from the separation from their parents and the way they perceive their
own family. This observation is also true for children who continue living
in their families as well as for those who are institutionalized after their
parents’ departure. For instance, the essays on the topic of family reflect
their intense emotional excitement linked to the trauma they experienced
when separating from one or both of their parents: ,,A rock full of darkness
and a candle that is about to fade is my family now. Even if my aunt and
uncle are close I miss my mother’s soft glow of her hazel eyes and her soft lips
smile. I live with the idea that in 6 months or maybe a year, they will be back,
and I pray to God to give them force, patience, health to get home safe. My
family is like an altar with no chancel – I have a family but I miss my mom’s
sweet words and my father’s powerful voice. You cannot even imagine how
much I want to have a family to feel happy, but now, if the possibility is not
there I just sit all day long and live a dream: that my parents are home again.
You, who have a family, take good care of it as if you lose you will never be
able to regain it again” (E_13_14 years old_female_family).
The content of the stories told by children denote that they are scared of
loneliness, a feeling that can be explained in psychoanalysis by the fear
of losing their parents. The lack of love, attention and appreciation from
their parents is felt intensely. The children’s emotional experience is very
important for the personality in their childhood. The children’s affectivity
is deprived from the care of their family because of their parent’s migration.
The emotional lack, as shown by the data of the qualitative research
appears as a disturbing condition that finally leads to frustration and emotional
stiffness. In order to free themselves of the emotional burden they
experience because of separation they write poems, thus expressing their
emotions:
A Poem for Parents
I look through the window
And I wait for them to come
So that our house will be filled again
With happiness, smiles and bread for the table.
I want to see my mother sewing
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