Volunteers from Ungheni Youth Centre are actively involved in supporting Ukrainian refugees. Young people state that they cannot stay indifferent and that each of them helps, to the extent possible, the Ukrainian refugees sheltered in Ungheni.

 ‘I heard the phrase “thank you” hundreds of times, in different languages. I saw gratitude smiles, but also lots of tears, I think more than I’ve seen in my entire life.’ Gabriela Alcaz (17 y.o.), the student in the 11th grade of ‘Mihai Eminescu’ Theoretical Lyceum from Ungheni, shares with us her experience as a volunteer at Sculeni border-crossing point.

Gabriela has been volunteering since the 6th grade, so she is used to being involved and taking part in charity auctions. She got to Sculeni border-crossing point on the very first day, together with other volunteers from the Centre she attends. While some young people helped distribute hot meals, informing people or directing them towards transport, Gabriela and some of her colleagues provided emotional support to the refugees. The young women were wearing ‘free hugs’ bands on their arms. Dozens of people, adults and children, approached to thank them.

‘I feel better when I can help someone’

‘So many people took photos with us, so many children were enthusiastic to see us! A girl asked us why we were there and my eyes welled up with tears at that point. I realised that some of the children did not understand very well what was happening, why they were running and where,’ said the young woman.

In the following days, Gabriela and other colleagues of hers took part in a lot of entertainment and learning activities for children placed in the Refugee Accommodation Centre from Ungheni. ‘We are glad to bring back the smile to their faces and to make them forget about sadness at least for a short while. We play with them – we draw, we make figures of modelling clay,’ said the young woman. Gabriela admits that she was nervous before the first meeting with the children and that she prepared for it – she looked up games on the Internet and even learned a few phrases in Ukrainian.

When asked how she manages to combine volunteering, school, and other activities she has, Gabriela answers that it is a natural gesture for her, which she developed over the years, thanks to the activities at the Youth Centre. ‘It is not something that takes a long time and one doesn’t need a lot of resources to do that. I feel much better when I can help. Volunteering is a priority of mine,’ she said.

The young woman said she was surprised with the way our co-nationals mobilised – relatives, friends, people on social media – in order to help the Ukrainian refugees. ‘It filled my heart with joy. It was such a humane and natural gesture for a people that is far from being the richest nation in Europe. Tears welled up in my eyes when I saw how many people wanted to help.’

‘Being a volunteer shaped my personality’

Constantin Basoc (19 y.o.), Gabriela’s colleague from Ungheni Youth Centre, is also involved in supporting Ukrainian refugees from the onset of the war in the neighbouring country.

Constantin has been a volunteer at the Centre for four years now and states that volunteering shaped his personality so that now human tragedies or other problems that youth or adults face cannot leave him indifferent.

He helped dozens of people at Sculeni, most of them mothers and children – he guided those who needed transport or information, and he distributed food packages or hygiene kits. Subsequently, he went to Sculeni several days in a row, on his own, and continued to help volunteers and public institutions’ staff to cope with the wave of refugees.

‘Volunteering makes you active and socially involved.  In a way, you cannot keep away when you see that someone needs help. My will to get involved grew and developed gradually.’

Even if baccalaureate exams are coming in two months from now, Constantin goes to the Refugee Accommodation Centre as often as he can, in order to take part in activities with Ukrainian children.

‘We do some drawing with the younger ones, and we try some intellectual games with the older children. We run our activities depending on children’s mood and their wishes,’ said the young man.

In their turn, mothers and children living in the Centre are always happy to meet the young people that come to spend time with them. Svetlana, a young woman, who came from Mykolaiv with her 4-year-old son, said that the activities organised by volunteers helped their children to forget the horror they saw and to find some peace.

Ungheni Youth Centre was established in 2018 and it currently provides a variety of services, has a large volunteer community coming from several settlements, including Ungheni municipality. The Centre organises leisure time activities for the young people and the staff of the Centre conducts various workshops for young people, including some of them about a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, the Centre implements projects that ensure youth participation. 

Ungheni Youth Centre, together with other 44 Centres, is part of the Network of Youth Centres of Moldova, developed and supported jointly by the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova, Swiss Cooperation Office and UNFPA Moldova.