October 29, 2015
Moldova
Students from five cities in Southern Moldova experienced first-hand what it means to be an "active citizen" and bring about positive changes to society. These students were members of local action groups in Gagauzia generated through the involvement of Caritas throughout the year.
Throughout their participation in the project the students expressed remarkable talents for promoting their ideas. Since the project aimed to solve the issues facing individual communities and their negotiations with local authorities, each group was important in its own right. The students also took part in round table discussions which stimulated the interest of the public. A local development action plan for the year 2016 was also created.
These activities increase the ability of young people to enforce desired changes in their communities and to ameliorate the problematic environment surrounding schools. For instance, in Vulcanesti students collaborated with parents and school management to set up an information board, where you can find information about events in high school. The students in Cairaclia, Ceadîr-Lunga and Gaidar negotiated with and encouraged the local authorities to purchase benches and trash cans. The students had to organize themselves, find appropriate locations to operate from and solve other organizational issues. Following this, they were able to dig pits for pillars, benches and cemented trash cans. Likewise, the Cazaclia students, in cooperation with representatives and parents, repainted the Culture House.
The participants felt that they received little support from the local authorities at the beginning of Caritas’s project in the region and expressed concerns about the futility of their efforts. Despite this initial inertia however, the students wished to stay involved until the end. Such a commitment soon paid off, with the local officials deciding to become more involved in the activities. One of the students, Alexander from the Lyceum Guboglo, said: "Through these activities, I learned how I can influence people's attitudes. From the very beginning my motivation came from the idea that you cannot expect aid from outside, but it is better to start acting on your own and to participate in public life. "
It turns out that young people in the region now yearn for active participation in the political process where they can bring about change in public access. One of the students participating in the activities of Caritas, Aliona from a high school in Cairaclia, says: "The new experience helps to develop and maintain my relationship in society. Thanks to the program I became more communicative, sociable and open to the activities of public life. I am currently using the new skills I learnt in my other school activities, college and life."
