This week is International Education Week and all the Fulbright scholars were invited to give presentations at the Educational Advising Center where I hold a weekly conversation group. I decided to give a presentation titled “Preparing Women for Global Leadership: The Albright Institute Case” that would focus on the strategies that Wellesley College has used to empower women and would describe the activities and goals of the new Albright Institute. In addition, I hoped to have an engaging discussion about the challenges of being a woman in Moldova and how to support women so that they can improve their lives and also become leaders in society. Seven extremely bright and ambitious young women came to the presentation and they really got the wheels turning in my mind so the afternoon ended up being much more interesting than I expected.
A couple of the women had a pretty heated debate about the benefits and disadvantages of a single-sex education and that started off the discussion. Then they brought up the point that women are in a tough place in Moldova because they are expected to have careers, raise children, cook, clean, and do everything else all at the same time, whereas it is expected for me to just go to work then come home and relax. Of course this is not a problem unique to Moldova, but the women said that it’s difficult to cope with it here because young women and girls do not have any role models to look up to. They feel all this pressure and know that they have to do all these things but have no idea how to accomplish everything and stay sane and healthy because they can’t look to an example of how any other woman has done this. One of the women was very open and shared her story of domestic violence in her family, saying that women need to speak up about this more in order to stop it from happening. On a side note, she actually works for the OSCE and is going to be a great contact for me in the future. She showed a strong interest in volunteering for Winrock as well.
It was really interesting for me to see this group interact and engage with gender issues. It felt very Wellesley to have a small group of women from different backgrounds (who have never met) come together to debate each other with contagious enthusiasm that made them all feel like they wanted to go out and do something to change society. I think it would be amazing to create a network of young women like this who are working or volunteering for NGOs or just have a strong interest in women’s issues to get together once a month or something like that to exchange ideas, participate in debates, and collaborate on new projects or find out about various opportunities to volunteer and make a difference. I wonder if there is anything like that in place in Chisinau. I think I have mentioned before that there are something like 300 NGOs in Moldova that have some sort of focus on gender issues/anti-trafficking efforts and a lot of times their programs overlap and could be more effective if there were more collaboration on projects. Logistically, this just seems very difficult. At my presentation, however, the girl who works for the OSCE was able to invite the others to the play on domestic violence that I went to (there is one more performance) and I was able to interest them in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign that Winrock is participating in that most of them had never heard of.
The more people you meet, the more opportunities you find out about and it’s much easier to join an activity or volunteer when you have already know a person who is working for that organization and has personally invited you to participate. In addition, if young women like this continued to meet and expand their networks, I have no doubt that they would inspire each other to do important work in Moldova. As one of the participants today mentioned, there are many brilliant women in Moldova but if they don’t speak up and share their knowledge and experiences you would never know it. There are so many intelligent and talented people in Moldova that it is a real tragedy that there are so few opportunities to make a living in any field here. If these people join forces and try to have a positive outlook rather than a hopeless one, then maybe, someday, something will change and the country will be able to move forward.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Chisinau High
I have been on such a Chisinau high this past week. This is partly due to the fact that it has been sunny and in the mid-60s which seems totally unreal for November. I’ve also been really busy meeting new people, going to some great concerts, and finding out about a bunch of new opportunities for my research project. I’ll write about the research opportunities more as they come into fruition.
So people who have been visiting Chisinau over the past few days include: Liz and her parents who will be in Moldova for a couple of weeks, 2 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants who are based in Georgia, and 1 other Fulbright ETA and his girlfriend who are based in Azerbaijan. I went out to dinner with Liz and her parents on Thursday to a popular restaurant for tourists that has live music and serves traditional Moldovan cuisine and we happened to run into the rest of the group with another Fulbright researcher, Rod, who is studying music in Chisianu. He invited me to come visit the music school where he is studying and said he could definitely hook me up with a violin and probably find people for me to play with if I want.
On Friday night we met up again at Opa, a Greek restaurant, and it was filled with ex-pats. I saw Chi Pham, the director of LED who was at the Winrock Young Entrereneur’s Forum, and some ladies I saw at the OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting on Wednesday as well as some men who were clearly from the UK. We also spotted a couple of Americans across the room who turned out to be Peace Corps volunteers so they joined us to go to Bier Platz for a beer after dinner.
After Bier Platz we tried to go to a club near the National Opera Theater because someone had invited one of the Fulbright ETAs to meet her there. He asked some students on the street how to get there and it turned out they were going to the same place so we befriended them and talked for a while. One of the guys did Work and Travel in Alaska so he was excited to see Americans again. They also were only speaking Russian so that was convenient for us since none of us speak Romanian all that well. We made it to the club, but we couldn’t get in. There was “face control” which is something all of us who have been to Russia are very familiar with. It means that only men who have a lot of money and women who are dressed up like prostitutes can get in. Apparently, however, the issue here was more that you had to reply that you were attending this event on Facebook and then you would be on a list and could get in. Our new Moldovan friends tried to help us out but it was no use. They said they’d actually never seen face control happening anywhere in Chisinau so they were really bummed out and apologetic about it.
On Saturday afternoon I met up with a couple that a Wellesley alumna had suggested I meet for coffee because she said they are amazing people and would be great contacts for me here in Chisinau. She was definitely right about that. We had a really nice conversation and I will be seeing much more of them. We went to a fairly posh café and the Swedish ambassador happened to be there so I met her and another American lady that she was with as well.
After I met up with them, I went to a concert that was happening on the square outside the National Opera Theater. Zdob si Zdub, the most famous Moldovan rock band, was playing and the whole event was a political rally for one of the candidates in the election. They played a cover of a Russian rock song by Kino that I love so that made my night.
However, the night got even better. We went to this underground bar that I’ve been to a couple times to see the band Still Waters play. One of the guys in the band is the Peace Corps security officer or something like that. They played covers of songs like “Last Dance with Mary Jane” “Great Balls of Fire” and lots of blues music. Liz’s dad got to go up onstage for the second set and play the harmonica so that was really exciting too. The band was awesome and they played for 3 hours so it was a great night. It’s a small venue but most people got up and danced and it was really cool. Liz's dad on the harmonica:
Now I am sitting in the park. It is sunny and warm and there is live music. I'm going to see Swan Lake tonight with the people visiting from Azerbaijan and two Fulbright researchers. Pretty nice weekend.
So people who have been visiting Chisinau over the past few days include: Liz and her parents who will be in Moldova for a couple of weeks, 2 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants who are based in Georgia, and 1 other Fulbright ETA and his girlfriend who are based in Azerbaijan. I went out to dinner with Liz and her parents on Thursday to a popular restaurant for tourists that has live music and serves traditional Moldovan cuisine and we happened to run into the rest of the group with another Fulbright researcher, Rod, who is studying music in Chisianu. He invited me to come visit the music school where he is studying and said he could definitely hook me up with a violin and probably find people for me to play with if I want.
On Friday night we met up again at Opa, a Greek restaurant, and it was filled with ex-pats. I saw Chi Pham, the director of LED who was at the Winrock Young Entrereneur’s Forum, and some ladies I saw at the OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting on Wednesday as well as some men who were clearly from the UK. We also spotted a couple of Americans across the room who turned out to be Peace Corps volunteers so they joined us to go to Bier Platz for a beer after dinner.
After Bier Platz we tried to go to a club near the National Opera Theater because someone had invited one of the Fulbright ETAs to meet her there. He asked some students on the street how to get there and it turned out they were going to the same place so we befriended them and talked for a while. One of the guys did Work and Travel in Alaska so he was excited to see Americans again. They also were only speaking Russian so that was convenient for us since none of us speak Romanian all that well. We made it to the club, but we couldn’t get in. There was “face control” which is something all of us who have been to Russia are very familiar with. It means that only men who have a lot of money and women who are dressed up like prostitutes can get in. Apparently, however, the issue here was more that you had to reply that you were attending this event on Facebook and then you would be on a list and could get in. Our new Moldovan friends tried to help us out but it was no use. They said they’d actually never seen face control happening anywhere in Chisinau so they were really bummed out and apologetic about it.
On Saturday afternoon I met up with a couple that a Wellesley alumna had suggested I meet for coffee because she said they are amazing people and would be great contacts for me here in Chisinau. She was definitely right about that. We had a really nice conversation and I will be seeing much more of them. We went to a fairly posh café and the Swedish ambassador happened to be there so I met her and another American lady that she was with as well.
After I met up with them, I went to a concert that was happening on the square outside the National Opera Theater. Zdob si Zdub, the most famous Moldovan rock band, was playing and the whole event was a political rally for one of the candidates in the election. They played a cover of a Russian rock song by Kino that I love so that made my night.
However, the night got even better. We went to this underground bar that I’ve been to a couple times to see the band Still Waters play. One of the guys in the band is the Peace Corps security officer or something like that. They played covers of songs like “Last Dance with Mary Jane” “Great Balls of Fire” and lots of blues music. Liz’s dad got to go up onstage for the second set and play the harmonica so that was really exciting too. The band was awesome and they played for 3 hours so it was a great night. It’s a small venue but most people got up and danced and it was really cool. Liz's dad on the harmonica:
Now I am sitting in the park. It is sunny and warm and there is live music. I'm going to see Swan Lake tonight with the people visiting from Azerbaijan and two Fulbright researchers. Pretty nice weekend.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting
So the executive decision was made for me to not go to Transnistria today. I would have been going with Winrock’s Chief of Party and she was worried about the inevitable showdown we would have with the border guards as a result of a foreigner being in the car and this would cause a great deal of stress and make us late for the round table. Better to go when there isn’t a time constraint. Our driver said that he went with a German guy a little while ago and while there was no problem entering Transnistria, the guards wouldn’t let them cross the border on the way out so they had to hassle with them for a long time and eventually pay a significant bribe. My understanding is basically that you never know what’s going to happen at the border. It could largely depend on which town you are trying to go through or whether or not the guard you have to talk to ran out of cigarettes or had too much vodka the night before and is feeling agitated. That’s how I imagine the situation anyway.
At any rate, I was able to attend the monthly OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting with my boss and I had been looking forward to going to one of these sessions since I got here so I was fine with that. I would say there were about 25 representatives there from various NGOs and government offices, and I also saw a Peace Corps volunteer that I met this weekend and a Political Officer from the US Embassy that I’ve talked to a few times. The meeting was partly in English and mostly in Romanian but everyone got a pretty sweet headset for immediate translation. It wasn’t as cool as the ones we got at the big meetings in Brussels that you can use to listen to speeches in all the different languages of the EU, but it was something.
As for the content of the meeting, my boss gave a presentation on the Transnistrian Women’s Support Project and the rest of the discussion focused more on children’s issues that have recently become the subject of much attention. It seems like a bunch of organizations are going to start doing research on the issue of the exploitation of children through the internet and are creating awareness projects to address this problem through prevention. Many children in Moldova are left without parents because they need to go abroad to make money, and they use the internet to keep in touch. As a result, they have constant access to a computer and the internet and have no one around to advise them about how to use the internet safely. As we all know, the internet can be a pretty scary place. In the same way that some sexual predator/pedophile might try to communicate with a girl in rural Maine through Myspace, you might have a trafficker in Egypt contacting Moldovan youth through Odnaklassniki or Facebook. Just the other day at work my co-worker got a Facebook message from a guy in Egypt she doesn’t know and she said that happens pretty often that men from the Middle East are contacting Moldovan women and trying to meet them and usually it’s a fairly creepy situation. Apparently the same kind of thing is happening with sketchy people offering kids money or presents or even threatening to hurt their parents as a way of trying to manipulate them psychologically through online communication. The director of La Strada, an NGO in Moldova, talked about a new hotline they have opened for children regarding this issue and they can also contact one of La Strada’s consultants through a Skype account.
I found the meeting very useful for my research overall, especially since it is nearly impossible to find information easily online or even in print through brochures or reports published by organizations in Moldova. Much more information is presented at the meetings than can be surmised through the official notes that you can get from the OSCE. I would definitely like to attend every month if I can. It’s a good way to see what various organizations and actors are doing to address the issue and what kind of new projects or problems are popping up.
At any rate, I was able to attend the monthly OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting with my boss and I had been looking forward to going to one of these sessions since I got here so I was fine with that. I would say there were about 25 representatives there from various NGOs and government offices, and I also saw a Peace Corps volunteer that I met this weekend and a Political Officer from the US Embassy that I’ve talked to a few times. The meeting was partly in English and mostly in Romanian but everyone got a pretty sweet headset for immediate translation. It wasn’t as cool as the ones we got at the big meetings in Brussels that you can use to listen to speeches in all the different languages of the EU, but it was something.
As for the content of the meeting, my boss gave a presentation on the Transnistrian Women’s Support Project and the rest of the discussion focused more on children’s issues that have recently become the subject of much attention. It seems like a bunch of organizations are going to start doing research on the issue of the exploitation of children through the internet and are creating awareness projects to address this problem through prevention. Many children in Moldova are left without parents because they need to go abroad to make money, and they use the internet to keep in touch. As a result, they have constant access to a computer and the internet and have no one around to advise them about how to use the internet safely. As we all know, the internet can be a pretty scary place. In the same way that some sexual predator/pedophile might try to communicate with a girl in rural Maine through Myspace, you might have a trafficker in Egypt contacting Moldovan youth through Odnaklassniki or Facebook. Just the other day at work my co-worker got a Facebook message from a guy in Egypt she doesn’t know and she said that happens pretty often that men from the Middle East are contacting Moldovan women and trying to meet them and usually it’s a fairly creepy situation. Apparently the same kind of thing is happening with sketchy people offering kids money or presents or even threatening to hurt their parents as a way of trying to manipulate them psychologically through online communication. The director of La Strada, an NGO in Moldova, talked about a new hotline they have opened for children regarding this issue and they can also contact one of La Strada’s consultants through a Skype account.
I found the meeting very useful for my research overall, especially since it is nearly impossible to find information easily online or even in print through brochures or reports published by organizations in Moldova. Much more information is presented at the meetings than can be surmised through the official notes that you can get from the OSCE. I would definitely like to attend every month if I can. It’s a good way to see what various organizations and actors are doing to address the issue and what kind of new projects or problems are popping up.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Casa M
I did go to the play put on by the OSCE and the theater group Art Centre Coliseum on Sunday. It was all in Romanian but the director of the Anti-Trafficking Program at the OSCE spoke at the beginning and end in English. The theater was packed so it was great to see people interested in learning about the problem of domestic violence in Moldova. There were four actresses in the play, and they took turns performing vignettes and reciting poetry. Through these scenes they told real-life stories of Moldovan women who have suffered from psychological, physical, sexual, or economic violence. There was also a real (dead) chicken involved that was worn as a hat at one point and torn up and stuffed in a big jar towards the end. Not really sure what that was about to be honest. At the end of the show there was a discussion about domestic violence and how people can work to address the problem. A large portion of the audience left before the conversation started, but quite a few stayed and participated. The Minister of Labor, Family, and Social Protection spoke as did a lady from the IOM that I recognized from the TV program Destinies and Destinations that Winrock developed with IOM and La Strada.
Tomorrow I will either be going to the monthly OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting in Chisinau or a Regional Roundtable in Transnistria being put on by one of Winrock's Regional Support Centers. Either will be very interesting. Too bad they are being held at the same time.
Tomorrow I will either be going to the monthly OSCE Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting in Chisinau or a Regional Roundtable in Transnistria being put on by one of Winrock's Regional Support Centers. Either will be very interesting. Too bad they are being held at the same time.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
It's Always Sunny in Chisinau
The weather this week has been absolutely unbelievable. Mid-60s and sunny every day. Perfection. A few weeks ago it was freezing cold and rainy all the time and it seemed like winter was coming early so it's been awesome to have the warmth again to sit in the park and enjoy strolling around the city.
This weekend has been fun so far. On Friday night I met up with Corrin and went to a birthday party of a Bulgarian lady who is married to a guy who works at the embassy and I saw a bunch of people I met at the Labor Day party. Last night I went to see the Marriage of Figaro with my co-worker (Aliona) and some Peace Corps volunteers. The costumes were gorgeous and it was nice to hear music that I recognized since the Tsar's Bride wasn't familiar to me at all. It was also a bit easier to understand because there were subtitles in Romanian. There weren't subtitles at the Tsar's Bride because it was in Russian and everyone speaks Russian. I think it would be difficult to get what was being sung in an opera even if it were in English though. So subtitles were a plus. I expected there to be a lot more people there this time since it's a more well-known opera, but the theater was pretty empty. No wonder Turandot was canceled last week; they probably would have been performing for an audience of 10 people. Oh well.
After the show we went to Riscani, one of the nicer areas of Chisinau. I had never been over there before and I was pretty impressed. It's like another big downtown area. We went to this German restaurant/bar called the Flying Pig that I've been hearing a lot about. We wanted to see this band perform but we could there just when they had finished playing. There were a bunch of other Peace Corps volunteers there too. After a while we went to a Russian karaoke bar down the street, which was quite a different scene. There was a very sullen looking man singing Russian karaoke songs in the corner when we got there. The presence of the Americans livened the place up quite a bit. Only one of them sang karaoke, but she made a good choice with "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, which I know from past experience Russians/Eastern Europeans really love. The Moldovans were all singing along and got a big kick out of it I would say. She gave a very good performance and has a great voice. Here's an action shot:
And here's a photo of Aliona who was having fun and dancing along:
Tonight I'm going to a play about domestic violence that the OSCE is putting on. I'm pretty sure it's going to be all in Romanian but I know it will be interesting to check out anyway and I'll take some video. Conveniently enough it is happening at this center that is pretty much right next to my house. Other than that I'm just going to be relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.
This weekend has been fun so far. On Friday night I met up with Corrin and went to a birthday party of a Bulgarian lady who is married to a guy who works at the embassy and I saw a bunch of people I met at the Labor Day party. Last night I went to see the Marriage of Figaro with my co-worker (Aliona) and some Peace Corps volunteers. The costumes were gorgeous and it was nice to hear music that I recognized since the Tsar's Bride wasn't familiar to me at all. It was also a bit easier to understand because there were subtitles in Romanian. There weren't subtitles at the Tsar's Bride because it was in Russian and everyone speaks Russian. I think it would be difficult to get what was being sung in an opera even if it were in English though. So subtitles were a plus. I expected there to be a lot more people there this time since it's a more well-known opera, but the theater was pretty empty. No wonder Turandot was canceled last week; they probably would have been performing for an audience of 10 people. Oh well.
After the show we went to Riscani, one of the nicer areas of Chisinau. I had never been over there before and I was pretty impressed. It's like another big downtown area. We went to this German restaurant/bar called the Flying Pig that I've been hearing a lot about. We wanted to see this band perform but we could there just when they had finished playing. There were a bunch of other Peace Corps volunteers there too. After a while we went to a Russian karaoke bar down the street, which was quite a different scene. There was a very sullen looking man singing Russian karaoke songs in the corner when we got there. The presence of the Americans livened the place up quite a bit. Only one of them sang karaoke, but she made a good choice with "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, which I know from past experience Russians/Eastern Europeans really love. The Moldovans were all singing along and got a big kick out of it I would say. She gave a very good performance and has a great voice. Here's an action shot:
And here's a photo of Aliona who was having fun and dancing along:
Tonight I'm going to a play about domestic violence that the OSCE is putting on. I'm pretty sure it's going to be all in Romanian but I know it will be interesting to check out anyway and I'll take some video. Conveniently enough it is happening at this center that is pretty much right next to my house. Other than that I'm just going to be relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather. Friday, November 5, 2010
A second-hand sweater for your vote
I had my first two conversation groups over the past couple of days. The first was yesterday at the Educational Advising Center. I'll be hosting a session there every Thursday for an hour in the afternoon, and I really enjoyed the group of people that showed up yesterday. There were 11 total and they were mostly high school and college students but there were also a couple of older men who are in the work force. One is a doctor who happened to just do a study concerning trafficking victims and post traumatic stress disorder. They all speak English very, very well, and they were eager to debate each other about various issues. There wasn't a set topic for discussion so we just started talking and would talk about whatever came up and branched off from different ideas as they arose. For most of the time we talked about migration, the election, and corruption in Moldova. Some things that were mentioned:
-My grandmother is voting for the Communists because a man from the party came by and gave her a blue second-hand sweater.
-I'm sick of hearing about the elections.
-I'm not voting and it's my choice not to vote.
-You're an idiot for not wanting to vote.
-I think I should vote because if I don't someone else will take my ballot and vote for me.
-If Moldovans want to travel abroad, they get Romanian passports so they can travel freely in the EU. Since Moldova used to be part of Romania, it's really easy to get them. If your grandparents were once considered Romanian then it's no problem. Otherwise, you just have to pay some money.
-In America, people get rich and then go into politics. In Moldova, people go into politics to get rich.
I had a lot of fun with the group. They were a lively bunch. Definitely looking forward to seeing them more in the future. Today, I went to another discussion group for an English club at the Pedagogical University in the English Teaching Resource Center. The topic was "Television in Our Lives." I'd say there were about 15 people there, mostly students and a couple of professors. One professor was from Ribnitsa in Transnistria and had brought some of her students because she said they never have the chance to meet native speakers of English. I offered to come visit their university at some point since I want to visit Ribnitsa to see Winrock's resource center there as well. I also got to meet a professor who works in the American Studies department at Moldova State and she asked me to come do a presentation there as well. Looks like I'm going to start getting a bit busier. I really enjoy meeting all these new people though.
-My grandmother is voting for the Communists because a man from the party came by and gave her a blue second-hand sweater.
-I'm sick of hearing about the elections.
-I'm not voting and it's my choice not to vote.
-You're an idiot for not wanting to vote.
-I think I should vote because if I don't someone else will take my ballot and vote for me.
-If Moldovans want to travel abroad, they get Romanian passports so they can travel freely in the EU. Since Moldova used to be part of Romania, it's really easy to get them. If your grandparents were once considered Romanian then it's no problem. Otherwise, you just have to pay some money.
-In America, people get rich and then go into politics. In Moldova, people go into politics to get rich.
I had a lot of fun with the group. They were a lively bunch. Definitely looking forward to seeing them more in the future. Today, I went to another discussion group for an English club at the Pedagogical University in the English Teaching Resource Center. The topic was "Television in Our Lives." I'd say there were about 15 people there, mostly students and a couple of professors. One professor was from Ribnitsa in Transnistria and had brought some of her students because she said they never have the chance to meet native speakers of English. I offered to come visit their university at some point since I want to visit Ribnitsa to see Winrock's resource center there as well. I also got to meet a professor who works in the American Studies department at Moldova State and she asked me to come do a presentation there as well. Looks like I'm going to start getting a bit busier. I really enjoy meeting all these new people though.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Election Madness
It looks like Republican candidate Paul LePage will be Maine's next governor. Too bad. The election is heating up in Moldova now as well. I paid a visit to the director of the Independent Journalism Center this morning and everyone in the office was very busy because they are monitoring election coverage from all the newspapers as well as radio and tv stations in Moldova. If you're interested in the campaign, here's a good article from the EU Observer http://waz.euobserver.com/887/31171. Basically it looks like the ruling coalition has a slim chance at victory and the pro-Moscow communists might come back to power. Here's an interesting paragraph from the article highlighting corruption:
"As the electoral campaign gains momentum, tricks are being played by all sides. Both Mr Voronin's communists and Marian Lupu's Democratic Party have already used fake donors to account for part of the funds used in the campaign. In the last few days, Moldovan papers have been full of stories of simple voters – often poor peasants – who were puzzled to discover that they had been listed as donors of large sums of money to one party or the other."
"As the electoral campaign gains momentum, tricks are being played by all sides. Both Mr Voronin's communists and Marian Lupu's Democratic Party have already used fake donors to account for part of the funds used in the campaign. In the last few days, Moldovan papers have been full of stories of simple voters – often poor peasants – who were puzzled to discover that they had been listed as donors of large sums of money to one party or the other."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)