My Experience in Estonia 2012-2013

Happiness is hidden in simple things.

Happiness is hidden

 in simple things. 

Together with a group of amazing people from the diplomatic missions of Latvia, France, Moldova to Estonia and other participants, we had the opportunity to visit two social centers, one for people with Dawn-Syndrome and a daily social center  for children from difficult families. Both social centers are located in two small towns of Estonia, located in 50 km distance from Tallinn. 

Our first visit was in Social Center from the village Pahkla, called ,,Kula Camphili", which is an organized according to the international social movement of care for people with Syndrome - Down . From the beginning we were impressed by the how the daily life is organized there, that everybody has its own duty and work inside the house and outside in the garden, based on the model normal families. All this houses are kept and runned by the people employed there in the role of parents, who take care of all people with special needs and give them the opportunity to feel important there. 

      A daily work occurs also in their small animal farm, where they care for 15 cows and other animals. Most impressive is that this is almost autonomous social center, they can cover their needs by doing their work in the farm, garden and workshop. At the same time, they run a workshop for candles and a sewing workshop where they do beautiful small carpets. They usually organize their duties normally just like a big family. Each person is fulfilling its tasks according to their schedules, this helps them a lot and they learn to be responsible, to feel important to their community and family life. Work has a special appearance, they are not forced to do anything, but they are told that they can get through their activity or work. All their work is organized by the principle ,,learn by doing”, this gives them the incentive to work hard and to learn in the process they fulfil their job.

     The surprise for all of us was their interest and love for the music. We have been told that they visited an instrumental concert, and after that they were so impressed that they asked to be learned how to interpret that songs. And we truly had the opportunity to be welcomed by their small concert. Frankly speaking, I was impressed, because even for an ordinary person it would be hard to interpret classic songs of famous composers, ones that have been chosen by them, but they did it almost perfectly and with great dedication.

Our second destination was the Rapla city where we visited a Daily Social Center for small children from families with social problems, some children are from families where parents are unable to provide the necessary care for them. Here we met the leader of this social center, Ms.Siri, which is one of the famous Estonian singers, who decided at some point of her life that she has to help these children in need, and devoted herself to this social cause. Here we met some young girls who were doing some daily activities in the center. They were surprised to see us and some were shy, but later on they were very friendly and joined our company. We got to know one of them which was nearby Ms.Siri during all this time, as she loves her very much, this is due to her own family problems and lack of peace and love there.

     This social center does not receive any help from the state budget, but it managed to be running on the principle of self-supporting. It’s amazing how they done it, by mobilizing their efforts and with all the goods from donations of used items (clothes, toys, books, household items) they collected them and put them to the auction off in their own shop. Money collected from this activity are only enough to pay rent, salaries of teachers dealing with these children, and utilities. This is truly not enough to run this social center, but Ms.Siri is happy that she can give a little help to these children who have the opportunity to feel protected from everyday problems experienced by their families.

These social centers are trying to give these people a chance to fit in society, to feel important to their own community. Through education and daily activities there is a chance to give them confidence in their future. All these efforts are made ​​through those special people who take care of them, we can say that they are the people with big hearts and a treasure for this society.

   Today was a lesson for me personally, that sometimes we have everything but appreciate nothing and happiness hidden in simple things.

Moldova Flag Day

Flag Day of Moldova is celebrated on 27 April each year. 

The state flag of Moldova is a vertical tricolor of blue, yellow, and red, charged with the coat of arms of Moldova (an eagle holding a shield charged with an aurochs) on the center bar. The obverse is mirrored. 

The flag ratio is 1:2. Until further provisions, the State Flag of Moldova is used as the national flag and ensign as well, that is, civil, state and war flag and ensign.

The blue, red, and yellow tricolor of Moldova is almost identical to the flag of Romania, reflecting the two countries' national and cultural affinity. On Moldova's flag the yellow stripe is charged with the national arms. Like the Romanian coat of arms, the Moldovan arms, adopted in 1990, features a dark golden eagle holding an Orthodox Christian cross in its beak. Instead of a sword, the eagle is holding an olive branch, symbolizing peace. The blue and red shield on the eagle's chest is charged with the traditional symbols of Moldova: anaurochs' head, flanked by a rose at dexter and a crescent at senester, and having a star between its horns, all of gold.

     These two national flags are also very similar to the flags of Chad and Andorra, which are all based on vertical stripes of blue, yellow, and red.
I Love My Country, the Republic of Moldova !!!

Fericirea constă în lucruri simple..

Astăzi, am avut ocazia să vizitez două centre sociale pentru maturi și copii cu nevoi speciale. Centrele sunt amplasate în două orășele mici din Estonia, la o distanță de circa 50 km de Tallinn. 

Prima vizită a fost în comuna Pahkla la Centrul Social ,,Camphili Kula”, care reprezintă o mișcare socială internațională de îngrijire a persoanelor cu sindromul - Down. Aici viața persoanelor e organizată după modelul unei familii, în care sunt persoane speciale angajate în rolul de părinți, care au grijă de aceste persoane cu nevoi speciale și le oferă oportunitatea de a se simți importanți prin contribuția lor zilnică la lucrurile casnice și în grădină. O muncă zilnică are loc la mic-ul lor fermă pentru animale, unde au grijă de 15 vaci și alte animale. Cel mai impresionant este faptul că acest centru social este aproape autonom, ei își asigură singuri alimentele prin munca lor zilnică. De obicei ei își organizează treburile casnice exact în mod obișnuit, ca într-o familie numeroasă. Fiecare pesroană are atribuțiile sale și graficul îndeplinirii lor, astfel învață să fie responsabili și să se simtă importanți pentru comunitatea în care trăiesc. Munca are și un aspect aparte, ei nu sunt impuși să o realizeze, dar li se spune ce pot obține prin munca lor, acest fapt devine o motivație de a munci din plăcere și a învăța din acest proces.
     Punctul culminant al vizitei a constat într-un mic concerc instrumental pe care l-au organizat aceste persoane deosebite. Am rămas plăcut impresionat, deoarece chiar și pentru o persoană obișnuită ar fi greu să interpreteze piesele clasice al compozitorilor de renume, care au fost alese de ei, dar ei s-au isprăvit de minune și au făcut-o cu mare drag.

În orășelul Rapla, am vizitat un Centru Social de zi, pentru copii ce provin din familii cu situația materială grea, s-au cu probleme sociale, unde părinții nu au posibilitatea să acorde atenția și grija necesară copiilor minori. Aici am cunoscut-o pe conducătoarea centrului, care este una din cele renumitele cîntărețe estoniene, care a decis la un moment dat că trebuie să ajute acești copii, dedicîndu-se acestei cauze sociale. Acest centru nu primește ajutor de la stat, dar se autoîntreține din donațiile de obiecte folosite (haine, jucării, cărți, obiecte casnice) pe care le colectează apoi le scoate la vînzare în magazinul propriu. Banii acumulați sunt abia necesari pentru a achita chiria, salariile profesorilor care se ocupă cu acești copii, dar și serviciile comunale. Însă coordonatoare e bucuroasă că poate acorda un mic ajutor acestor copii, care au oportunitatea de a se simți protejați de problemele cotidiene prin care trec familiile lor.

În cadrul acestor centre sociale se încearcă să li se ofere acestor persoane o șansă de a se încadra în societate, de a se simți importanți pentru comunitatea în care trăiesc. Prin educație și munca zilnică, se încearcă să li se ofere încrederea în sine și în viitorul lor. Toate aceste eforturi sunt realizate prin intermediul acelor oameni deosebiți și cu suflet mare, care sunt coordonatorii centrelor, oferindule acestor persoane speciale o speranță în ziua de mîne.

Ziua de azi mi-a fost o lecție că uneori avem de toate dar nu apreciem nimic, iar fericirea se ascunde în lucrurile simple...

Priceless Moments

The Truly Priceless Moments Are Those Spent With Family and Friends !

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour."
SON: "Oh! (With his head down).
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"
The father was furious.
DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"

SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".
DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling.
SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"

SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.

"Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

Some things are more important.